Speakers

 

Serving in diverse roles in health care and community engagement, Dr. A has demonstrated her commitment to the overall health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

Dr. A's strengths as an effective communicator, activator, and maximizer paved the way for success in redesigning programs and other initiatives to have a greater impact. She has implemented a portfolio of programs, including the Dr. Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease and childhood obesity initiatives. Dr. A's greatest fulfillment was demonstrated by leading the charge in women's health through the Fun, Fit & Fabulous women's health  conference.

After serving more than 25 years in healthcare as a nurse and community engagement leader, Dr. A founded HCD Consulting, LLC and Leading With Wellbeing to continue her mission to support individuals and communities by cultivating resilience and the capacity to thrive in the face of challenges and barriers. As the Chief Well-being Officer of a consulting and coaching firm, Dr. A partners with organizations in assessing and designing health and community-based initiatives. In addition, Dr. A is a certified personal development coach, author, and speaker.

Building on NCOA’s 75 years of service and advocacy for older adults, Alwin is renewing the organization’s commitment to improving the lives of millions, especially those who are struggling. She is sparking critical conversations about the resources every American deserves to age well—and what needs to change to ensure all have access to them.

As CEO, Alwin has focused NCOA on improving the lives of nearly 30 million older adults, with the goal of reaching 40 million by 2030. This impact includes helping people reduce their expenses or increase their incomes, complete programs proven to improve their health, and benefit from policy changes driven by NCOA.

Alwin has testified before Congress on the Older Americans Act reauthorization and on supporting older workers and has been interviewed by top media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, MarketWatch, USA Today, and CNN.com. Honors include being named a PBS Next Avenue Top Influencer in Aging and being recognized among The NonProfit Times’ 2024 Power & Influence Top 50.

Under her leadership, NCOA is working to ensure that every older adult has the opportunity to age well.

A seasoned thought leader and policy advocate, Alwin has changed the way people think about older adult poverty and economic security. She speaks in support of legislation that broadens access to benefits, ensures quality health care, and enables older adults to achieve financial stability through work and retirement savings.

Cory is a relentless collaborator. He builds and maintains local and national partnerships, launches bold initiatives, and strategizes to ensure the Foundation pursues equity for all Arkansans.

In addition to his role at the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Cory also serves as the interim executive director of ForwARd Arkansas. Cory understands collaboration because it has been his career.

For seven years at The Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland, he supported state-level child advocacy organizations and helped lead the KIDS COUNT Initiative.

He is currently a BMe Public Voices Fellow. He also serves on the boards of Arkansas Baptist College, the Urban League of Arkansas, the Association of Black Foundation Executives, and Neighborhood Funders Group.

Cory is married to Dr. Phillis Nichols-Anderson, CEO of a national educational management organization. He is pursuing a master’s degree in theology from Anderson University. The Andersons have four children, two in college, one making movies in Hollywood, and a corporate attorney. They also have three grandchildren.

Dr. Nicole Behnam is the vice president of strategy and innovation at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, which works with funders, nongovernmental organizations and other partners to strengthen the ability of communities to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur.

Prior to joining CDP, Nicole served as the senior director of violence prevention and response at the International Rescue Committee (IRC). In this role, she directed IRC’s efforts on child protection, legal protection of refugees, and protection of women and other vulnerable groups in contexts of crisis and displacement.

In her almost 30 years of experience, she has lived in multiple overseas locations and worked directly with programs focused on women, children and others affected by violence worldwide. This includes roles as a fully deployable global emergency response team member and as a donor, serving as the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Senior Advisor in the Office of Global HIV/AIDS at the U.S. Department of State. Nicole has worked and lived in places as varied as Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Mozambique and Jordan, and she has supported programs globally, from Syria to Afghanistan to South Sudan.

As a sought-after expert and public speaker, Nicole has engaged multiple audiences on a variety of topics, ranging from challenges faced by adolescent girls in conflict to how to develop partnerships based on feminist principles. She has appeared in interviews on CNN and multiple international fora, representing issues around marginalization and prevention of violence against women and children.

Nicole has a master’s degree in German Literature from Harvard, a master’s degree in international development and economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania. She has served as an advisor and leader on multiple conflict-related task forces and also developed a small business (juice bar and guesthouse) in post-conflict Sierra Leone with Sierra Leonean friends and colleagues.

When she is not working, you can usually find her chasing her two rambunctious boys through the woods or (preferably) curled up on a couch with a book.

In 2017, Marshall joined The Housing Fund, a CDFI private nonprofit revolving loan fund located in Nashville, TN. As President & CEO, he carries the full range of responsibilities typically associated with such a
position. Reporting to the board of directors, his responsibilities are grouped in five major areas: organization leadership and management, strategic planning, resource development, management of loan portfolio and lending operations and community external relations. Marshall’s leadership also ensures support for community building and housing development to residents to ensure the revitalization of communities.

Since returning to Nashville, Marshall has accumulated several accolades. Most recently, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta announced the appointment of Marshall to the Nashville Branch board of directors. For three straight years, he has been recognized as one of Nashville’s Most Admired CEOs by his peers and the Nashville Business Journal. In 2019, Marshall was installed into the Tennessee Affordable Housing Coalition Hall of Fame for his efforts in affordable housing over the last 20 years. In 2018, he was featured on the cover of the Nashville Post BOOM! Magazine for establishing Nashville’s first community land trust model as a solution to addressing a growing affordable housing issue in the city. Also, he is currently a participant of Leadership Tennessee.

Previously, he served as President of Housing and Multifamily Development for Community Ventures in Lexington, KY. Also, he spent 13 years at NeighborWorks America in various roles in the Southern Region located in Atlanta, GA.

Before joining NeighborWorks, Marshall was a safety and soundness bank examiner for the Office of Thrift Supervision. His banking career started in a management training program for Third National Bank (eventually, SunTrust Bank) in Nashville, Tennessee. He later relocated to Atlanta, GA and worked as a mortgage loan officer with several banks. In 1992, he was honorable discharged from the United States Army after serving five years while being stationed in Germany and at Fort Knox, KY.

Marshall is a graduate of Coatesville Area Senior High School (‘85). After completing his military service at Fort Knox, he attended Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, where he received a degree in finance (‘95). He completed a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (‘06). In 2016, Marshall completed an Executive Leadership Certification at Georgetown University (‘16) in Washington D.C.

Jennifer Barksdale (she/her) joined the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation in 2007 and serves as Chief Finance and Operations Manager. A certified public accountant, Jennifer handles the organization’s budgeting, financial accounting and reporting, audit and tax coordination, grant accounting and human resources. She serves as a liaison for the Foundation’s investment committee and financial advisers who oversee a portfolio of market-rate investments that adhere to environmental, social and governance best practices. Jennifer also manages financial aspects of program-related investments. 

For eight years, Jennifer taught Accounting and Financial Reporting for Governmental and Not-for-Profit Organizations as an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University. Her previous positions include chief financial officer for NC Child, finance director for Uplift, Inc. and audit manager for Arthur Andersen. Jennifer is a member of the North Carolina Association of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. 

In her spare time, Jennifer serves on the the board of directors and as Treasurer of the Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center. She also serves on the board of the Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina as well as the Philanthropy Southeast board of directors where she is Secretary-Treasurer and Chair of Finance Committee. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Wake Forest University. 

