Who We Are

Our staff and board are former and current grantmakers, organizers, and advocates that bring funders together to support racial, economic, gender, and climate justice movements. To reach our team, please write to us at nfg@nfg.org. 

Main image: 
Joan Mineri, Faron McLurkin, Melanie Allen, and Alison Corwin.

Our Team

Adriana Rocha
Adriana Rocha
President
Adriana Rocha
President
Neighborhood Funders Group
adriana [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 20

Adriana is Neighborhood Funders Group’s President and leads the next arc of the organization to mobilize its dynamic network, influence philanthropy, and connect people, place and power to support thriving communities. She is a bold, visionary leader and is responsible for external engagement, programs and membership, organizational & team management, and supports the organization’s Board of Directors and governance.  

She joined NFG in May 2017 and served as Vice President of Programs for three years. In this role, she led NFG’s biennial National Convening, program team, and the development and evaluation of all new NFG programs including its Leadership Development offerings; Philanthropy Forward and Peer Coaching Circles.

She was a former NFG member while at the New York Foundation. As a member, Adriana found other foundation staff members committed to social justice and a peer network of new Program Officers, particularly other new Program Officers of Color.

Adriana brings expertise in place-based and movement-led grantmaking, organizational capacity building, and nonprofit management. Adriana served as a Program Officer at the New York Foundation and Director of Grants & Capacity Building at the Just Beginnings Collaborative. Adriana served as Practice Director for CompassPoint, a national leader in providing capacity building support to social justice leaders and organizations.

She has served on the boards of the Latino Commission on AIDS, CALNonprofits, and Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Master’s degree from Columbia University, Social Organizational Psychology Program. Adriana is from Toluca Mexico and emigrated to the Midwest as a child. She is a board member at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation.

Pronouns: she/her

Sarita Ahuja
Sarita Ahuja
Vice President of Operations
Sarita Ahuja
Vice President of Operations
Neighborhood Funders Group
sarita [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 18

Having worked at the intersection of philanthropy and diverse communities engaged in social justice work for over 25 years, Sarita brings a mission-driven perspective to the strategic management and day-to-day operations of NFG. On the NFG team since 2016, her approach to overseeing NFG’s development, finance, human resources, and operations is grounded in a vision of a philanthropic sector that is truly accountable to movements for racial justice and equity.

Prior to NFG, Sarita’s background includes positions with The San Francisco Foundation, The California Endowment, The Ford Foundation, and Asian Law Caucus; and providing consulting expertise to foundations, affinity groups, and other nonprofits on fundraising, program design, grantmaking, research and evaluation, and organizational development.

She is a past board or advisory member of RYSE Center, Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, Narika, and the California Vipassana Center. Sarita holds an MA in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota and a BA in Political Science from Northwestern University.

Pronouns: she/her

Amanda Hwu
Program Manager
Amanda Hwu
Program Manager
amanda [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 31

Amanda supports Philanthropy Forward, the Midwest Organizing Infrastructure Funders, and NFG’s board engagement and governance. In her role, Amanda builds program infrastructure, manages logistics, and liaises with community partners to strengthen philanthropy's accountability to building a world where BIPOC and low-income communities thrive.

Amanda is skilled in designing and facilitating systems that nurture liberated giving, power-sharing, and community care. She joined NFG in 2021 with experience in managing and scaling an equity-centered capacity-building initiative, building data systems for violence prevention programs, and coordinating training programs for radical young BIPOC organizers. Amanda is of Taiwanese and Chinese descent and was raised with class privilege in East Central Illinois. Her lived experiences have cultivated a tender and curious approach to coordinating programs that allow us experiment, play, and rest towards collective liberation.

Amanda is a Co-Chair of the Asian Giving Circle, which supports Asian and Pacific Islander-led efforts in community organizing and collective healing in Chicagoland. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois and Master's degree in Social Administration from the University of Chicago. Amanda also spends her time crocheting, making clay earrings, and reinventing childhood recipes with loved ones.

Pronouns: she/her

Amy T. Morris
Amy T. Morris
Senior Director, Amplify Fund
Amy T. Morris
Senior Director, Amplify Fund
amy [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 23

Amy leads NFG’s first-ever grantmaking effort, the Amplify Fund. She has spent her career working for social justice, and more than a decade in progressive philanthropy. She is compelled by the Fund’s dual purpose - to build power in communities of color and shift power structures inside of philanthropy. 

