The CFLeads Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for rising leaders to engage in mission-aligned projects, deepen their understanding of the field, and develop the connections and leadership skills that will serve as the foundation for future success. Through this program, Fellows will gain invaluable experience and contribute to the continued evolution of community foundations, all while gaining the tools to become transformative leaders in their own right.
CFLeads is committed to supporting community foundations and with this inaugural Fellowship Program, we are purposefully investing in the talent pipeline to catalyze the next generation of philanthropic change makers. During this cohort, we are contributing to the Fellows’ professional development and empowering them through a year of immersive experiences and mission-aligned projects. Adán Chávez and Imani Missouri each bring new perspectives, unique creativity, and most of all, an unwavering passion to their work. I’m proud of this step forward for our field and cannot wait to see what we accomplish together.
Imani Missouri
Rather unconventional in my background in philanthropy and economic mobility, my entry into formal philanthropy has been shaped by years of nonprofit leadership, strategic advising, and capacity building with communities too often left out of traditional funding conversations. Most of which has been working on entrepreneurial teams and initiatives.
Throughout this time, I’ve grown to challenge scarcity mindsets and elevate models of abundance – both are deeply personal and culturally nuanced. Currently, as a doctoral student at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, I am exploring Black giving circles and diasporic models of generosity. Black giving circles have been an alternative mechanism of mobilizing resources for economic empowerment and community investment to the often overlooked, undervalued and underfunded. I’m interested in elevating how formal philanthropy can learn from and honor this philanthropic vehicle of economic empowerment, prosperity and justice.
I believe the field must move from transactional grantmaking to transformational partnership. It should be a field willing to interrogate power, prioritize proximity, and co-create with communities—especially those who’ve historically borne the consequences of top-down decision-making.
CFLeads offers an exciting opportunity to learn alongside others committed to community leadership with inquiry for what lies ahead. I’m especially drawn to CFLeads’ framing of community foundations as civic actors with a responsibility not just to fund, but to listen, convene, and catalyze change.
In this current moment, we need boldness, vision, influence and humility in equal measure. I’m looking forward to growing as a part of a network that will deepen my leadership practice while contributing to future possibilities for philanthropy—not only in theory, but in practice.
Adán Chávez
A scholarship from my local community foundation enabled me to pursue a higher education and graduate debt-free from the University of California. It gave me the opportunity to come back home and kick-start my career – leading regional civic engagement campaigns for the NALEO Educational Fund – the nation’s largest association of Latino elected and appointed officials.
A full circle moment: I found myself partnering with the Inland Empire Community Foundation to mobilize a coalition of community-based organizations across Riverside and San Bernardino counties to ensure a full and accurate count of Inland Empire communities in the 2020 decennial enumeration – data critical for reapportionment, policy advocacy, civil rights enforcement, and to ensure our region got our “fair share” of the pie: millions, if not billions, of dollars important for programs families like mine depended on.
Today, I am a Masters of Public Affairs candidate at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs where I am exploring how philanthropy can continue to advance the public interest. Having worked in close partnership and collaboration with many community foundations across the country throughout the years on an array of civic engagement issues, from redistricting to voter engagement and naturalization – I have come to believe deeply in the power and potential of the philanthropic sector. However, despite my best efforts—like many people who look like me—I haven’t been able to successfully transition to the field just yet. That is why being selected as one of the inaugural graduate fellows at CFLeads means so much to me.
I come to this work as a proud product of a working-class neighborhood in California’s Inland Empire, first-generation college graduate and professional, the queer son of Mexican immigrants, and grandson of a Bracero migrant worker. As such, I have a deep conviction to equity and justice and have dedicated my career to changing systems and serving others. As the philanthropic sector faces a rapidly shifting political and economic landscape, the leadership of community foundations has never been more important. Already, I have seen how CFLeads is doing their very best to help community foundations meet the moment and I am ready to roll up my sleeves and do the same.
Ultimately, I hope to become a program officer, thought leader in philanthropy, and perhaps lead a community foundation one day – and this rare and special opportunity is a meaningful step toward that direction. I look forward to partnering with you and working together on so many critical issues facing our communities at this critical time.
As Director of Programs and Learning, I’m thrilled to oversee the CFLeads Fellowship Program. I’m honored to work with these inaugural Fellows who bring bold vision, deep lived experience, and a strong commitment to equity and community. One of our core values at CFLeads is learning, and this Fellowship Program embodies that value by investing in rising leaders who are already making a difference. Through a year of strategic, hands-on learning, we aim to strengthen both individual leadership and the collective capacity of community foundations nationwide.
We are proud to welcome Adán and Imani as the first-ever CFLeads Fellows. Their dedication, vision, and expertise will undoubtedly contribute to the growth and success of community foundations in the year ahead. We look forward to supporting them in their journey and are excited to see the impact they will make in strengthening communities across the country.
