Leader-ful and rooted

BMPF is the result of the love and labor of many people and organizations. We are proud to be rooted in community, working together with the goal of resourcing grassroots movements for justice.

Steering Committee

BMPF’s governance body is called the steering Committee. The Steering Committee is composed of community leaders and subject matter experts that shape the direction of the fund, approves our annual budgets, lead our grantmaking efforts and set our overall strategy. Here are the current members of our Steering Committee:

  • Adama Bah, Executive Director, Afrikana

  • Aline Gue, Executive Director, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees (HWHR)

  • Amaha Kassa, Executive Director, African Communities Together (ACT)

  • Glory Kilanko, Executive Director, Women Watch Afrika (WWA)

  • Guerline Jozef, Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA)

  • Janvieve Williams Comrie, Executive Director, AfroResistance

  • Melonie Griffiths and Catherine Barnett, Co-Executive Directors, Freedom to Thrive

  • Patrice Lawrence, Executive Director, UndocuBlack Network (UBN)

  • Paul Namphy, Political Director, Family Action Network (FANM)

  • Ramla Sahid, Executive Director, PANA

  • Rose Berry, Co-Executive Director, Black LGBTQ Migrant Project (BLMP)

  • Seydi Sarr, Executive Director, African Bureau for Immigrants and Social Afairs (ABISA)

  • Sharon Njie, Partnerships Director, Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants (LORI)

We partner with Four Freedoms Fund on grants management, capacity building, and fundraising.  

BMPF Team

  • BMPF’s Lead Advisor. Jonathan leads BMPF’s development, grantmaking, and strategy work in partnership with the Steering Committee.

  • Julia is our Donor Organizing Advisor and she supports our efforts to raise more money to resource our movements. She organized and moved from than $40 million as the former Director of the Black-Led Movement Fund at Borealis Philanthropy. 

  • Nora is our Program Advisor and she supports our grantmaking and capacity building efforts. Nora was previously a part of the Just and Inclusive Society program at the Democracy Fund. 

  • Jonny leads BMPF’s digital communications and graphic design work. Jonathan is a Social Media and Design Strategist with over 15 years of experience leading communications, digital strategy, and brand development across international contexts.

  • Matheuzza is a Research Fellow who is focusing on movement landscape research, Black LGBTQ+ migrants, and state-level analysis. She is a PhD candidate in Performing Arts through the Graduate Program in Performing Arts at the Federal University of Bahia and in the Department of Gender and Women Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.