Sarina Beges is a social change leader with over 13 years of experience working at the intersection of global development, social impact, and philanthropy. Most recently, she served as the executive director of the Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation, a Silicon Valley-based organization, which creates educational content to enhance charitable giving. Sarina’s career has afforded her the unique opportunity to work with social entrepreneurs, democracy activists, philanthropists, academics, and foundations to launch innovative programs and online communities.

Sarina worked at Stanford University for nearly a decade serving as the associate director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law where she grew the reach and impact of a leading foreign policy research center. In 2019, she helped produce the Philanthropy Innovation Summit – a gathering of over 300 philanthropic leaders – hosted by Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.

Sarina started her social sector career at the Synergos Institute, a New York based non-profit organization committed to addressing issues of poverty and inequality worldwide. Sarina holds a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC and a bachelor’s degree from Boston University. She lives in Menlo Park, California with her husband, two daughters, and French bulldog.

As vice president of external affairs, Boissiere oversees the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT effort, as well as the areas of policy reform and advocacy, strategic communications, leadership development, equity and inclusion, organizational effectiveness and national partnerships.

From 2015 to 2017, Boissiere served as a senior fellow at the Foundation. In that role, she coordinated the efforts of Casey’s external affairs team and led the development of emerging strategies focused on youth and young adults and on improving the well-being of children in the South and Southwest.

Upon joining the Foundation in 2013, she served as chief operating officer for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a $7 million initiative supported by the Casey Foundation. During this campaign, Boissiere directly managed all efforts related to communications, finance and operations, performance management and investor relations.

Boissiere’s career path includes more than 15 years of results-driven executive experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining the Foundation, Boissiere worked as a vice president for AARP, the nation's largest nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to serving adults aged 50 and older. In this role, she set the strategic direction for programs and offerings related to the financial security of AARP members.

Boissiere has also served as executive director for the White House Council for Community Solutions, where she led efforts to develop cross-sector, community-based strategies to address the needs of disconnected youth.

She holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of New Orleans.

Dahlia is a program officer with the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, and Lettie Pate Evans Foundations where she shares responsibility for grantmaking in child well-being, health, and human services. Prior to joining the Foundations, she previously served in leadership roles at the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), most recently as the Deputy Division Director of Strategy, Innovation and Engagement. Before DFCS, she led the Family Violence Division at the Georgia Governor’s Office for Children and Families and spent several years working in the nonprofit sector. Dahlia serves on the steering, public policy, and program committees for the Georgia Grantmakers Alliance. She earned a B.A. degree from Vassar College and an M.P.H. degree from Morehouse School of Medicine.

Danielle Brown, Ph.D. is the 1855 Community and Urban Journalism Professor and an associate professor in the School of Journalism. She is also the founding director of the LIFT Project -- an engaged research effort aimed at identifying networks of trusted messengers in Black communities in the Midwest to 1) understand their effects on civic and democratic life; 2) create, network, and allocate resources needed to inform Black communities better; and 3) build new opportunities for sustainable reparative narrative change.
Dr. Brown's interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship utilizes the cross-sections of journalism, political science, and sociology. She specializes in analyses of media representations and narrative change, social movements and activism, and identity and political psychology. Dr. Brown has published dozens of articles in top-tier journals, and her work also appears in popular media outlets like the Washington Post, Nieman Lab, Columbia Journalism Review and The Conversation. Much of her research and work has been supported with the more than $1.5 million in external funding she has secured from foundations and non-profit organizations like the Knight Foundation, Global Impact, Robert Wood Johnson, and Color of Change. She has received multiple awards and recognitions for her research and service record as an early-career scholar and her pioneering public engagement work. Dr. Brown is an associate editor for the International Journal of Press/Politics and serves on the editorial board for Journalism Practice. She previously served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota and Indiana University. Prior to joining the academy, she was a photojournalist, writer, and later a non-profit public relations professional.

Cathleen is the Founder and Executive Director of Justice in Motion (formerly Global Workers Justice Alliance). She has over 20 years of human rights experience in the United States and abroad. Prior to founding Global Workers, she directed a national needs assessment of the human trafficking situation for the Alola Foundation in East Timor. She has also worked as a staff attorney with the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project in Florida. Prior to law school, Cathleen worked on human rights issues in Guatemala for over three years. She is a graduate of the American University Washington College of Law and Dartmouth College.

Dena Chadwick was named president and CEO of Philanthropy Southeast in June 2024. She has been with the organization since 2009, including serving as chief operating officer with her predecessor and mentor, Janine Lee.

Dena played a leading role in the development of the Equity Framework, the organization’s groundbreaking commitment to inspire and strengthen learning, leadership and actions within Southern philanthropy dedicated to the advancement of equity in the field and region. The Framework, adopted in 2019, has since influenced the development of a new mission and vision. Dena is also a key architect of Philanthropy Southeast’s Courageous Leadership Strategy, which calls on the organization to take risks and make leaps that mobilize the people and resources needed to address critical issues facing philanthropy in the South and communities in the South.

Throughout her career at Philanthropy Southeast, Dena has leveraged her expertise and prior experience to ensure effective stewardship of financial resources. Working with the Board of Trustees and Finance Committee, she has led work that has placed Philanthropy Southeast in a strong and sustainable position. She also spearheaded successful efforts to operationalize the organization’s commitment to equity, including the creation and adoption of a DEI Policy and a new Employee Handbook.

In addition to her work at Philanthropy Southeast, Dena serves on the board of the United Philanthropy Forum. She also served as a board member for The Museum School of Avondale Estates from December 2010 to January 2013 and served as its Treasurer from December 2010 to June 2012. She continues to serve on its Advisory Board.

Dena began her career in philanthropy as a staff accountant and assistant controller with the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation in 1991. She earned a bachelor’s of business administration degree in accounting from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.

Dena, an Atlanta native, has two adult children. She lives with her partner and their two dogs and enjoys when the house is full and everyone comes home.

Raj Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the Director of Opportunity Insights, which uses big data to study the science of economic opportunity: how we can give children from all backgrounds better chances of succeeding?  Chetty’s work has been widely cited in academia, media outlets, and policy discussions in the United States and beyond.

Chetty received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2003 and is one of the youngest tenured professors in Harvard’s history. He has received numerous awards for his research, including a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the John Bates Clark medal, given to the economist under 40 whose work is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the field, and Harvard’s George Ledlie prize, awarded for research that made the most valuable contribution to science, or in any way for the benefit of mankind.

For further information, please see Prof. Chetty’s full CV.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Flozell Daniels, Jr. (he/him) leads the overall operations of the Foundation, from grantmaking to investing, communications and strategy, providing both organizational and field leadership. Flozell represents MRBF’s programs and vision for change to our grantee and philanthropic partners, as well as the general public. He partners closely with the board of directors to ensure the Foundation remains on the cutting edge of sound strategic decisions and field-leading philanthropic transformation.   

 Flozell previously served as CEO and President of the Foundation for Louisiana, which launched in 2005 to foster an equitable recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It has since grown to become a “catalyst for justice,” supporting communities statewide through grantmaking and loan products, leadership development programs, and advocating on myriad issues facing Louisianians, including climate justice, economic justice, criminal justice reform, racial and gender justice, and more. Prior to his 14+ years leading FFL, Flozell was Assistant Vice President and Executive Director of State and Local Affairs for Tulane University and served in the Mayor’s Office during Marc Morial’s tenure as Public Policy Specialist in the Division of Federal and State Programs. 

