Lesley-Jane Dixon: Cultivating the Future of Female Leadership

The Community Foundation is excited to continue our Leaders of the Future series, highlighting the work and experiences of incredible individuals and organizations from across our community of philanthropic, community, professional advisor, corporate, and nonprofit partners.

Not the least of these are the incredible members of The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees, who work tirelessly to champion and facilitate the work that we do. Lesley-Jane Dixon has served on The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees since 2019 and will be completing her service on the Board at the end of this month.

From the early days of her career, Lesley-Jane Dixon was used to being one of the only women in the room.

A finance major who grew up in New Jersey, Lesley-Jane began her career at the epicenter of the global financial industry – the American Stock Exchange on Wall St.

“From the moment I saw the trading floor, I was completely and utterly hooked,” Lesley-Jane recalls, as she witnessed the hustle and bustle of traders,  floor brokers, and  market makers – mostly White men – conducting the trades that fuel the U.S. Economy.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Although the numbers have been steadily increasing over the years, Women on Wall St – and in most of the financial sector – are still in the minority. Studies show that just about a third of Certified Financial Planners (CFP) in the US are women – and even fewer (about 18%) are in financial leadership positions.

However, Lesley-Jane did not let that bother her as she spent three years at the Stock Exchange, another year at the investment giant Lehman Brothers, and a distinguished career at Lord, Abbett & Co – one of the oldest money management firms in the US – where she eventually became a portfolio manager and partner.

From Wall St to Main Street

In 2007, Lesley-Jane left her position at Lord, Abbett & Co in New Jersey and began a new career as Chief Investment Officer at Clark Enterprises – A private investment firm founded in 1972 to manage Clark family wealth.

While her new environment differed greatly from the Stock Market Floor, Lesley-Jane enjoyed working with the Clark family to guide their investment strategy and learn more about the Greater Washington region she now called home.

Before long, Lesley-Jane was introduced to The Community Foundation, joining the Montgomery County Advisory Board in 2016 and serving on the Sharing Montgomery grants committee.

“I have truly benefited from the unique perspective the Community Foundation has given me through ongoing education opportunities on the needs and priorities of the region, which mirror those of the nation,” Lesley-Jane shared. “I am forever grateful to the Community Foundation for opening my heart and eyes; my time on the board has been a profoundly transformational experience.”

Lesley-Jane with Anna Hargrave, Executive Director for Montgomery County; Marcus Braxton, Chief Operations Officer; and Juliana Mitrojorgji, Chief Financial Officer at the 2023 Annual Meeting.

In the Room Where it Happens

It didn’t take long for Lesley-Jane to catch the attention of fellow financial planner and advisory board member, Mary Pat Alcus who also served on the Board of Trustees as Chair of The Community Foundation’s Investment Committee. The Investment Committee is responsible for overseeing the management of the more than $500 million in assets under The Community Foundation’s purview. By 2019, Lesley-Jane was invited to join the Board of Trustees and the Investment Committee – which she would later Chair.

Within months, Lesley-Jane and Mary Pat helped onboard a new CEO – Tonia Wellons – the second Black Female CEO in the The Community Foundation’s history. Together, with Juliana Mitrojorgji – the organization’s Chief Financial Officer, The CommunityFoundation boasted an all-Female Investment Committee with a combined 75 years of investment, partnership, and financial management experience.

“What I love about working with a strong female leader like Tonia is that she spends more time listening than speaking. ” Lesley-Jane shared. “As an effective communicator, Tonia encourages diverse perspectives, is open to differing opinions and believes in collaboration.  Her commitment to the vision and goals she has set for herself, the organization, and the staff contributes to a culture of respect and success.

Together, the women set out to reevaluate the organization’s investment strategy – eventually seeking out and onboarding a new Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) to manage The Community Foundation’s assets and generate stronger returns for fundholders and the community. They also initiated annual onsite visits between The Community Foundation and the OCIO (SEI), to promote strategic alignment and greater transparency around investment priorities.

