Who We Are

  • We are a loose and emerging collective of individuals who are working together to shift practice in philanthropy to more effectively support leadership transitions.

  • Through our journey, we witnessed grantees moving through leadership transitions without capacity building support or the financial resources they required. 

  • It has become clear to us that when these transitions are approached with comprehensive and effective support, they have the power to invigorate and empower the organization as a whole and support the vibrancy of new leaders. Support is necessary before, during, and after transitions.

How We Work

  • Our work was shaped from the beginning by the knowledge and experience of our advisory group and a cohort of nonprofit leaders going through leadership transitions.

  • We heard directly from Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ leaders about the numerous challenges nonprofit leaders face when transitioning into or out of their roles. These include a lack of funding to build capacity and infrastructure, and a fundamental lack of trust. Funders often see transitions as risky and destabilizing rather than a normal part of an organization’s life cycle. 

  • We connected the dots between the racialized leadership gap in the sector, the systemic challenges, and the lack of focused support and resources for nonprofit leaders.

  • We saw an opening for a programmatic and cultural shift in philanthropy.

Thank you to our initial Nonprofit
Advisory Committee:
Chitra Aiyar
Daroneisha Duncan
Devon Turner
Elsa Bañuelos
Ofelia Bello


Thank you to current and past consultants who have supported this work!
Chitra Aiyar
Ingrid Benedict
Hana Sun
Cathy Dang
Krystal Portalatin

Steering Committee

  • Melissa Sines

    COORDINATOR

    Melissa is a consultant who centers her work on strategy, knowledge, tech, and racial justice, with a particular focus on building knowledge and shifting practices to point more resources to local communities and community leaders. She joined Leading Forward in May of 2022 to help move the collective from ideas to action.

  • Liz Sak

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CRICKET ISLAND FOUNDATION

    Liz Sak became the second Executive Director of the Cricket Island Foundation in 2008, overseeing all aspects of the Foundation’s management including finance, program development, grantmaking, and field-building. As a result of listening to CIF grantees, Liz began to reach out to colleagues to try to amplify what they were learning about funding leadership transitions.

  • Lori Bezahler

    PRESIDENT, EDWARD W. HAZEN FOUNDATION

    Lori leads a national grant making program supporting organizing and leadership by young people and communities of color to dismantle structural inequity based on race and class. Lori joined Leading Forward to help bring what she’s been learning to support broader change in philanthropy.

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    Amalia Brindis Delgado

    CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, PANTA RHEA FOUNDATION

    As Panta Rhea’s Chief Strategy Officer, Amalia facilitates strategic design, organizational development, and partner resources to deepen the foundation’s commitments to intersectional social justice. Amalia previously worked for 5 years at Hispanics in Philanthropy where she spearheaded new initiatives including HIP’s Migration and Power Building programs. With over 20 years in global and US-based nonprofit social entrepreneurship, organizing, and advocacy, Amalia has advanced the rights and wellbeing of the most impacted communities in the US and around the globe, including as a Fulbright Scholar in Turkey and co-leader of the Jesuit Refugee Services in Ecuador. Amalia is a proud co-founder of Asylum Access, a 15 year old international organization that continues to fight for the rights of refugees. Born in Venezuela and raised in the UA Virgin Islands, Amalia is a California-licensed lawyer living in the Washington, DC Area with her young kids and partner.

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    Bipasha Ray

    HUMAN RIGHTS & SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE

    Bipasha Ray is a human rights and social justice advocate with a passion for supporting the resilience and capacity of activists and movements working towards a more just and equitable society. She enjoys working with equity-minded philanthropies and nonprofits to design human-centered leadership and organizational development and fellowship programs. She has a particular interest in sustainable leadership transition support after running and learning from the New Executives Fund at the Open Society Foundations. Bipasha combines nearly 20 years of experience in political philanthropy, fiscal sponsorships, human rights, journalism, and policy research at Panorama Global, the Open Society Foundations, and The Associated Press.

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    Monika Kalra Varma

    PRESIDENT & CEO, BOARDSOURCE

    Monika Kalra Varma joined BoardSource in August 2022 as the President & CEO. She brings over twenty dedicated years of leading human rights and social justice organizations in the United States and abroad. Most recently, she served as the Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF). Monika also served as the Director of the Center for Human Rights at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights (RFK Center) and was the Executive Director of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center. Monika began her legal career as an associate legal officer with the Office of the Prosecutor at the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Monika currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Foundation for System Change.

Supporters

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