Amy joined the Amplify team in late 2017, but was previously part of the NFG family as a board member and active participant in Funders for a Just Economy during her time as a Program Officer at the Surdna Foundation from 2010-2014. In addition, she spent three years as the Director of Programs at the Fund for Global Human Rights, where she oversaw grantmaking programs that strengthened frontline human rights movements in more than fifteen countries.

In other past lives, Amy was a high school teacher, a union researcher, a human rights observer, and ran a college program focused on immigrant rights on the US-Mexico border. Outside of work, Amy spends as much time as she can planning vacations for large groups of friends to escape to beautiful places and temporarily live out their Utopian dreams.

Pronouns: she/her

Chimene Okere
Director, Democratizing Development Program
Chimene Okere
Director, Democratizing Development Program
chimene [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063 x32

Chimene directs the relationship development, programming, and strategic planning for the Democratizing Development Program (DDP). DDP brings together philanthropic practitioners to learn and move resources to support the power, leadership, and vision of BIPOC and low-income communities advancing housing justice. He also supports the programming and learning for funders and partners participating in NFG’s Amplify Fund. 

Chimene has held numerous roles within philanthropy and the public sector. Prior to joining NFG, he served as a program officer moving resources to preserve democracy, advance economic justice, and invest in the leadership of BIPOC and low-income communities with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock Veatch Program (UUCSR). Before then he worked as a program associate and assistant at the Ford Foundation supporting its place-based grantmaking, strategy development, and learning that invested in base building organizations, equitable development solutions, and progressive state infrastructure. His career began as a political appointee with the Obama Administration supporting economic equity at the US Small Business Administration (SBA). 

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Chimene is the youngest of four of parents who immigrated from Nigeria in the 1980’s. He holds a BA from the University of Memphis with a minor in Italian and resides in Brooklyn, New York City.

Pronouns: he/him

Courtney Banayad
Courtney Banayad
Director of Membership and Communications
Courtney Banayad
Director of Membership and Communications
courtney [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 14

Courtney shapes, manages, and drives NFG’s communications strategies to inspire members and the broader philanthropic community to move more money to racial, economic, gender, and climate justice. She’s also NFG’s lead on membership engagement and works to ensure that foundations and their staff are benefiting from and co-conspiring with the NFG network. 

She joined NFG’s staff in July 2019 after working with the organization as a consultant via Moxy Group, a QPOC and women-led organization that she co-founded to partner with social justice and philanthropic organizations on fundraising, communications, and design projects. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Partnerships at Global Greengrants Fund, where she mobilized more than $10 million to propel grassroots environmental action. 

Courtney holds an M.A. in International and Intercultural Communications from the University of Denver and degrees in Ethnic Studies and American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She served on the Board of Directors at the Chinook Fund from 2015-2020. She is currently a volunteer grantmaker at the Another World is Possible Fund, which directs rapid response grants to social justice organizations in Colorado that are fighting for a just response to COVID-19 in the short-term and a visionary future for our world in the long-term. 

Pronouns: she/her

The green, blue, and red swirl icon in NFG's logo.
Elizabeth Pham
Senior Operations Manager
Elizabeth Pham
Senior Operations Manager
elizabeth [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 21

Elizabeth leads information and operations management improvement projects while facilitating program evaluation for NFG. Leveraging continuous improvement and lean principles, she focuses on ensuring NFG’s operations support staff’s work in moving more resources to and building power for Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.

Elizabeth joined NFG in October 2018, drawn to its racial justice focus and mission to develop a philanthropic sector that is more inclusive and equitable. She has served in many roles within the nonprofit sector in the US and abroad which ranged from streamlining program operations for the Ford Foundation to capacity building for community-based organizations in Vietnam. Elizabeth holds both a BS and MPA degrees from New York University.

Pronouns: she/her

The green, blue, and red swirl icon in NFG's logo.
Lauren Goudeaux
Senior Operations Coordinator
Lauren Goudeaux
Senior Operations Coordinator
lauren [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 11

Lauren facilitates the day-to-day administration of NFG’s business operations and processes. Her work is primarily focused on leveraging internal systems and technologies to improve the efficiency and performance of membership and revenue processes.