Lesley-Jane and the Investment Committee were also heavily involved in the adoption and implementation of The Community Foundation’s 10-Year Strategic Vision to close the racial wealth gap – particularly as it related to making socially and financially responsible investments to execute the organization’s goals.

“I thoroughly enjoy working with Tonia, Juliana, Rachel and The Community Foundation team,” Lesley-Jane shared. “They are passionate about what they do, bringing unique strengths, robust skills, and an unmatched dedication to advancing the organization’s mission and vision. Throughout my tenure, I’ve felt valued, appreciated, and part of the team, a rarity in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds.  Tonia has built an enduring culture of inclusion and innovation, enabling her to attract and retain the best and the brightest.  Spending time with them felt like my second home.

Supporting Strong Female Leaders Abroad

Zulnette Garcia Ramos, Executive Director of Albanisteria en la Brega - a nonprofit organization in Puerto Rico that Lesley-Jane advises through How Women Lead.

Lesley-Jane’s leadership impact goes beyond The Community Foundation. In 2023, she was invited to join the Board of Advisors for How Women Lead, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping women influence change in the workplace. (Jill Landefeld, fellow Community Foundation Trustee and member of the Investment Committee, is also a Board Member).

How Women Lead provides outlets for female executives to support women by activating individual and collective power to influence change through leadership advancement, investment, coaching and philanthropy.

Through one of the programs, Lesley-Jane has worked with nonprofit leaders in Puerto Rico and Kenya – helping to support women as they build organizations providing much needed services from access to school libraries to support for victims of domestic violence.

When asked what she enjoys most about the program, Lesley-Jane shared that she enjoys seeing women empowered to change their community and become examples of leadership that future female leaders can follow.

“When we uplift one another, we create networks of encouragement and collaboration that can break down systemic barriers that limit potential,” Lesley-Jane concluded. “Moreover, women supporting each other sets a powerful example for future generations, inspiring them to carry forward the legacy of unity.”

“Strong female leaders can drive positive change and make significant improvements --Not just to an organization, but to a whole community!”

Meet Our Community Action Award Partners!

This month, The Community Foundation is excited to announce the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Action Awards. First introduced in 2020, the VoicesDMV Community Action Awards provide grants of $5,000 to nonprofits who are working on projects to make our region more equitable and inclusive. We are proud to support the work and mission of our Community Action Award Partners!

• Child Care Counts

  Which Communities/Neighborhoods do you serve?

  We serve low-income families in the District of Columbia and neighboring counties in Maryland and Virginia. At least 70% of our program families live in DC Wards 7 and 8, or in Maryland: Aspen Hill, Hyattsville and Takoma Park.

  In 2-3 sentences, please briefly describe the mission of your organization

  Child Care Counts promotes economic mobility for low-income families by addressing child care needs. We provide direct assistance for child care costs of young children in the greater Washington DC area so parents can pursue better career opportunities. These supports, along with ongoing financial planning, help parents build long-term prosperity and set up children for success.

  What was your reaction to the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report? Did it's findings resonate with you and your work? If so, how?

  The 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report echoes what we see with our program families and those who come to us seeking assistance. Most are working full-time but struggling to, not even get ahead, but just stay afloat. Low wages for jobs like early learning teacher, school bus driver, home health aide - jobs that are so important to our community - keep them in a constant state of financial insecurity. Our assistance with the cost of a state licensed child care provider is a huge help but they also need help navigating a system that is stacked against them. Applying for a state child care voucher can be a nightmare, so much so that many parents just give up on benefits that could really help them find and keep employment. This is just one example of how the programs that are in place to support our most vulnerable families, can end up being a barrier. It is no wonder that these communities report lower expectations for long term prosperity, as cited in the report.

  What excites you about receiving a 2024 Community Action Award? In 2-3 short sentences, please share what you hope to accomplish with the microgrant?