Flozell has always worked with the understanding that the fates of all Southern people are tied together. From his early work on the Equity and Inclusion Campaign covering Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to his cofounding of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, Flozell holds a longstanding commitment to building the South’s infrastructure for justice and power.   

A New Orleans native, Flozell brings expertise in public policy, community development, criminal justice reform, climate policy, transit equity and asset development. Flozell recently served as Chairman of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and Orleans Public Education Network, is board member emeritus of the Urban League of Louisiana, and serves on the Louisiana Public Defender Board and the Governor’s Climate Action Taskforce. He is a 2013 graduate of University of Oxford Said Business School’s Impact Investing Programme, 2011 Fellow of the Opportunity Agenda Communications Institute, a life Fellow of the Louisiana Effective Leadership Program, an alumnus of Leadership Louisiana and a graduate of the Metropolitan Leadership Forum. Flozell holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the A.B. Freeman School of Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the University of New Orleans.

Joshua P. Darr (he/his) joined the Newhouse School in Fall 2023 as an associate professor, teaching classes in political communication.  

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Darr was the associate dean of research and strategic initiatives and associate professor at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University from 2015-23, where he taught classes in political communication research, media and policy and campaigns and elections. Professor Darr’s research focuses on campaign strategy, political knowledge, partisan polarization and local news. In their 2021 book, "Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization" (Cambridge University Press, 2021), Darr and co-authors Matthew Hitt and Johanna Dunaway studied what happened when a local newspaper dropped national opinion coverage, finding less polarization and more discussion of state and local issues in the resulting space. 

In 2022, Darr received the prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for his project, “Partnering with Local News to Reduce Polarization,” which investigates the ways that newsrooms can earn back trust and reduce political polarization through their coverage of local and national politics.  

He also received the Top Interactive Paper Award from the Political Communication Division of the International Communication Association in 2022 (with Jessica Feezell, Kathleen Searles, John Wagner, Ray Pingree, Mingxiao Sui, and Brian Watson) and the Lynda Lee Kaid Award for the best published article in political communication from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (with Matthew Hitt and Johanna Dunaway). 

Darr earned a Ph.D. in political science in 2015 and an M.A. in political science in 2011 from the University of Pennsylvania. He also received a B.A. in political science from Boston College in 2009.

Kim joined the Foundation in January 2025. He previously served as Senior Advisor and Delta Region Lead at the Walton Family Foundation, overseeing philanthropic efforts in Arkansas and Mississippi since 2015. A dedicated advocate for underserved communities, Kim has worked to enhance education, afterschool programs, homeownership, and workforce development through collaborative partnerships. Kim earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Saint Thomas and a Master of Education at the University of Saint Thomas. He enjoys spending time with his family, grilling, and hanging out with his dog Oreo.

Meghan Duffy (she/her) is Executive Vice President at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, a community of funders committed to transforming philanthropic culture and practice by connecting members to the resources and relationships needed to support thriving nonprofits and communities. GEO envisions courageous grantmakers working in service of nonprofits and communities to create a just, connected, and inclusive society where we can all thrive.

Working closely with the CEO and board, Meghan ensures that GEO has the strategies, systems and resources in place to achieve goals for content, programming, partnerships, communications and revenue. Meghan joined GEO in 2011 to steward the Scaling What Works initiative and has served in several roles since then, including Vice President of Programs. Meghan has over twenty years of experience advancing change in the philanthropic/nonprofit sector.

Prior to joining GEO, Meghan served as Director of Special Projects for San Diego Grantmakers (now Catalyst) and also served on several foundation grants committees. Before moving to California, Meghan was Development Director at a national nonprofit LGBT health organization. She has also worked in fundraising and outreach for the Victory Fund and the Feminist Majority Foundation, and as a consultant specializing in writing and research for several other community organizations. Additionally, Meghan has taught sociology and LGBT studies as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland.

Meghan currently serves on the Fund the People Advisory Council and the LearnPhilanthropy Advisory Board. She earned a master’s in sociology at the University of California San Diego and holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland.

Educator, organizer, author, event producer, and performer, Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes brings her deep roots in New Orleans’ indigenous culture to her new work as Executive Director of the Ashé Cultural Arts Center. On January 1, 2020, Ms. Ecclesiastes took the reins of one of the city’s most important community development institutions and looks forward to ushering in a new era of culture, community, and commerce.

For the past five years, as Director of Strategic Neighborhood Development for the New Orleans Business Alliance and Claiborne Corridor Program Manager for the Mayor’s Office of New Orleans, Asali designed equitable development strategies for high impact neighborhoods – empowering resident leaders and making bold commitments to address entrenched disparities. She advanced place-based projects and secured funding within six priority areas: economic opportunity, cultural preservation, affordable housing, transportation choice and access, environmental sustainability, and safe & healthy neighborhoods.

Before her brief life in government, Ms. Ecclesiastes worked as Congo Square Coordinator for N.O. Jazz & Heritage Festival, Artist Relations Director and Empowerment Seminars Author for Essence Music Festival, and Executive Producer of Tremé 200 Festival, N.O. Juneteenth Festival, Tremé/7th Ward Arts & Culture Festival, and Akoben Words-In-Action Festival. She has taught in New Orleans public schools, universities, and prisons, and continues to utilize her spoken and written word as a platform for societal change through art and social justice for all humanity. Asali has toured nationally with the critically acclaimed, “Swimming Upstream”, a play she co-wrote with a cohort of extraordinary NOLA women, exploring life in New Orleans after the flood, produced by author of the Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler.

The author of two TED presentations and chosen as one of the 300 most influential citizens for the City’s Tricentennial, Asali is a 2019 Tulane University Mellon Fellow who counts among her honors President Obama’s 2012 Drum Major for Service Award, the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council’s 2013 Queen’s Scribe Award, and Essence Magazine’s 2018 Excellence in Service Award.

Ms. Ecclesiastes is a graduate of McMain Magnet High School and Vanderbilt University, where she earned Bachelors of Science in English Literature and Secondary Education, with minors in Biology and African Diaspora Studies, a program she co-founded.

As the new Executive Director of the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, Asali embraces the wisdom of Zimbabwean author Matshona Dhliwayo who proclaims, “To help people takes strength, to inspire people takes wisdom, to rule over them takes virtue, but to elevate them takes love. The real power of a leader is in the number of minds she can reach, hearts she can touch, souls she can move, and lives she can change.”

Cate Elander is the Director of State of the South. In collaboration with MDC staff and partners across the South, she brings together artists, community members, and policymakers to build relationships and share what’s working and not working in their communities. She curates storytelling and arts-centered experiences that lead to collaboration around the policy, systems, and narrative changes that lead to a thriving South. As a quilter and print maker, she believes deeply in the power of art to bring people together and spark change.

Cate is returning to MDC after serving as Durham County Government’s first Early Childhood Coordinator, where she focused on aligning the County’s approach to early childhood policy and investment birth-to-eight and strengthening County collaboration with early childhood systems building efforts. In her previous role at MDC, she provided strategic guidance and implementation support to philanthropic initiatives focused on early childhood systems change, family economic security, and educational equity in North Carolina.

