Shawnda Chapman joins the Ms. Foundation as Director of the Girls Fund Initiative. Prior to joining the organization, Shawnda worked as a lead program specialist on a national initiative aimed at preventing and ending girls’ incarceration at the Vera Institute of Justice. She also served as Director of the Beyond the Bars Fellowship program at the Center for Justice at Columbia University. Partially based on her own experiences, her work has focused on racial justice, gender justice, and understanding the ways girls of color get pushed into the criminal justice system. With a particular focus on marginalized and vulnerable populations, Shawnda has broad experience developing as well as implementing research, monitoring, and evaluation materials both domestically and internationally.

Shawnda sits on the board of Black Women’s Blueprint, a transnational organization that works to end all forms of violence against Black women and girls. She also serves on the advisory board of Southern New Hampshire University’s Global Education Movement, an initiative that works to increase refugee access to tertiary education. Shawnda earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Master of Science degree in Applied Social Research from The City University of New York, Hunter College.

Sherra is a daughter of the south, specifically the Arkansas Delta region. She is a social worker, community organizer, servant leader, and difference maker at her very core. Sherra is the daughter of parents raised in the Jim Crow south and it’s that foundation that drives her commitment to equity of all forms — centering racial equity, systems change, movement and power building.

She is a two-time graduate of the University of Michigan, earning both a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Her communications background, combined with the ethical framework of social work, creates the catalyst that propels her to advocate and serve as a voice and vessel against injustice. Throughout her mission-focused career, she’s served the non-profit sector throughout the United States, Africa, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands.

Sherra has served as a Non-Profit Founder, Executive Director, Director of Operations, Program Director, and Principal Consultant for human service organizations. Her impact-led career started as a Field Organizer with President Barack Obama’s campaign, and she credits this opportunity as what propelled her community-centered career focus. At the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in Little Rock, Ar., Sherra leads the movement building and leadership development portfolio to address and evolve the voices at the table concerning the future of Arkansas.

Samantha Franklin (she/her) has over a decade of experience working at philanthropic and capacity building organizations. As Senior Program Officer at Ms. Foundation for Women, she collaborates with Ms.’s grantmaking and capacity building team to move grants and other supports to women and girl of color-led organizations advancing structural change for trans and cis women and gender expansive folks and their communities. Prior to Ms., she served at L+M Development Partners as Director of Community Investment. At L+M, she coordinated with various stakeholders and institutional partners to bring programs and resources to NYC communities through grant making and other CSR. Prior to working at L+M, Samantha was a Program Officer at Johnson Family Foundation (New York City, NY), a Project Manager at Jobs for the Future (Boston, MA) and a Junior Capacity Building Specialist at the Harm Reduction Coalition (New York City, NY). She also served on the advisory boards of the Brown Boi Project (Oakland, CA) and Third Wave Fund (NYC) and participated in various collaborative efforts with philanthropic groups that include Funders for LGBTQ Issues, New York Women’s Foundation, North Star Fund, and Queer Youth Fund. She was recenly appointed to the Denver County Cultural Council, the grant review council for Denver’s Tier III Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) funds. She currently serves on the board of Rainbow Heights Club, a support and advocacy program for LGBTQ+ consumers of mental health services that provides socialization, peer support, and a safe place to take the next step on the road to emotional recovery and wellness. She also serves on the board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum Foundation, which supports the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum in its pursuit of a more just, loving, and inclusive world through music.

Raquel Thomas is a social justice advocate and culture worker. She is passionate about health, restorative justice, and the preservation of memory. She is a Black American writer, musician, and certified yoga teacher. Through her life’s work, Raquel hopes to encourage joy, vulnerability, and creative self-expression.

Maryam Abdul-Kareem is the daughter of community organizers, builders, and healers. She wears many hats (or hijabs) as a Transformative Coach, Anti-Racism Educator, Racial Equity Strategist, Writer and Funder.

Ebony West (she/they) is a Senior Program Associate at Democracy Fund and Democracy Fund Voice. In her role, she supports two Election Program initiatives: Voting Power, which invests in long-term and immediate support to organizers building power for civic engagement in their communities, particularly communities of color, and Resilient Elections, which focuses strengthening election infrastructure by funding and training election administrators, and calling attention to those who are trying to change election outcomes for partisan gains.

Prior to joining Democracy Fund, Ebony was a Program Associate at Triangle Community Foundation in Durham, NC. While there, she worked to establish and strengthen relationships with nonprofit organizations in the region. She managed the Community Development program and the Sudden and Urgent Needs Fund for the Foundation. She also oversaw community and nonprofit research for the Foundation and developed opportunities for community learning and convening. Finally, she brings a decade of experience in civic engagement, grassroots organizing, coalition building, and campaigns working on issues including equitable elections, access to higher education, LGBTQ+ rights, economic and reproductive justice.

Ebony graduated from East Carolina University with a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Communications. She also holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For the past year, Danica Lee (she/they) has been a Grants Associate at Democracy Fund. She has a background in community and youth organizing and is passionate about investing in the southern communities that raised her. With an emphasis on racial equity and popular education, she has worked across North Carolina and nationally to advance leadership development and civic participation. Working with community nonprofit organizations through the 2020 election prompted her to learn more about equitable grantmaking and what role philanthropy and grantmakers play in a rapidly changing public sector. Danica currently lives in North Carolina, where they serve as a board member and volunteer for local community organizations empowering communities of color and leadership development for young people across the state. In their free time they enjoy finding and trying new bread recipes.

Briana Perry (she/her) is the Director of Liberatory Learning and Capacity Building at Communities for Just Schools Fund, a national collaborative that brings together philanthropy with the power of grassroots organizing to transform schools. In her role, Briana leads the technical assistance and capacity building program, supporting CJSF’s partner network with deepening capacities around organizing, leadership, and healing and wellness.

Previously, Briana served as the Co-Executive Director at Healthy and Free Tennessee, a statewide network working to grow a movement for reproductive freedom. A Black feminist who proudly calls the South home, Briana is a facilitator, writer, trained birth doula, and a former teacher. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with her B.A. in Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies in 2013. In 2016, she completed her M.Ed. in Learning, Diversity, and Urban Studies at Vanderbilt University, Peabody College. Briana has organized around gender and racial justice issues for nearly a decade, having organized with groups including the Official Black Lives Matter Memphis Chapter and the Nashville Feminist Collective. Briana is passionate about transformative justice and reproductive justice and building power in the Southern region.

Brandon brings over a decade of diverse experience, spanning K-12 schools, adult education, higher education, and the non-profit sector.

He currently serves as Program Officer at Borealis Philanthropy’s Spark Justice Fund, which resources grassroots organizing groups that are ending money bail and unjust pretrial detention policies, all while supporting organizations and power-building groups to decarcerate, close jails and advance transformative visions of pretrial justice in the communities most impacted by incarceration.

Brandon serves as a board member for Affirmation’s Community Center, a leading LGBTQ advocacy and programming organization in Michigan. In a bid to enhance civic participation, he successfully ran for and was elected as a precinct delegate, actively engaging in efforts to inform and boost voter turnout during pivotal elections.

Brandon is a graduate of Wayne State University, obtaining a B.A in Education and a master’s in Public Administration and Policy from The University of Michigan-Dearborn.