  We are excited to offer our Necessities Fund to families receiving Child Care Counts child care scholarships because we hope it will give them actual experience that demonstrates the importance of saving for a family emergency fund. Low-income families often rely on credit cards in emergency situations and so, frequently come to us with large credit card debt. We provide one-on-one financial counseling but it's hard to relate to the advice given, without real-life experience.

  What excites you about the future for your community?

  Many of the parents we work with are achieving goals because they've had the barrier of affording quality child care removed. Some have graduated with degrees from college. Some have been able to take full-time, higher paying jobs. It is so gratifying to see them excited for their children and excited for their own future prospects. It gives us hope that if we, as a community (and nation) can solve some very solvable issues, families could be so much better off. In our minds, it is not that hard and the payoffs are tremendous. For every family we've supported, no matter the situation of the parent(s,) we know that the safe, nurturing and enriching child care that their children are provided with will serve them well in life. This support not only helps families now, it is also an investment the future of their children and, ultimately, in the greater community.

• Bethesda Cares

  Which Communities/Neighborhoods do you serve?

  Montgomery County, MD.

  In 2-3 sentences, please briefly describe the mission of your organization

  The mission of Bethesda Cares is to ease, end, and prevent homelessness. We conduct street outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness, helping them obtain subsidies for permanent supportive housing. Once housed, we provide them with ongoing case management.

  What was your reaction to the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report? Did it's findings resonate with you and your work? If so, how?

  We felt a sense of empathy with members of our community who feel a lack of personal stability. The findings resonated with the sense of community well being that is imbued in our mission.

  What excites you about receiving a 2024 Community Action Award? In 2-3 short sentences, please share what you hope to accomplish with the microgrant?

  With this grant we plan to support our outreach program, ensuring individuals experiencing chronic homelessness have the support and resources to find and remain in permanent supportive housing. This work will end homelessness for members of our community.

  What excites you about the future for your community?

  We are excited to see more individuals given the supports they need to find and remain in housing, permanently.

• Centers for Opportunity

  Which Communities/Neighborhoods do you serve?

  CFO operates five centers across Northern Virginia (including Annandale, Arlington, Merrifield (Fairfax), Reston, and South County in Alexandria on Route 1 near Fort Belvoir). Through our virtual groups which run Monday through Saturday, we provide added support to residents across Arlington and Fairfax Counties.

  In 2-3 sentences, please briefly describe the mission of your organization

  CFO supports adults in Northern Virginia, offering free programs to help them achieve their personal and professional goals. We offer five areas of support 1) Basic Needs (daily meals and referrals to services such as housing and medical care 2) Peer Support (all of our staff are individuals in recovery from mental health and/or substance use issues) 3) Wellness and Recovery programs (daily activities such as art-for-wellness, journaling, socialization, and recreation to help individuals heal from trauma and negative life experiences 4) Employment Services (available for anyone in the community) and 5) Virtual Groups (to support individuals who are homebound or who prefer online services).

  What was your reaction to the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report? Did it's findings resonate with you and your work? If so, how?

  Your report is thorough and comprehensive. It touched on many of the issues those we serve face daily, from access to affordable housing to employment concerns. It also recognizes the very real issue of food insecurity most of our participants face on a daily basis. We at CFO value and respect the wonderful work of your organization and both humbled and honored to be working with you to help uplift those we serve on Route 1 in Alexandria. CFO recently opened an Employment Services division to help individuals find jobs, but also to connect individuals to training and programs that will help them move forward such as literacy, securing GED's, ESL, and others. This issue were another key finding in your report that many of our participants face.

  What excites you about receiving a 2024 Community Action Award? In 2-3 short sentences, please share what you hope to accomplish with the microgrant?

  CFO is grateful for the Community Action Award because it empowers us to help individuals who need to secure their GED's so they can pursue a higher education or a trade. It helps us create meaningful collateral material to help support those seeking employment to use as a guide while pursuing their dreams, and it helps us to capture the behaviors of individuals digitally in mock interviews so they can become self-aware of the impressions they are making to employers. This will help them be more prepared when an interview happens. Ultimately the funds will assist CFO in helping adults who are unemployed, underemployed, or who are seeking new opportunities to move toward upward mobility. The ability to help those we serve achieve this is thrilling for us. Thank you!