Earlier in her career, her experience with community outreach, organizing, and home visiting at community-based organizations in the South and mid-Atlantic strengthened her commitments to community co-design, power sharing, and racial and economic justice. Cate has a BA in American Studies with a minor in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MA in Urban Affairs and Public Policy with a specialization in Community Development from the University of Delaware. Born and raised in Virginia and North Carolina, Cate lives in Durham, NC with her family.

Kyla Elhelo (formerly Kyla Gabriel) joined Knight Foundation in March 2023 as Director of Learning and Impact, now serving as Director of Information and Society. She brings extensive experience using data-driven approaches to develop enterprise strategies and business plans at Bain & Company, high-growth start-ups, and non-profit organizations.

Prior to joining Knight, Elhelo dedicated her time to leading executive-level strategic initiatives. Elhelo also worked on the Digital Health team at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she developed the organization’s digital strategy to increase access to the hospital’s world-class expertise.

Originally from New York, Elhelo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Public Health from Brandeis University.

Dr. Portia Ballard Espy is President and CEO of the Mississippi Urban League, Incorporated where she assumed leadership in June of 2021.

Dr. Espy has vast executive-level human resource management experience in manufacturing, energy, aerospace, and nonprofit sectors for several companies, including Pellerin Milnor Corporation, subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell plc, Entergy Corporation, and Raytheon Aerospace. She has served as Assistant Director of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Mid-South Delta Initiative, Chief Administrative Officer at Children’s Defense Fund’s – Southern Regional Office, and Executive Director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation (now known as the Alluvial Collective).

Dr. Espy earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Jackson State University and a certificate in nonprofit management from Harvard Kennedy School. Dr. Espy also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and an M.B.A. from Loyola University of New Orleans.

TeRay Esquibel is a social entrepreneur focused on community development and collaboration that drives action. Before joining Purpose Commons, he was the co-founder/executive director of Ednium: The Alumni Collective, amplifying young alumni voices to transform Denver‘s educational ecosystem and boost socioeconomic mobility. His leadership at Ednium advanced participatory research initiatives, influencing graduation requirements in financial literacy and ethnic studies and securing over $10 million to expand postsecondary opportunities. TeRay has also held roles at RootED, Gary Community Ventures, and the Joyful Impact Social Entrepreneurs Accelerator. He’s a current Pahara Fellow, serves on multiple boards and has been recognized as Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40.

Stefanie Friedhoff is co-founder of the Information Futures Lab (IFL) and Professor of the Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. She is a leading media, communications and global health strategist, and an expert at knowledge translation, information creation, and verification. From July 2022 to May 2023, Friedhoff served as a senior policy advisor on the White House Covid-19 Response Team, focusing on population information needs, health equity, community engagement, and medical countermeasure uptake. 

At Brown, Friedhoff studies information ecosystems and the relationships between information needs, information inequities, and health outcomes. Partnering with creators of trusted information in rapidly changing information ecosystems, she creates co-designing and capacity-building opportunities and research initiatives aimed at meeting the information needs of diverse populations.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Friedhoff has taken a leadership role in building coalitions and generating and translating evidence to fill gaps and initiate action in the Public Health response, by supporting the public health workforce, policy makers and the public with crucial information and initiatives. For example, she served as a Design and Research Partner in the Rockefeller Foundation’s Equity-First Vaccination Initiative and led the secretariat for the Rockefeller Foundation’s Equity Advisory Council. She helped build the Justice, Health and Democracy Impact Initiative, and Brown SPH’s Long Covid Initiative. She is the lead investigator of the the STAT Network, a peer network of over 600 state public health leaders responding to infectious disease and other public health challenges.

Friedhoff's pandemic communications initiatives such as Global Epidemics, the Covid Testing Communications Toolkit, and the Preprint Sifter, and key media partnerships translating Covid-19 evidence into practical information for decision-makers and the public, have reached millions of people. She has served as an expert advisor to the Pew Research Center, an expert contributor to the Covid Collaborative, and a trustee to the Trust for Trauma Journalism. 

Prior to Brown, Friedhoff was Director of Content and Strategy at the Harvard Global Health Institute and led Programs and Special Projects at The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. She founded Nieman’s Trauma Journalism Program and Global Health Reporting Fellowships, and continues to teach trauma and resilience workshops for journalists. She created Nieman’s first online guide, coveringflu.org, initiated key conversations on issues such as Immigration, Covering Elections, and Covering Violence and Tragedy, and led early explorations of the role of truth in a changing media ecosystem through projects such as “From Watergate to Wikileaks” (2010) and Truth in the Social Media Age (2012).

Throughout her career, Friedhoff has worked as a foreign correspondent, feature writer, editor and photographer on three continents. Her stories have been published in TIME, The Boston Globe, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Nieman Reports, and many other publications. She was a 2001 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

Johnette Gindling is the President & CEO of Space Coast Health Foundation, a health legacy foundation formed in 2010 from the sale of Wuesthoff Health System. The Foundation is a grant making organization that supports the health and wellness of Brevard County. In addition to its grant-making work, the foundation operates the Center for Collaboration, Lifetime Counseling Center and the Children’s Advocacy Center of Brevard.

Johnette has 12 years’ experience in foundation operations and more than 20 years’ experience in healthcare strategic planning, patient satisfaction, public relations and marketing. She previously worked for Wuesthoff Health System in Rockledge, Florida, Good Shepherd Health System in Longview, Texas and Parkview Health System in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Johnette has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in communication from Purdue University, where she also served as an Associate Faculty member in the Department of Communication, School of Arts and Sciences.

She currently serves on the boards of the Community Credit Union and the Florida Philanthropic Network.

Johnette and her husband Michael live in Viera, Florida and have two sons.

Lindsay A. Goldman assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Grantmakers in Aging (GIA) on January 1, 2021. Lindsay came to GIA from The New York Academy of Medicine, where she served as the founding Director of the Center for Healthy Aging and specialized in public-private partnerships to create age-inclusive environments.

Prior to her time at the Academy, Lindsay worked for UJA-Federation of New York, where she was responsible for strategic planning and grantmaking to support older adults, as well as emergency preparedness and response, and information and referral services.

Lindsay directed the Health Enhancement Partnership, an adult day program at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, for which she received a Best Practice Award from the National Council on Aging. She began her career at Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, where she coordinated an intergenerational mentoring program in the Bronx. Lindsay holds an MSW from New York University and a BA from Wesleyan University.

Darrin Goss Sr. is the President & CEO of Coastal Community Foundation, the largest community foundation in South Carolina, serving all nine counties on the coast. With his guidance, the Foundation crafted a Civic Engagement Agenda to communicate the systemic issues and inequities burdening the coastal SC region, and how the Foundation will work as a community leader in areas of housing, education and economic development. He has also been instrumental in establishing the Foundation’s first advocacy initiative, the Policy Agenda, as well as the first Place-Based Impact Investing Program to provide capital to emerging enterprises that address social needs.
 

Mike Hill leads the Foundations and Endowments Specialty Practice and Institutional Investment Management teams across the Southeast, Midwest, and West Coast, offering more than 30 years of institutional investment management experience successfully driving results for client portfolios. Mike and his team specialize in designing and managing portfolios as a national leading provider of fiduciary investment management services to not-for-profit organizations, which includes private foundations and education, arts, healthcare, and community support institutions.

