Janine Lee is President and CEO of the Southern Partners Fund in Atlanta.
From the Southern Partners Fund website:
Janine Lee is a veteran strategist and grantmaker in philanthropy, with more than twenty years of rich and diverse leadership experience with nonprofits and foundations; and expertise in prevention, youth development, education, community building and non-profit effectiveness. Janine most recently served as Vice President for Fostering Opportunity for the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, an Atlanta based foundation with $20 million in annual grantmaking. In that role, she led the development of a strategy articulation process, for two of the Blank Foundation’s four impact areas: Better Beginnings, an initiative aimed at ensuring a healthy, nurturing environment for disadvantaged children from birth through age five; and Pathways to Success, which encourages educational opportunities for low-income youth beyond high school. Prior to joining the Blank Foundation, Janine served as a senior leader at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation where her tenure spanned over 15 years. In her role as Vice President, she provided leadership in the creation of the community building strategy, youth development initiatives and the Kauffman Scholars Program, a $70 million college access program for low-income youth from the inner city. She also managed Project STAR (Students Taught Awareness and Resistance), a nationally recognized alcohol and drug abuse program created and administered by the Foundation.
Janine holds a master’s degree in business administration, a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling, and a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation services education. In addition to her professional responsibilities, Lee is dedicated to performing civic duty, currently serving on the board of the Skillbuilders Fund for Women and Girls, a member of the Interfaith Children’s Movement, alumna of Leadership 2000 in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City Tomorrow in Kansas City, Missouri, co-founder and former chair of the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), and a former Rockhurst University Regent. Lee is also a lifetime member of the National Black MBA. Janine is currently the President and CEO of the Southern Partners Fund, a public foundation established in 1998; emerging as one of the most significant organizations in the United States which provides funding, capacity building, operating support and technical assistance to rural organizing efforts in the Deep South.
See also: Janine’s 2009 guest column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philanthropists need to focus on reason for grants
Photo credit: Southern Partners Fund
Full disclosure: Southern Partners Fund is a former client.
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