  What excites you about the future for your community?

  South County Alexandria, along Route 1, has seen a great deal of positive growth in the past several years. It is a positive development. Unfortunately, however there are many individuals who continue to live below the poverty level in the area. We are excited that as a collective - individuals, nonprofit organizations, faith-based communities, businesses, and local government are all working together to address the challenges these individuals face. It is heartening to witness, and CFO's participants are benefiting from these collective efforts as they are securing jobs, homes, and are moving forward in life in this vibrant section of Fairfax County.

• Story Tapestries, Inc

  Which Communities/Neighborhoods do you serve?

  Story Tapestries (ST) focuses on providing access to the arts for all ages, especially in communities experiencing disparities and economic challenges. Write Your Story (WYS - pronounced “wise”) is Story Tapestries’ approach to provide workforce development for caregivers and educators while promoting accessibility and inclusivity in learning environments to support youth at every stage of development. The WYS initiative currently reaches Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Frederick counties and Washington, DC.

  In 2-3 sentences, please briefly describe the mission of your organization

  Story Tapestries addresses vital community issues for millions of people of all ages and abilities using collaboration and the arts, in all forms, to create and deliver tailored, accessible programs. We are an arts service organization that meets mental health, education, workforce development, digital equity and economic stability objectives through the use of the arts as a tool to support personal and community development.

  What was your reaction to the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report? Did it's findings resonate with you and your work? If so, how?

  The VoicesDMV Community Insights Report confirms the observations we’ve had of the challenges and barriers that exist for residents across the DMV, and in specific communities in particular. The report really highlights workforce fears, with 75% of residents describing available job opportunities as a barrier to achieving financial goals, and underlines how access to quality early childhood education and childcare services is the primary barrier to employment for residents with children.

  It was sobering, though not surprising, to see the report identified significant gaps and inequities in perceptions and in actual access to services based on racial/ethnic background in addition to geographic disparities.

  The data parallels what we know from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). MSDE reports (2022-23) only 42% of children were ready for kindergarten, with 29% of those living in poverty demonstrating readiness. The gap is larger based on economic status and ethnicity, with 56% of Caucasian kindergarteners deemed ready, compared to 22% of Latino/a students and 37% of African American students.

  This has been a central focus of the work of Story Tapestries - to intentionally work to increase access for those who have not had it and to systematically address these inequities by building pathways to change and implementing strategies that are inclusive and accessible for all.

  What excites you about receiving a 2024 Community Action Award? In 2-3 short sentences, please share what you hope to accomplish with the microgrant?

  Story Tapestries has received requests from sites in East County and Langley Park, both in Montgomery County, but have not had the funding to offer services at those sites. With this microgrant, WYS will expand the current successful program to 2 more sites in the above regions reaching an additional 80 children, 40 caregivers and 16 educators. We are excited to be able to reach these communities who have expressed need and interest, but haven’t had access to the funds to make these programs possible.

  What excites you about the future for your community?

  Montgomery County has a vibrant community of civic-minded and engaged residents and a current county government that supports collaboration and has set up strategies to support early childhood development. We are excited for the possibilities to affect systemic change with both the public and private support necessary. In our years of providing strong workforce development programs that boost skills and improve job security for early childhood educators, we have seen a real impact on teachers as well as the children they support. Involving parents/caregivers has been a critical component of this success. We look forward to continuing to partner with the community to develop a strong cradle to career pipeline that more equitably supports today’s children - tomorrow’s leaders.

• Beloved Community Incubator

  Which Communities/Neighborhoods do you serve?

  We are a regional solidarity economy movement organization serving communities in the DMV. Specifically we support an over 20 member network of coops, and provide intensive support to Black and Brown led coops and coops in formation, through non-extractive lending, technical assistance and training, and community organizing. Specifically, our focus in DC is primarily in Wards 1, 4, 7 & 8. We are also cultivating and deepening relationships with BIPOC-led coops and potential coops in Montgomery County, PG County, and in NOVA -- specifically in Bailey's Crossroads/the Rt. 1 Corridor in Virginia.