Mike serves on the board of the CFA Society and is a past board chair of the Nashville Society. An alum of Leadership Nashville, he is a board member of the Nashville Humane Association and a founding member and past board chair of the Nashville Humane Association Supporting Foundation. He is also active with the Southeastern Council of Foundations and a frequent speaker on investment topics.

Chris joined The Community Foundation as Managing Director of Development in October 2023. With more than 20 years in the nonprofit and philanthropic space, Chris has worked in higher education, media, public policy, and environmental campaigns. His earlier career in Washington, D.C. includes senior roles at NPR, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Brookings Institution, where he built partnerships with local and national leaders in collaboration with philanthropies to advance change at the city scale. 

Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Rowan University and began his career in investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and worked at BlackRock funds. A Philadelphia transplant, Chris now resides in Northwest Washington, D.C. with his wife Gupi and their two sons, Nigel and Graham. When they are not volunteering with local organizations, you will find Chris and his family on their goat farm in St Mary’s County, Maryland.

Omar Jadwat is the director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, which he joined as a Skadden Fellow in 2002. Omar has litigated numerous groundbreaking cases at IRP, including suits challenging the Trump administration’s Muslim ban; Arizona’s SB 1070 and other state and local anti-immigrant laws; and ICE’s use of immigration detainers. He graduated from NYU Law School and was a law clerk for Judge John G. Koeltl of the Southern District of New York. He is also an adjunct professor at NYU Law.

Amanda Jaquez is a senior associate with the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site. Jaquez manages the Neighborhood Transformation portfolio, with investments focused on affordable housing, community safety and resident and youth engagement on Atlanta’s south side. Previously, she led large urban redevelopment programs, community-building work and national arts funding initiatives, respectively, as the executive director of the Clearwater Florida Community Redevelopment Agency. She was also a planning director for the city of Decatur, Georgia, and arts program officer for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. While working for the city of Decatur, she led the first transportation planning process in the United States that applied a health equity lens to designing and prioritizing transportation improvements to achieve better health outcomes for residents.

Jaquez received a master’s degree from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Agnes Scott College. She is a member of Leadership ICMA (2010) and Leadership DeKalb (2011). In recognition of her work in urban planning and as a choreographer, she was named a Creative Community Fellow by National Arts Strategies in 2014.

Moninder-Mona Jhawar is Deputy Director at Aspen Institute’s Forum for Community Solutions. In this role Mona leads Aspen’s Belonging, Meaning, Wellbeing and Purpose Funder Community of Practice (BMWP CoP) and supports BMWP strategy development and learning efforts. BMWP operationalizes racial equity by centering belonging, meaning-making, wellbeing and purpose within the narratives, systems, pathways, and structures impacting young people across the US. The BMWP CoP offers a broad set of funders and partners mechanisms for shared learning, strategic co-creation, and impact.

Prior to joining Aspen, Mona worked extensively across the public health sector—from coordinating on the ground solutions at ACCESS as part of the reproductive justice movement to recently working at the intersection of learning, strategy, and improvement at The California Endowment for 15 years. As senior Learning & Evaluation manager she successfully managed a multimillion-dollar portfolio focused on capturing and communicating foundation progress and organizational learning, including spearheading a DEI audit to hold the foundation accountable to its values and foster organizational change towards a culture of equity as well as deeply partnering with program staff on a statewide youth power building evaluation reflecting across a decade of effort. Mona earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Toxicology and a minor in Women Studies from the University of California, Davis, and a Master’s in Public Health from University of California, Los Angeles.

Joann Yoon Kang serves as Vice President of Strategic Communications, and is a member of the executive leadership team.  In this role, she develops and manages the Initiative’s brand and voice, provides leadership for all internal and external communications efforts, and integrates communication strategies into all programmatic work.

Kang brings more than 20 years of professional experience in health policy and advocacy in Georgia as well as at the national level. She has spent nearly her entire career in health policy and advocacy. Initially practicing as a public interest lawyer, she moved to policy positions with Voices for Georgia’s Children. She then spent a decade at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leading teams in health systems and data visualization as well as policy and partnerships, working to address some of the nation’s most pressing public health issues. Most recently, she served as Program Director at The Rippel Foundation, providing leadership and strategic oversight to the Foundation’s program work, and furthering its vision of a cohesive system of health that is thriving, equitable, and sustainable.

Joann earned a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science in Advertising from the University of Illinois.

Dr. Brandy N. Kelly Pryor is a hope-enthusiast, scholar-activist, and community builder. She works to eradicate all inequities by celebrating the stories and the complexity of the human experience. Her professional and scholarly work spans locally, nationally, and internationally and focuses on the intersections of hope, health equity, policy, and social impact. To advance equity, she focuses on the perception and performance of hope in marginalized communities, the importance of space and place in social policy development, and the relationship between gender, race/ethnicity, culture, and age in developing health narratives.

In May 2018, Dr. Kelly Pryor joined The Humana Foundation as the Senior Director of Programs and, in 2020, became the Director of Strategy. In this role, she oversaw the Foundation’s health equity strategy, research, and impact for a portfolio that exceeds $70 million in grants in over 20 communities. Before joining the Foundation, Dr. Kelly Pryor held an inaugural joint appointment as the Director of the Louisville Metro Center for Health Equity (CHE) and as an Assistant Professor with the University Louisville‘s School of Public Health and Information Sciences. As CHE director, she was responsible for spearheading the 2017 Health Equity Report and Louisville Metro Government’s “Racial Equity Here” grant, leading to Louisville’s first Chief Equity Officer. Today, she continues her appointment in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, where she teaches health policy and advocacy.

Dr. Kelly Pryor is a widely requested speaker, strategy consultant, and writer. She has presented at TEDx addressing cultural competency and health equity and written several chapters and articles for various academic and independent publications. Her consultation work extends internationally with governmental and non-governmental organizations, including consultation for the United Nations and working on community action and environmental and social determinants of health in Kenya, Tanzania, Haiti, Trinidad, Barbados, the UK, and most often, the US.

Serving on multiple community and regional boards, she is excited about being in communion with community.

Through all of her learnings and endeavors, one of the communities she is learns from every day is her beautiful children and her loving partner, Lyndon.

Sarah Kirsch manages the affordable housing investment portfolios for the Foundation, both social impact and philanthropic funds, as a key pillar for advancing equitable growth in our region. In support of TogetherATL’s neighborhood and housing goals, the funds are designed to provide gap funding and support deeper and longer-term affordability for rental and ownership homes. Prior to joining the Foundation, Sarah spent ten years with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and served as Executive Director of the Atlanta District Council. Her work at ULI focused on advancing inclusive walkable urban places with a specific focus on housing affordability and the connections between transportation and land use. Prior to ULI, she spend 12 years with Robert Charles Lesser & Co. (RCLCO), the nation’s leading independent real estate advisory firm.

Sarah’s civic leadership is deeply rooted in housing affordability and community development, serving on the HouseATL board, as vice-chair of the Board of Commissioners for Atlanta Housing, on the Atlanta Urban Development Corporation board, and Neighborhood Empowerment subcommittee chair for Mayor Dickens’ transition team. Kirsch is a native of Atlanta and continues to live in the city where she and her husband are raising their three sons. Most weekends you will find her at track meets and cross-country events supporting her boys. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Duke University’s Terry Sanford School of Public Policy.

Debra Lam is the Founding Executive Director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, a regional public-private partnership that strengthens communities by advancing innovation, expanding economic opportunity, and supporting workforce development.