Lauren joined NFG in 2018, inspired by the organization’s efforts to move resources and power to people of color and communities that have been systematically marginalized and disenfranchised. She has a background in education and public health advocacy, diversity efforts in STEM and healthcare professions workforce development. Prior to NFG, Lauren worked with the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Science Educational Equity Program, and the Greater Sacramento Urban League. Lauren holds a MS in Statistics with an emphasis in applied applications and data science. 

Pronouns: she/her

Lindsay Ryder
Lindsay Ryder
Director, Integrated Rural Strategies Group
Lindsay Ryder
Director, Integrated Rural Strategies Group
lindsay [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 22

Lindsay leads NFG’s Integrated Rural Strategies Group, working with funders from around the country to build power and equity in rural communities. IRSG’s programming is designed to build relationships among funders and between funders and rural community leaders, with the goal of mobilizing philanthropy to support racial, economic, gender, and climate justice for rural communities.

Lindsay joined NFG’s staff in 2017, continuing her passion for and experience in grantmaking, capacity building, and technical assistance to support social justice advocacy. Growing up in a rural area, Lindsay is honored to bring this background to her commitment to intersectional justice, which has been the focus of her work throughout her career. Lindsay was herself an NFG member while serving as Program Officer with the Proteus Fund’s Security & Rights Collaborative (now RISE Together Fund), and also worked as a Legal Associate at Alliance for Justice where she supported progressive campaigns to build community power. Lindsay earned her BA from New York University and JD from Brooklyn Law School. Lindsay is also on a mission to impart the joys of rock climbing with as many NFG staff as possible, having taken four NFG colleagues climbing and counting!

Pronouns: she/her

Manisha Vaze
Manisha Vaze
Director, Funders for a Just Economy
Manisha Vaze
Director, Funders for a Just Economy
manisha [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 19

Manisha directs the strategy and programming for Funders for a Just Economy (FJE). FJE is a national network of funders interested in building the power of workers and low-income and low wealth communities, supporting the workers’ rights movement, and advocating for a progressive economic agenda that moves us toward racial, gender, migrant, and economic justice.

Before joining NFG in February 2017, Manisha was the director of organizing at Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE) in Los Angeles. A seasoned organizer, she was previously the senior organizer at Families for Freedom (FFF), a New York City-based community organization by and for families facing deportation due to an interaction with the criminal system. Manisha also has experience in mental health program development and policy advocacy and served as the follow-up coordinator at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University. She serves on the board of Progressive Technology Project.

Pronouns: she/her

Melody Baker
Melody Baker
Director of Programs, Amplify Fund
Melody Baker
Director of Programs, Amplify Fund
melody [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 24

Melody leads Amplify’s program work including grantmaking, capacity building and grantee learning in and across its eight places: Missouri, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and California (through the Fund for an Inclusive California (F4ICA).

Melody joined NFG in August 2018, inspired by Amplify’s commitment to support Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities to build power and influence decisions about the places where they live and work. Driven by her commitment to racial justice and shifting power, she has served in various roles within the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Most recently Melody was the Deputy Director of Programs at The Inner Resilience Program, which focused on cultivating the inner lives of students, teachers and school communities. 

Previously, she served as the Director of Grantmaking and Capacity Building at the Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) and as a Program Officer at the Edward W. Hazen Foundation. In these roles, Melody primarily supported youth-led community organizing and honed her skills in multi-issue collaborative grantmaking. Committed to creativity, she also managed jewelry design and production for women-led businesses for six years. 

Melody is dedicated to supporting the inner transformation of people and the outer transformation of communities working for racial justice and liberation. She holds a BA in African-American Studies and Sociology from Wesleyan University.

Pronouns: she/her

Photo portrait of Neda Said.
Neda Said
Program Manager
Neda Said
Program Manager
neda [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 15

Neda builds program infrastructure and manages logistical coordination for dynamic NFG programs that facilitate connections amongst funders and movement leaders. They support Funders for a Just Economy (including the Building Power in Place project) and the Democratizing Development Program. 

Neda’s experience has honed their skills in strategic community engagement, detailed program coordination, dynamic facilitation, and thoughtful curriculum development to build momentum in the movement toward liberation. Having joined NFG in September 2018, their previous work includes youth leadership programming, organizing with queer and trans youth of color, and social justice education and domestic violence training for youth, volunteers, and advocates.