  In 2-3 sentences, please briefly describe the mission of your organization

  BCI provides both high-touch incubation and administrative, legal, and technical support to cooperatives in DC, Maryland, and Virginia at various stages of incubation and operation. Data shows that worker-owned cooperatives and collectives build wealth for workers and provide better wages, benefits, leave, and training than traditional capitalist business structures. BCI also provides non-extractive, or solidarity, lending to local cooperatives through the DC Solidarity Economy Loan Fund. Solidarity loans support a thriving ecosystem of cooperatives by providing access to non-extractive capital, especially to borrowers who otherwise would not qualify for lending under traditional lending practices, and ensuring that they are not bankrupted by automatic loan repayments or personal loan guarantees. Finally, because the current capitalist economy does not meet the needs of our communities, BCI engages in community organizing, advocacy campaigns, and mutual aid to build and protect worker power in the DC region, with the goal of creating policies that support the emergence of a regional solidarity economy.

  What was your reaction to the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report? Did it's findings resonate with you and your work? If so, how?

  The findings we resonated 100% and confirmed what we already know to be true from our work in the community. Strategies so far in the traditional service, advocacy, and organizing sectors to alleviate generational poverty are not working on their own. They need to be supplement with a radically different approach that shifts the relationship of workers to capital, and allows families to build generational wealth. We are so glad to be part of a very broadly conceived "social safety net" and bring to the table our own model of social change, where the most harshly system impacted people to own their own labor and and create assets owned communally.

  What excites you about receiving a 2024 Community Action Award? In 2-3 short sentences, please share what you hope to accomplish with the microgrant?

  We hope to continue the work we started in building out a regional approach to the work of BCI! This microgrant will allow us to dive deeper and share out our learnings!

  What excites you about the future for your community?

  The DMV is in deep need of a solidarity economy ecosystem! We are ready to for our role in supporting communities regionally to build a new society in the shell of the old.

• Guerilla Gardeners of Washington DC

  Which Communities/Neighborhoods do you serve?

  Guerrilla Gardeners of Washington DC conducts most of our work in Ward 6, however participants in our vocational training program are drawn primarily from Wards 7 and 8. We also are in the fourth year of a long-term commitment to develop, improve and maintain the public green spaces adjacent to the Potomac Gardens and Hopkins Apartments public housing campuses.

  In 2-3 sentences, please briefly describe the mission of your organization

  Guerrilla Gardeners of Washington DC is a 100% volunteer nonprofit organization that improves public spaces, strengthens underserved communities and positively impacts the lives of at-risk youth. We provide leadership, knowledge, organization, volunteer labor and supplies in collaboration with local residents to create more equitable, attractive, usable and safer green spaces for urban neighborhoods. We provide vocational training internships in gardening, landscaping and urban agriculture to young people facing homelessness and food insecurity. 

  What was your reaction to the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report? Did it's findings resonate with you and your work? If so, how?

  The 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report underscored the need for the work of Guerrilla Gardeners and inspired us expand our efforts to provide vocational training to vulnerable youth populations and equitable public green spaces to underserved communities.

  What excites you about receiving a 2024 Community Action Award? In 2-3 short sentences, please share what you hope to accomplish with the microgrant?

  Receiving a 2024 Community Action Award validates the work we are doing in the community. This microgrant will fund intensive training in landscaping for at-risk youth at the beginning of 2025, preparing them to immediately enter the workforce for the coming season. Our network of industry employers will be provided a roster of newly-trained candidates with the requisite skills to perform basic landscaping tasks. Some trainees may choose an entrepreneurial route by engaging private clients.

  What excites you about the future for your community?

  GGDC and the Greater Washington Community Foundation share the philosophy of developing community-based solutions. As the success of this approach grows, we anticipate greater support for this strategy from the wider population to overcome obstacles to education, self-reliance and prosperity.

