Rahsaan Harris is a Program Executive at The Atlantic Philanthropies. Rahsaan was named a 2009 Emerging Leader in Philanthropy Award by the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) and a 2009 American Express NGen Fellow by Independent Sector.
From the ABFE website:
Rahsaan Harris is a Program Executive at The Atlantic Philanthropies. In this role, he works across Atlantic’s Ageing, Children & Youth and Reconciliation & Human Rights programs in the U.S., with an explicit focus on integrating social justice principles into grantmaking.
Harris joined Atlantic in 2003 as the special assistant to the then President and CEO, John R. Healy. He assumed grantmaking responsibilities for Atlantic’s Bermuda program in 2005 until 2008, supporting local organizations commitment to improving the lives of Bermuda youth and older adults.
Before joining Atlantic, Harris served as the executive director of Playing2Win, one of the country’s first public access technology learning centers to be established in an inner-city, low-income area. During his career, he has worked as an educator to help both youth and adults develop skills that allow them to create better opportunities for themselves.
Prior to his tenure at Playing2Win, Harris received a fellowship from the Open Society Institute of the Soros Foundation to work with HarlemLive (www.harlemlive.org), a web-based publication run by Harlem teens. The focus of his fellowship was to create and implement a plan for growth and sustainability. He taught in New York City public schools between 1997 and 2000 and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uruguay from 1995 to 1997.
Harris represents Atlantic in the Racial Equity in Philanthropy Group and the Racial Justice Funders Roundtable. He was selected as a member of the first class of ABFE’s Connecting Leaders Fellowship in 2005 and later helped create and organize the ABFE Fellows Funders Caucus. He also co-authored the foreword of The Foundation Center’s 2008 publication The Grantseeker’s Guide to Winning Proposals.
Harris has masters degrees in management and high school science education from New York University and Columbia, respectively, and a bachelors degree in biology from Princeton University. He is presently working towards a doctorate in Public and Urban Policy at New School University.
Harris is an active volunteer in his community. He is an advisor to the National Black United Fund, a board member of FC Harlem, Home of Harlem Youth Soccer, and is the proud Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor.
Photo credit: Independent Sector
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