Rahsaan Harris

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

Every seat was filled in the room at the Association of Black Foundation Executives‘ (ABFE) 2009 James A. Joseph Lecture Series and Award Ceremony in Atlanta. In fact, conference organizers had to add rows of extra seats just to accommodate all of the people who wanted to join this important conversation and celebration of black philanthropy. ABFE was the first affinity group for people of color at the Council of Foundations. The Joseph Lecture kicks off the first day of ABFE’s annual programming at the Council’s Annual Conference. This year’s theme: Change in Generational Leadership: Past, Present and the Future of Philanthropy. Susan Taylor Batten is the new President of ABFE. The audience gave a rousing round of applause as she took the stage to introduce herself. Everyone is so excited to have Susan as the new leader of ABFE. See a short video clip of Susan expressing her excitement about this year’s conference:

Dr. Beverly Tatum, President of Spelman College, provided opening remarks. Dr. Tatum said: “You don’t need me to tell you that the percentage of resources directed to minority organizations is tiny. Millions of dollars go to heavily endowed organizations – dollars that could do so much at Spelman, Morehouse, Tuskegee.” Spelman just celebrated 128 years, established in 1881. The magic of philanthropy – where two white women started a college for black women in Atlanta. The Rockefeller family decided to help. The college started with that gift and was named after Laura Spelman Rockefeller. When we think about what’s happening today around the theme of change and generational leadership – we’re cultivating the next generation of black leaders. That’s why historically black colleges are still relevant. But there is a major concern: we’re at risk of losing a generation of college students. Students who need loans and grants to fund their education. Nothing is more disastrous than for students to start an education, incur debt, then have to return home without their degrees. View a short video clip of Dr. Tatum discussing the importance of supporting education for our future leaders:

Loren Harris, formerly at the Ford Foundation also gave opening remarks. He was hailed for his leadership on the foundation’s agenda of improving outcomes for black men and boys. Loren said: “We have the challenge of raising the bar to help black men and boys understand that education has nothing to do with whiteness.” Our First Family provides a high profile example of what it means to be successful. That reality has to be made tangible for the ordinary black men who for them, this success is as far as the moon. We have a much higher rate of black women attending college than black men. We have dismal statistics and we know young men who need mentoring and unconditional love. Leadership is rooted in love. Dr. King had love, passion, vision. Made sacrifices because of a deep-seated love for his people. We as a people sacrifice our time, talent, and treasure. We’re at a critical juncture, where the bar has been raised, and our generation’s challenge is still being defined. Our young men have an absence of unconditional love – when they make mistakes, they are punished harshly. The people who keep our communities safe give them a “go to jail card.” The odds are high that one mistake can derail a young black man’s entire life trajectory. We have a will to act in concert, to do work together on these issues and we can’t allow our institutions to be barriers to our success.

Rahsaan Harris, Program Executive at Atlantic Philanthropies was the recipient of the Emerging Leader in Philanthropy. Rahsaan said: “This work is much bigger than any of us as individuals. Don’t get it twisted. Racialized outcomes show that we are not in a post-racial world.”

Southern Partners Fund was the recipient of the Institutional Award for Philanthropic Leadership. The Fund’s President, Janine E. Lee shared her thoughts: One-third of the country is in the south. We have the highest levels of hate crimes, unemployment, and dropout levels in the south. Lots of potential for leadership and accomplishment is never realized. We have opportunity now to live up to the promise of democracy. My call to you: lead from the inside out. Ask questions about why such a small percentage of resources is going into rural communities to support young leaders and effect social change in the south. As Martin Luther King, Jr. has said: “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”

Amina Dickerson, Senior Director of Global Community Involvement for Kraft Foods, was selected as ABFE’s eighteenth James A. Joseph Lecturer. Amina announced in February 2009 that she was stepping down as the philanthropic leader of Kraft Foods, taking the opportunity to introduce Nicole Robinson as her successor. Many seasoned and emerging leaders have sought out insight on the process that she and Nicole went through to come to this effective succession. Amina spoke on the theme of “Building Bridges of Opportunities: Succession Planning for OUR Next Generation.” Now is the time for our field to implement with intent the stewardship of next generation leadership. We have to take the steps to cultivate them for success. Backdrop of Obama’s first 100 days finds the nation in the most troubling time in recent decades. Health, housing, education have shortages of resources and offers philanthropy a daunting state of affairs. Calls for action come at a time of the graying of our sector – with baby boomers giving way to generational change. The shift has already begun. In 1982, we had 300,000 charities, in 2008 about 1.2 million. Bridgespan Group says we will need hundreds of thousands of new leaders. View a short video message from Amina herself:

How can we support leadership development? Amina highlighted the work of Council on Foundations, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, ABFE and others who have made investments, and now is the time to invigorate this with intention.

Offer leaders tangible opportunities to build leadership skills. Next generation views history from different perspectives, and need to forge their own path. They can only do that when given the authority to do so.
Develop “bench strength” through training and stretch assignments.
Help them identify their own ambitions and their own strengths.
“Don’t replace you with yourself” when thinking about succession planning. Amina told upper management why she thought Nicole should be her successor and sold her within the company.
Throw your potential successor in the deep end of the pool; you’ll be surprised at how well they swim.
You have to work as a team with your successor. She and Nicole began work of transition together. Hired someone to coach Nicole into the role as well as coach Amina out of the role.
Recognize the human role in transition – need to maintain mutual respect. When you’re uncomfortable, talk about it and work it out.

Amina stressed the need for bold voices in our field. Young people enter the discussion from different perspectives with youth, intelligence, determination, an open heart. ABFE can talk about career paths for their members – what do younger generations need to get to higher posts? How can each of us be invested in their development?

Foster an ongoing intergenerational dialogue – invite young leaders to be present and active in important conversations.
Ensure that risk-taking is not punished, but critiqued.
Develop support systems for those stepping down to make room for the next generation. It’s hard for leaders to leave when they have no idea what’s possible after that. Consider sabbaticals, paid leave of absences, etc.
In everything we do, we should always strive to serve as intermediaries and use our agency to move philanthropic support toward our communities.

Full disclosure: ABFE hired me to provide blogging services for this event to leverage the power of social media for their members and to share their story with the wider philanthropic community. The views expressed here are solely my own, however, and I stand by my commitment to authentic coverage of these issues. Would you like to hire me? Visit my portfolio to see samples of my work.