Previously, she served as the City of Pittsburgh’s first Chief of Innovation & Performance, leading efforts to make government more efficient, transparent, and responsive through smart technology, sustainability, and data-driven decision-making. Earlier in her career, she worked globally as a management consultant with Arup, advising cities on infrastructure, resilience, and long-term strategic planning.

Debra has been named one of Apolitical’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government and has lived and worked in the UK, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—bringing a global perspective to local challenges. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of California, Berkeley, and serves on the boards of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and the Fitzgerald Family Foundation.

She has written for publications such as Newsweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Conversation, and is the co-author of Empowering Smart Cities through Community-Centered Public-Private Partnerships—a book that highlights how collaboration between government, business, and communities can deliver practical solutions that work.

Kaitlynn, a Western North Carolina native, is an experienced non-profit professional with a history of working to increase and preserve the affordable housing stock in Western North Carolina. Prior to joining the team, she spent time working for Hendersonville non-profit organization The Housing Assistance Corporation where she most recently served as the Resource Development and Community Outreach Coordinator. Her responsibilities included managing the organization’s fundraising, grant writing, marketing, volunteer and donor cultivation initiatives. During her time in this position, the development team secured over $1 million in grant funding. She is passionate about the people and places that make Western North Carolina home.

Diana works on grantmaking to support the Foundation’s national journalism work, with a focus on professional nonprofit reporting.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Diana led and sunsetted the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund, a five-year, $20 million joint venture designed to strengthen local journalism at scale by supporting journalistic excellence and serving the information needs of communities. She worked in community-centered media at WHYY and Germantown Info Hub in Philadelphia. In her previous life in economic development, Diana served as Director of Partnerships and Outreach of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Philadelphia, a five-year, $20 million public-private initiative focused on strengthening businesses through revenue generation and local job creation.

Diana holds n MA in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and a BA  in Urban Studies and French from Vassar College.

Diana proudly serves as a Maynard 200 Fellowship mentor and contributing editor for Root Quarterly, a print journal of art and ideas from Philadelphia.

As a board member of Philadelphia City Planning Commission’s Citizens Planning Institute, she helps contribute to cross-sector curricula designed to empower residents and neighborhood organizers.

From 2017 to 2024, Diana served on the board of the Independence Business Alliance, the LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. She began volunteering on advisory committees for the Women's Community Revitalization Project, Philadelphia's first and only women-led community development and affordable housing organization, in 2012.

Mike Mancuso is an accomplished nonprofit executive and veteran business leader with over 30 years of experience in community development, economic growth, and strategic planning. Known for his innovative problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial mindset, Mike has built a reputation as a change agent, guiding organizations through periods of growth and transformation. As President & CEO of the Waccamaw Community Foundation, Mike is dedicated to creating legacies of giving for families, businesses, and individuals. Under his leadership, the Foundation acts as a catalyst for positive change, fostering philanthropy that strengthens the Waccamaw Region and enhances the quality of life for all who call it home.

Before joining the Foundation, Mike served as President & CEO of the Triangle East Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Foundation in Johnston County, North Carolina, where he led initiatives to drive regional economic growth. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director for the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center, Inc., in Salem, Ohio, focusing on industrial and downtown redevelopment, business retention, and workforce development. Mike also held senior leadership roles at Huntington Bank in Columbus, Ohio, where he led teams in retail and business banking, regional management, and directed the bank's incentive system, driving performance and growth across multiple markets. 

Mike’s passion for helping communities and businesses thrive extends beyond his professional life. Near his home in Little River, SC, he enjoys boating on the Intracoastal Waterway, tinkering in his workshop, and spending quality time with his wife, Christine, their three children, and seven grandchildren who are spread across Charleston, SC, Atlanta, GA, and Austin, TX.

As a dedicated leader and community advocate, Mike continues to inspire those around him, creating lasting impact through strategic partnerships, innovative philanthropy, and a commitment to building a brighter future for the Waccamaw Region.

Tess oversees CCF’s Place-Based Impact Investing (PBII) program and leads the Foundation’s investment goals from a community impact perspective. She also serves as a strategic advisor regarding investments, treasury & liquidity, and oversees funds management activities.

A North Carolina native, Allen is an attorney and private foundation specialist with over 20 years of foundation management and grantmaking experience. Allen leads Truist’s Private Foundations Services Team, which manages and serves well over 100 independent, family, health legacy, and corporate foundations. Allen works exclusively with grantmaking foundations, including some of Truist’s largest and most sophisticated foundation clients. He provides comprehensive foundation management, compliance, grantmaking, governance, board education, and strategic planning services. He also offers advice to those considering establishing lasting charitable vehicles. 

Allen has held executive positions at several grantmaking foundations, including a newly formed health legacy foundation, and practiced law at a large regional law firm. He holds a certificate from The National Grantmaking School, a comprehensive program for foundation executives created by the Kellogg Foundation. He also participated in the Hull Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Southern Philanthropy.  

Allen is often asked to provide advice to foundations, public charities, and those considering establishing a foundation.  He is a regular speaker at regional and national foundation conferences. He is also a board member of several private foundations as well as several charitable organizations, including: Philanthropy Southeast; Candler School of Theology; and Legacy Decatur. He is a former board member of the Emory University Board of Visitors, Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, and Central Presbyterian Outreach and Advocacy Center.

Gilbert serves as the board chair of the Bradley-Turner Foundation, and he has served as a trustee of the Beloco Foundation for over two decades, formally joining the board in 2000. He is also a director of W.C. Bradley Company, a family-owned holding company focused on consumer products and commercial real estate development. Gilbert is a past board chair of Philanthropy Southeast, a current trustee of the National Center for Family Philanthropy, and a member of the steering committee of the Georgia Grantmakers Alliance. 

While not in the boardroom, Gilbert manages a small commercial real-estate development partnership and co-owns his family’s 40-year-old Christmas tree business, Kimi Farms. A graduate of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, Gilbert also serves on the boards of Andrew College, The Nature Conservancy - Florida Chapter, Epworth-by-the-Sea, and the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at UGA. He and his wife, Jamee, have two sons, William and Benjamin, and a daughter, Juliette.

Tamieka Mosley serves as President & CEO for Grantmakers for Southern Progress in Atlanta, GA.  Prior to that, she served as the Deputy Director for Southern Partners Fund for four years, and before that, she was the program officer for the foundation.  For the past 20 years, Tamieka has worked in the South, serving grassroots and community-based organizations.  She has committed her career to providing strategic management to institutions with a mission focused on leveraging resources toward the development and sustainability of marginalized communities in the Southern United States.

Ashley joined the Bunnelle Foundation in 2014 after working in the telecommunications industry. She is the Project Manager for the Foundation’s Cradle to Career (C2C) Strategic Initiative work. She also develops and implements the Foundation’s Communications strategy. Ashley holds an MBA in Human Resources Management from Strayer University and a B.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications from Winthrop University.

Sylia Obagi is the founding executive director of the Winston Family Foundation. She is leading the creation of the "Project One Health" Initiative, a place-based, cross-sector partnership dedicated to the interconnectedness of human, environmental and wildlife health. She is positioning the foundation as a convener, change-agent, and lead funder, investing $15 million in Jacksonville, Florida, and North Carolina, over three years to scale a nationally replicable model to advance child and youth well-being, protect ecosystems and promote biodiversity.