Neda is an organizer with Survived & Punished and Queer Crescent. They completed their studies in Political Science and International Studies at the University of California at San Diego. When Neda isn’t immersed in planning the details of something, they are probably out enjoying the sunshine.

Pronouns: they/them, she/her

Nicole Washington
Nicole Washington
Operations Manager, Amplify Fund
Nicole Washington
Operations Manager, Amplify Fund
nicole [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 27

Nicole Washington is the Operations Manager for the Amplify Fund. She coordinates logistics, contracts, finances, and overall project management for the Fund.  She also works closely with the Steering Committee and provides support to programmatic work across Amplify’s eight partner sites. 

Nicole joined NFG in June 2020 after working at Foundation for Louisiana, National Geographic, and Alliance to End Hunger. She has coordinated day-to-day operations for a political consulting firm, a magazine department, and a liquor distributor. As such, she brings a wide range of logistical, board management, and event planning skills. 

She currently serves as Chair of the board of the Made in New Orleans Foundation (MiNO) and as a member of Foundation for Louisiana’s Armature Scholarship Committee. She lives with too many plants, a very spoiled dog, and an ever growing collection of kitchen equipment.

Pronouns: she/her

Renata Peralta
Director of Learning & Communications, Amplify Fund
Renata Peralta
Director of Learning & Communications, Amplify Fund
renata [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 30

Renata is responsible for overseeing the Amplify Fund’s evaluation, which aims to understand the Fund’s impact on grantees and on philanthropy. Prior to joining NFG in 2021, Renata managed evaluation projects at Open Society Foundations as a Program Officer for the Open Places Initiative and as a Learning Officer for Open Society – U.S. She also has experience conducting evaluations for the NYC Leadership Academy, NYC Department of Education, Philadelphia School District, Chester County School District, and City Year Philadelphia. It is the application of evaluation findings that really motivates Renata, and that drew her to this position at NFG.
 
At Amplify Fund, Renata also supervises communication consultants. Through funder communication, the Fund seeks to shift how philanthropic institutions think of economic development, racial justice, and local power building. Renata’s experience with strategic communication comes mainly through labor organizing, although the ability to speak to multiple audiences is an inherent part of evaluation as well.
 
Renata holds a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and two master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Teachers College, Columbia University. She currently lives in Philadelphia.

Pronouns: she/her

Photo of Stephan Cheney
Stephan Cheney
Senior Program Coordinator, Integrated Rural Strategies Group
Stephan Cheney
Senior Program Coordinator, Integrated Rural Strategies Group
stephan [at] nfg.org
(510) 444-6063, ext. 29

Stephan is Lakota of the Kul Wicasa Oyate located in Lower Brule, South Dakota. He is humbled to support NFG’s Integrated Rural Strategies Group toward achieving its purpose of strengthening multiracial rural organizing infrastructure — particularly that led by and serving rural Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
 
Stephan joined NFG’s staff in 2021 with a wide range of professional and lived experiences that have allowed him to be dynamic in managing logistics and infrastructure development. Having lived in rural communities his entire life, Stephan is passionate about the work occurring through IRSG. Prior to joining NFG he was a Wildland firefighter working deeply in both fire suppression and prescribed fire implementation in land management. He is the former Executive Manager for the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. He earned a bachelor’s in science from the University of South Dakota. In his free time, Stephan creates pieces of art that uplift Indigenous Identity and affirm its place in the world through personal works called High Rez Wood Company.
 

Pronouns: he/him

Our Board

Profile photo of Amoretta Morris.
Amoretta Morris
Borealis Philanthropy
Amoretta Morris
President
Borealis Philanthropy

Amoretta Morris is Co-Chair of the NFG board. With a 20-year track record of organizing for transformational change, she brings a range of critical perspectives and experiences to philanthropy and her role as President at Borealis Philanthropy. She was previously the Director of National Community Strategies at The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Amoretta earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and African studies from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s in public policy from Harvard University.