The Community Foundation Announces 2024 VoicesDMV Community Action Awards

The Community Foundation is excited to announce the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Action Awards. The awards are part of The Community Foundation’s VoicesDMV community engagement initiative, which unveiled its most recent Community Insights Report earlier this year.

“VoicesDMV is about more than just gathering and sharing information,” Darius Graham, The Community Foundation’s Managing Director of Community Investment shared. “It’s about turning information into action and making sure our work and that of our partners is directly informed by residents.”

“That’s why we’re excited to announce these Community Action Awards to support nonprofits in our community that are doing the work to address the issues and challenges outlined in the VoicesDMV report.”

First introduced in 2020, the VoicesDMV Community Action Awards provide grants of $5,000 to nonprofits who are working on projects to make our region more equitable and inclusive.

Projects ranged from initiatives addressing civic engagement and job readiness to others focused on rental assistance and housing security. All of the projects address one or more issues highlighted in the 2024 VoicesDMV Community Insights Report.

This year’s Community Action Award Recipients include:

• Anti-Racist DC will train and engage DC residents about housing insecurity and the inequitable distribution of wealth through the lens of equity and racial justice.

• Guerilla Gardeners of DC will provide a 4-week groundskeeping training program for young people facing housing insecurity.

• Beloved Community Incubator will partner with local organizations to engage with residents to promote workplace democracy and worker ownership.

• Centers for Opportunity will address barriers to employment for those living in the Richmond Highway corridor – with a special focus on those who have not worked for an extended period of time (ex. those experiencing homelessness, formerly incarcerated, and those without a high school diploma).

• Living Classrooms Foundation will train Ward 7 residents in how to operate and maintain “green infrastructure” through their Kingman Rangers program.

• Story Tapestries will hold trainings for early childhood educators in Montgomery County so they can earn higher wages and teach more effectively.

• Child Care Counts will provide emergency funds for families in Ward 7 & 8

• Bethesda Cares will provide rent relief to low-income individuals in Montgomery County

• Youth Activism Project will focus on youth civic empowerment and get-out-the-vote efforts in DC Wards 7 & 8 and East County, Montgomery County to help residents become more involved and aware of their role in local government.

• Many Languages, One Voice will hold four listening sessions with immigrants and refugee residents of Washington, DC to gather additional insights and reactions to the VoicesDMV Report. Data from these sessions will be used to create deeper awareness of the needs and situation of immigrants of color in DC.

Click here to learn more about our 2024 Community Action Award Recipients!

The Black-Led Project: A Guide to Understand the Opportunities and Challenges for Black-led organizations

The Community Foundation is proud to support Service Never Sleeps (SNS) as they release their Black-Led Project Report. The report engaged 117 Black leaders directly about their unique needs and challenges, as well as their approaches to serving the community based upon their lived experiences. 

Whitney Parnell and Samson Girma, co-founders of SNS, sat down with our Chief Program Officer, Dawnn Leary, to share some of their major takeaways, ahead of the report’s release.

What can you tell us about the Black-Led Project research process?

We originally started the Black-Led Project after being told by multiple foundations that we didn’t qualify as “Black-led” when we applied for their funding in response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising. Knowing that Black people are best equipped to define ourselves, we launched a pilot in the Spring of 2022 by interviewing 27 Black leaders–Executive Directors, Deputy Directors, Race Equity Officers, and Race Equity Consultants–about the question, What does it mean to be Black-led?

Gratefully, the Greater Washington Community Foundation funded our continued research, and we engaged a total of 117 participants by the end of 2023 through interviews, cohort discussions, and surveys. Through the process, we were encouraged by the affirmation of our original findings and were enlightened by additional takeaways from the larger participant pool.

What were some of the main themes from the Black-Led Project research that stood out to SNS?

There were dozens of takeaways from the research, but there were several major themes that clearly stood out:

1. Black leaders are uniquely positioned to lead in transformative and liberatory ways because of their experiences and perspectives.
   Black leaders’ proximity to the community issues and experiences in the workplace allow for effective and innovative approaches to their missions – thus expanding the traditional notion of “good leadership.”