Sylia has guided the giving strategies of several high-profile, high-net-worth families and held leadership executive roles with various family foundations. Most recently, she was vice president of finance and operations for the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, where she built the organization's capacity to fulfill Mr. Blank's Giving Pledge.

As the founding president and CEO of the Roy and Patricia Disney Foundation, Sylia worked closely with the 25-family member board to create a progressive multi-generational family foundation investing $12.5 million per year in grants to social, economic and environmental justice.

Prior to Disney, Sylia was the chief operating officer at the Annenberg Foundation for eight years, during which she established the foundation's Los Angeles headquarters, grew staff from 13 to 90 people, designed their VISION+ responsive grantmaking program, launched the Annenberg Space for Photography, and created the largest capacity-building program in the nation – Annenberg Alchemy – training over 2,000 nonprofit CEOs and board chairs in nonprofit sustainability, and the program continues through today.

Sylia began her career as a CPA at Arthur Andersen. She has an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA in marketing and strategy and graduated manga cum laude in business administration and accounting at California State University, Northridge as an undergrad. She is a governance, executive and change-management coach, accredited by BoardSource, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and Robert Gass's Social Transformation Project.

Isaiah M. Oliver is the third president of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, Florida’s oldest and largest community foundation, established in 1964. In this role, he oversees an experienced 29-person staff, which manages more than $700 million in assets and distributed more than $79.4 million in grants in 2024.

Isaiah's dedication to local community development and leadership is evident in his roles on the Jacksonville Civic Council, Co-Chair of the Jacksonville Transformation Coalition, Trustee member of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, and Vice-Chair of the City of Jacksonville Homelessness Commission.

Isaiah serves as Chair of the CFLeads National Board of Directors, on the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy’s Leadership Council, on the ABFE Board of Directors, on the Independent Sector Board of Directors, and as a member of the Council on Foundations Public Policy Advisory Committee. Isaiah is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Civil Society Fellowship, a Partnership of ADL and The Aspen Institute, and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Prior to leading The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, he served as the CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint (MI), a top 100 community foundation, established in 1988 with peak assets of $350 million.

Isaiah was previously Chair of the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, Central Michigan University, Vice-Chair of the Council of Michigan Foundations Board of Trustees, Chair of the Michigan Community Foundation Committee, on the Community Foundations Public Awareness Initiative Steering Committee, president of the Flint Public Schools Board, treasurer of the Hurley Medical Center Board of Directors, member of the McLaren Home Care Board, member of the Flint and Genesee Group Board, the Uptown Redevelopment Corporation Board and many others.

Isaiah is a member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Isaiah and his wife, Shay, have four children: Zaiah, Carrington, Chelyn, and Isaiah II.

Suzanne Philemon serves as the Executive Director for The Cannon Foundation.  Suzanne was previously the Senior Program Officer. She joined the Foundation in 2016 as a Program Officer for higher education grants. Prior to the Foundation, Suzanne worked at Wingate University in Alumni Affairs and Marketing.  Suzanne earned both her undergraduate and MBA degrees from Wingate University.

Bleik serves as Program Director and Secretary. As Program Director, Bleik manages JGBF's Impact Team, encompassing programs, grants management, and learning and evaluation. Bleik is directly responsible for the Foundation's grantmaking portfolios for Education, and Community and Economic Development in Eastern Kentucky. He also oversees the Brown Fellows Program, a mentored scholarship program in partnership with Centre College and the University of Louisville.

Bleik has over 25 years of experience in philanthropy. Before joining the Foundation's staff in 2017, he served in senior roles with the University of Kentucky, the National Science Teachers Association, Meridian International Center, and the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization. Bleik earned a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. from the University of Kentucky's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce.

Bleik serves on the Steering Committee of Grantmakers for Education's Postsecondary Access and Attainment Impact Group.

Phil Purcell currently serves as Territory Director of Planned Giving for the Central Territory of The Salvation Army. In this role, he is the directional leader of thirty planned giving staff who close $80 million in planned gifts annually. 

Phil is counsel for the National Community Foundation Legal Help Desk, Philanthropy Southeast, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, and Philanthropy Ohio. He has served as independent counsel for over one hundred community foundations throughout the U.S. He served as Director of Gift Planning for the Central Indiana Community Foundation, consultant for Kansas Association of Community Foundations, consultant for the Florida Philanthropic Network, and a legal and peer reviewer for the Community Foundations National Standards Board, Council of Foundations.

Phil teaches courses on law and philanthropy, nonprofit organization law and planned giving as adjunct faculty for the Indiana University Maurer School of Law (Bloomington, IN) and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Fundraising School (Indianapolis, IN). He is a senior consultant for the Heaton Smith Group, a national legacy planning consulting firm. Phil serves as editor for Planned Giving Today, a national monthly publication, as well as a content editor for Giving USA.

Phil is an attorney and member of the Indiana and American Bar Association.  He serves as Vice Chair of the Charitable Giving and Organizations Committee of the Real Property, Trust, and Estate section of the American Bar Association. He is president of the American Council on Gift Annuities board of directors, and formerly served on the boards of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (secretary), Indiana Charitable Gift Planners (president), AFP – Indiana (president), and was AFP-Indiana Fundraiser of the Year.

Phil received his B.A. degree from Wabash College (magna cum laude) and his J.D. and M.P.A. degrees (with honors) from Indiana University.  He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Alpha Alpha as well as a Truman Scholar.

Armond Reese is a Regional Practice Leader within the Foundations and Endowments Specialty Practice, offering clients 22 years of investment management experience. He holds his Chartered Financial Analyst,® Chartered Alternative Investment AnalystSM, and Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designations.

He advises on the development and implementation of investment strategies to help his clients address their short- and long-term goals. He follows a disciplined process of assessing an organization’s financial situation, forming and executing an appropriate investment plan, and performing ongoing portfolio maintenance to obtain measurable results. 

Armond joined Truist in 1999 and served as a member of its portfolio construction group for several years. In this role, he was responsible for selecting and monitoring fund managers utilized in the firm’s companywide investment strategies. Over the course of his career, he’s developed a deep passion for educating individuals about the importance of financial literacy and strongly believes everyone should have a basic understanding of the financial markets.

A graduate of Georgia Southern University, Armond serves on the board of Decatur Cooperative Ministry and on the investment committee for the Atlanta Society of Finance and Investment Professional Foundation. In addition, he’s a member of the CFA Society of Atlanta and the Atlanta chapter of the CAIA.

Jaspal Sandhu is a distinguished leader in design, social entrepreneurship, and health equity. As Hopelab’s Executive Vice President, he provides strategic direction across the organization, leading a multidisciplinary team with expertise in venture investment, translational research, and youth co-creation.

Jaspal teaches at UC Berkeley, where he co-founded the Fung Fellowship to train students on digital health equity and created the first human-centered design course in a school of public health. His current teaching explores the relationship between the arts and social impact. Before joining Hopelab, Jaspal was managing partner at Gobee, a global design consultancy he co-founded to spark social innovation. Gobee’s work in 25 countries included developing next-generation medical devices for newborns in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, launching an incubator for domestic violence prevention, and building human-centered design capacity in U.S. health care safety net clinics and hospitals.

In his early career, he worked in product engineering roles for Nokia and Intel, and conducted research on rural health care technology as a Fulbright scholar to Mongolia. He holds a Ph.D. in design from UC Berkeley and two engineering degrees from M.I.T.