Pronouns: she/her

Aaron Tanaka
Aaron Tanaka
Center for Economic Democracy
Aaron Tanaka
Director
Center for Economic Democracy

Aaron Tanaka is Treasurer of the NFG board. He is a Boston-based community organizer, grantmaker, and impact investor. As the director of the Center for Economic Democracy, Aaron stewards funding and technical assistance to grassroots groups that build power and vision in low-income communities of color for a new economy. He is a former Green For All Fellow, a current Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) Fellow, and a visiting practitioner at Tufts University, and co-chair of the Asian American Resource Workshop and the national New Economy Coalition. Aaron holds a BA from Harvard University and an MS in community economic development from Southern New Hampshire University.

Pronouns: he/him

Profile photo of Aditi Vaidya
Aditi Vaidya
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Aditi Vaidya
Senior Program Officer
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Aditi Vaidya is a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which works to advance health and racial equity. With 25 years of experience in organizing, policy advocacy and philanthropy, her work at RWJF focuses on changing the conditions in communities that impact health and wellbeing through a range of strategies including community power building. Previously, Aditi was a senior program officer managing economic justice programs at the Solidago Foundation and See Forward Fund. Aditi holds a Masters in Public Health from Emory University and Bachelor of Science from Bates College.

Pronouns: she/her

Alison Corwin
ALISON CORWIN
Surdna Foundation
ALISON CORWIN
Senior Program Officer, Sustainable Environments
Surdna Foundation

Alison Corwin a Senior Program Officer for Sustainable Environments at the Surdna Foundation. She engages in grantmaking to develop and support how communities of color and low-wealth communities build accountability, alternatives, and democratic muscle to promote infrastructure development that simultaneously aims to achieve racial equity, and economic, environmental and climate justice. Alison holds a Master in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies from St. Lawrence University. 

Pronouns: she/her

Rev. Cory S. Anderson
Cory Anderson
Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
Cory Anderson
Executive Vice President
Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation

Rev. Cory S. Anderson serves as the Secretary on NFG's Board of Directors. He is the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation’s (WRF) executive vice president responsible for the cultivation of local and national partners, special initiatives, and strategy development. Previously, Cory supported state-level child advocacy organizations and helped lead the KIDSCOUNT Initiative at The Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to working for The Annie E. Casey Foundation during his time away from Arkansas, Cory was manager of partner development at the Forum for Youth Investment in Washington, D.C. 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.

Pronouns: he/him

Judith Bell
Judith Bell
The San Francisco Foundation
Judith Bell
Vice President of Programs
The San Francisco Foundation

Judith Bell is the Vice President of Programs at The San Francisco Foundation. Judith brings extensive experience in strategic planning and policy development, with a focus on economic and social equity. Previously, Judith was the President of PolicyLink, where she worked to develop the organization into a national leader on a range of equity issues, with her particular focus being policy development and campaign strategy at the local, state, and national levels. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master’s of public administration from Harvard University.

Pronouns: she/her

A photo of Kaberi Banerjee Murthy. She is smiling and wearing a black blazer.
Kaberi Banerjee Murthy
Meyer Memorial Trust
Kaberi Banerjee Murthy
Director of Programs and Strategy
Meyer Memorial Trust

Kaberi Banerjee Murthy is the Chief Impact Officer at Meyer Memorial Trust, responsible for all of the mission-focused work: the development of its long term strategy, oversight of grantmaking, programs and advocacy, and the implementation of values aligned evaluation. The Chief Impact Officer’s top priority is to bring a racial justice and intersectional feminist lens to the work which centers community voice and shifts power.  

Kaberi entered into the philanthropic sector in 2000 as a way to advance social justice and systems-level change and has worked in philanthropy at local, regional and national levels.  Kaberi previously served as the Vice President of Programs at the Brooklyn Community Foundation in New York; Program Director for Education, Civic Affairs and Arts & Culture at Crown Family Philanthropies in Chicago; Senior Education Program Officer at the Picower Foundation in New York; Education Program Officer for Jane's Trust and The Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust in Boston; and Program Officer for Education, Health, Community Development and Arts at Lloyd A. Fry Foundation in Chicago.

Kaberi is on the National Board of Neighborhood Funders Group and Philanthropy Northwest.  Kaberi serves as the Racial Justice Co-chair and National Steering Committee for the Education Funder Strategy Group.  Kaberi also serves on the Board of the Portland Art Museum and is a part of the Class of 2022 Leadership Portland cohort. 