   One participant said: “Black folks tend to have a specific sort of lived experience that allows them to have an expansive view on solutions to particular social issues. Bringing that lived experience to the table actually helps produce better outcomes for all people…particularly in the nonprofits and social sector space because there’s a much better understanding of what’s actually happening in communities, and what we’re trying to support.”
   

2. Black led organizations can benefit people of all identities, due to their tendency to create “people-first” cultures that guide internal and external priorities.
   Black led organizations prioritize cultures of community, joy, and wellness in order to ensure that they support employees as full people, which in turn allows staff to show up effectively to their important missions.

   “Everyone gains when you can breathe, when you are in community, when you care about how people show up with their whole selves,” one participant shared. “When it’s pro-Black and Black-led, those things are centered, and everyone benefits in an organization.”
   

3. Black leaders face many unique challenges, including disrespect, insufficient funding, and unreasonable expectations amidst barriers.

   As part of taking on difficult leadership situations – which often come with unfair and unrealistically high standards, many Black leaders face challenges that impact their health and ability to successfully lead their organizations.

   “Many Black leaders are put in impossible situations where no leader would be expected to succeed,” one Black leader shared. “When they fail, this reinforces stereotypes.”
   

4. Black leaders need support from all directions to lead their organizations.
   There are so many ways that Black leaders and their organizations can be invested in to ensure that their powerful work can continue. Some specific needs that were mentioned included Black leaders’ needs for community with other Black leaders and operational funding to sustain the organizations and themselves. A thriving leader is best positioned to lead a thriving organization and drive community impact; so it should be everybody’s responsibility within and proximate to the organizations to ensure that Black leaders thrive.
   
   “[With funding] you are telling Black people that you trust us enough to lead,” one participant remarked. “You trust us enough with the grants, with the budgets, with the money. But you also trust our experiences and our perspectives.”

What will SNS be offering as a result of what it heard and learned from Black leaders?

Service Never Sleeps Whitney Parnell, Founder & CEO and Samson Girma, COO

The two years of research equipped us to write a robust report, and to create a supplemental training to accompany it.

Beyond a descriptive outline of the definition of Black led organizations, both resources provide a detailed spotlight on Black leaders’ experiences and insights, an extensive guide of equitable practices and effective leadership by centering Black leaders, and a charge to fund and support the sustainability and thriving of Black leaders and Black-led organizations.

The report is free to access on our website  – where you can also sign up to participate in the supplemental training course.  The training is meant to dive deeper into the report’s content, including providing opportunities to reflect in community, and develop next steps relative to participants’ individual identities and roles within institutions.

What do you hope for how the space will evolve to better recognize and support Black leaders based on what you heard and learned?

First and foremost, we hope that Black leaders will be trusted for the fantastic visionaries and deliverers that we are. Anti-Blackness is pervasive, and Black leaders face numerous barriers that prevent us from leading effectively and driving our important missions. We hope that Black leaders will be supported more.

If we say we care about Black led organizations, then we must care about Black leaders; and if we want to sustain Black organizations, then we must sustain Black leaders. It’s all intertwined, and sustainability is key.

Black led organizations should not only be championed during particular political climates or in response to egregious headlines; rather, the support should be consistent. Black led organizations have so much to offer communities and their people, and they can only live into that full potential with the adequate backing and resources to do so.

As The Community Foundation seeks to implement ways to center and operationalize equity within its grantmaking, this research will inspire ways The Community Foundation can transform its grantmaking practices to better center and support BIPOC leaders while reducing unintended barriers these leaders are experiencing.    

We are so excited to dig into this report, participate in the SNS offerings and learn how The Community Foundation can become a better philanthropic partner to Black led organizations in our community. We invite our philanthropic peers and donors to read this research, learn from these visionary leaders, and identify opportunities for you and your organizations to better center and support the work of BIPOC leaders.