Tamela Spann serves as Vice President of Community Investments at Hollingsworth Funds, Inc., where she has been instrumental in advancing strategic philanthropy since joining as Manager of Strategic Initiatives in October 2015. Her exceptional leadership and commitment to equitable community development led to her promotion to Vice President in January 2019.

In her current role, Tamela leads a dynamic team of professionals while overseeing the strategic direction of Hollingsworth Funds' community investment portfolio. She specializes in developing multi-sector collaborative partnerships that connect funders, community organizations, nonprofits, and public entities through innovative public-private partnerships to address systemic barriers based on race, place, and socioeconomic status. Her work focuses on strengthening pathways in education and workforce development, access to affordable housing and transportation, and community economic advancement.

With over 15 years of experience in strategic grantmaking and community leadership, Tamela brings deep expertise in designing and implementing initiatives that create lasting community impact. Her approach emphasizes relationship building, collaborative strategy development, and data-driven decision making to maximize collective impact across diverse communities.

Tamela holds a Master of Education from Converse University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of South Carolina Upstate. She is a Hull Fellow and distinguished graduate of Leadership Greenville, Leadership Spartanburg, and the Riley Institute's Diversity Leadership Institute.

Her extensive governance experience includes current roles as Vice Chair of the Greenville Housing Fund and Together SC, where she also chairs the Governance Committee. She previously served as Chair of Greater Good Greenville and ReGenesis Community Development Corporation. Tamela is an active member of the South Carolina Grantmakers Network Steering Committee, the Cypress Fund Movement-Led Advisory Body, and the Local Advisory Committee for LISC South Carolina. Her past service includes advisory roles with the Amplify Fund, Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Greenville Chamber of Commerce, and MedEx Academy.
Beyond her professional commitments, Tamela is deeply rooted in her community as Music Coordinator at Macedonia Baptist Church and as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., reflecting her lifelong dedication to service and community engagement.

Anna Shireen Wadia is the Executive Director of the Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund. The CARE Fund brings diverse funders together to invest in movement building for universal publicly supported care infrastructures that will fuel economies, improve the wellbeing of kids and families, create millions of good jobs, promote equity, and enable people with disabilities and older adults to live independently with safety and dignity. At the Ford Foundation, the Ms. Foundation for Women, and her own consulting practice, Anna has nurtured and propelled movements for care and built bridges among funders and advocates across the care continuum. As Senior Program Officer for the Ford Foundation’s Future of Worker(s) program, her grantmaking focused on improving the quality of jobs for low-wage workers and supporting movements for equitable and universal caregiving policies. At the Ms. Foundation for Women, Anna co-directed the program division and managed a funder collaborative focused on women’s economic development. Anna began her career supporting women’s and other community-based organizations working on income generation and relief efforts in West and Southern Africa. She holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.

David Weitnauer launched the Giving Related research project in 2025 through a fellowship sponsored by the National Center for Family Philanthropy. The project was inspired by his belief in the importance of relationships in every context and especially family philanthropy.

He has been working with families since graduating seminary in 1986. He served in a variety of settings during his formal pastoral career including institutional chaplaincy, congregational ministry, and an ecumenical counseling center.

David’s experience with family philanthropy began in 1996 when he was asked to serve as a community trustee for a new family foundation. Following a period of board service, David became the part-time director in 1998. Two years later, he became the full-time Executive Director of Rockdale Foundation and for the next seven years worked to advance its founders’ divergent interests. David worked locally on public education reform. Internationally, he worked cross-culturally in 6 countries of a then-developing Arab microfinance industry. During this same period, he partnered with an ecumenical Seminary in Cuba to strengthen community services delivered by local churches in the absence of a non-profit sector.

In 2007, David became President of the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation. He was charged with cultivating governance practices and operations in accordance with best practices, facilitation of an intergenerational board succession process (G2 to G3), and developing a focused approach to grantmaking that included proactive engagement. By 2023, five third-generation trustees were leading the Board in partnership with four community trustees. Priorities developed by trustees guided programmatic investments within three legacy areas. David facilitated the Foundation’s next gen program for 17 of its 23-year history. Most recently, he worked with the board on a two-year succession process prior to his retirement at the end of 2024.

While with Rockdale and Dobbs, he worked with partners to launch two non-profits that continue to thrive today, Sanabel Microfinance Network and One Hundred Miles, respectively. In partnership with the Southeastern Council of Foundations (now, Philanthropy Southeast), David teamed with colleagues to launch a state association of grantmakers, serving as its founding chair. He also contributed to the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative and co-led development of Stewards of the Georgia Coast, a donor affinity group that advances conservation philanthropy on behalf of Georgia’s internationally significant coast.

Board service includes One Hundred Miles and the Rockdale Foundation; David served previously on the boards of the National Center for Family Philanthropy, John H. and Wilhemina Harland Charitable Foundation, Georgia Social Impact Collaborative, Georgia Grantmakers Alliance, Philanthropy Southeast, Sanabel Microfinance Network, Agnes Scott College, and Columbia Theological Seminary. A 1982 graduate of Davidson College, David received his Master of Divinity in 1986 and his Doctor of Theology in 1997 from Columbia Theological Seminary.

He and his wife, Nancy, have two adult children and live in Decatur, Georgia.

Sherece is a leading 21st-century equity advocate. From her early beginnings as a housing advocate in New York City to leading programs at some of the most prestigious foundations in the Southeastern United States, Sherece has been relentless in her quest to increase prosperity for families striving to move out of poverty.

Sherece uses every opportunity to speak life into leaders and organizations. Her expertise in public policy, funding strategies, and program development make her one of our nation’s top transformational leaders. Before the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, she was the founding CEO of the Foundation for Louisiana (FLL). Prior to FFL she was with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Sherece earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, and a master’s in Public Policy from the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

She is a member of the board of directors of Community Change, ForwARd Arkansas, Philander Smith College, and the Women’s Foundation of the South.

When she is not working, you will find Sherece traveling the world with her husband Joe, hanging out with their pups Peaches and Herb, or chilling with them at home reading, eating grapes or popcorn (sometimes both) while listening to music. She loves to dance.

Sarah Mann Willcox joined NCNG in 2014, and was named executive director in 2022. Prior to joining NCNG, Sarah served as the director of sustainability - primarily a development role - at the N.C. Center for Nonprofits. She is a graphic facilitator and spends a lot of time studying and thinking about how adults learn best. Sarah serves as a board member of the United Philanthropy Forum and has also volunteered on several local nonprofit boards including the Durham Symphony Orchestra and the Triangle Youth Philharmonic. She has a master’s degree in public administration from N.C. State and has a B.S. from Appalachian State. Sarah is a classically trained violinist and Irish fiddle player and is something of a hobby collector. Lately, she's been into tap dancing and sewing.

As director of Mississippi and New Orleans Programming at W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Rhea is responsible for leadership and vision in program conceptualization, design, planning, management, coordination, communication, evaluation, policy and learning of grantmaking in Mississippi and New Orleans. Rhea supports and facilitates the community change process within the region in alignment with the foundation’s mission and strategic framework, in collaboration and partnership with grantees and other external partners in the region, as well as other W.K. Kellogg staff. Rhea obtained her Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership from Jackson State University, where she earned a Master of Public Policy & Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Affairs.