She graduated manga cum laude from Carleton College with a B.A. in History and Women's Studies and an Ed.M. from Harvard University focusing on issues of access and equity for students of color. She lives in Portland with her husband and two sons. 

Pronouns: she/her

Kevin Ryan
Ford Foundation
Kevin Ryan
Senior Program Officer, Civic Engagement & Government
Ford Foundation

Kevin Ryan is a senior program officer at Ford Foundation on the Civic Engagement & Government team. He leads the foundation’s grant making in Detroit, focusing on housing and community development, civic engagement, and youth opportunities.

Prior to joining Ford in 2017, Kevin spent more than 14 years as program director at the New York Foundation, where he managed a portfolio of grants for organizations that use community organizing, advocacy, and community development strategies to create systemic change for a more equitable New York. He also oversaw the foundation’s Capacity Building Program. Before that, he was executive director of Community Training and Resource Center, a housing preservation organization, where he provided leadership to a staff of tenant organizers working to improve housing conditions for low-income New Yorkers.

Kevin has served on the boards of Green Worker Cooperatives, La Lutta New Media Collective, the Neighborhood Funders Group, and the North Star Fund. He also chaired the New York City Youth Board, which advises the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.

He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Pronouns: he/him

Mark Paley
Mark Paley
The Hyams Foundation
Mark Paley
Director of Administration & Finance
The Hyams Foundation

Mark Paley is the Director of Administration & Finance at The Hyams Foundation. Before joining Hyams in 2001, he was the CFO at YouthBuild USA where he helped to build the national youth servicing non-profit to a nationally recognized network of groups working with out of school youth. Mark was a member of the initial steering committee of the Non-Profit Financial Managers Group. He is also a member of the board of the Schott Foundation. Mark earned his B.A. at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Masters of Management at the University of California, Davis.

Pronouns: he/him

Shona Chakravartty
SHONA CHAKRAVARTTY
Hill-Snowdon Foundation
SHONA CHAKRAVARTTY
Senior Program Officer
Hill-Snowdon Foundation

Shona Chakravartty is Senior Program Officer at the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, where she leads its Economic Justice grantmaking program and executes learning and leveraging activities related to its economic justice goals. Shona previously served a Co-Chair of NFG's Funders for a Just Economy. She has also served on the steering committee of the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing and on the board of Chhaya CDC in Queens, where she lives. Shona was born in India and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a master’s degree from Oxford University.

Pronouns: she/her

Profile photo of Tania Durán.
Tania Durán
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
Tania Durán
Senior Network Officer
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

Tania Durán manages relationships and grant portfolios in parts of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation’s 11-state footprint. She brings decades of experience in everything from grassroots organizing to policy advocacy, capacity building, coalition building, leadership development and social justice philanthropy.  She has been actively involved in cross-movement networks on racial justice, democracy, reproductive justice, economic justice and alternative economic models, climate justice, and language justice in the United States and her home country of El Salvador.  

Tania comes to MRBF from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, where she served as a senior program officer co-leading the state-level systemic change strategy, developing and implementing strategies for the portfolio promoting social and economic justice. She built relationships with applicants and grantee partners, closed access gaps to resources, power and infrastructure, and strengthened grassroots BIPOC infrastructure. Tania co-led the Foundation’s racial and gender equity work, deepening a collective equity lens and developing mechanisms to operationalize it. Through her work in funder collaboratives, Tania led strategy alignment and leveraging efforts with philanthropic partners. 

Before joining ZSR, Tania was the North Carolina program manager for Hispanics in Philanthropy and coordinated the NC Funders’ Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities – a network of funders building the capacity of Latinx-led organizations and infrastructure. Previously, Tania worked as the Director of Youth Programs at El Pueblo, where she helped develop youth leadership, engage youth in effective community organizing, and build leaders’ capacity to engage in intergenerational work. Previously, Tania worked with NC WARN as a community organizer on environmental, energy and climate justice issues. She has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Universidad Centroamericana “Jose Simeon Cañas” in San Salvador, and a master's in Politics of Alternative Development, with a focus on decolonial approaches and movement building, from the International Institute of Social Studies Erasmus at the University Rotterdam in The Hague, Netherlands. She also has an international certificate in popular education methodologies. In her spare time, Tania enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and dancing.

Pronouns: she/her