Press Release: The JPB Foundation Welcomes New Senior Staff and Fellows to Enhance Democracy Initiatives

The JPB Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 30, 2024
Media contact: [email protected]

The JPB Foundation Welcomes New Senior Staff and Fellows to Enhance Democracy Initiatives

New Leaders Bring Decades of Experience in Grassroots Organizing, Advocacy, and Legal Strategy

NEW YORK – The JPB Foundation announced the addition of a new senior staff member and three senior fellows, deepening its collaboration with movement leaders. This move enhances the Foundation’s mission to support a broad array of initiatives and organizations working to protect and strengthen democracy, advance strategic initiatives, empower grassroots movements, and drive impactful social change.

Rakim Brooks, who was previously President of Alliance for Justice, will be the Foundation’s Senior Vice President of Risk and Legal Strategies. The new Fellows include Lisa Abbott, Senior Fellow, Community and Worker Power, who brings decades of experience in grassroots organizing and driving progressive initiatives; Mariana Ruiz Firmat, Senior Fellow, Movement Infrastructure and Explorations, the outgoing Executive Director of the Kairos Fellowship, who has spearheaded efforts to counter misinformation targeting marginalized groups; and Darlene Nipper, Visiting Senior Fellow, Movement Infrastructure and Explorations, the current CEO of Rockwood Leadership Institute, who has been instrumental in creating and implementing leading-edge training programs.

Drawing from their deep backgrounds organizing for social change and training movement leaders across the country, the three new fellows bring decades of diverse experience advancing the fight for democracy and building collective power on the ground with everyday people. In particular, they will contribute to the Foundation’s work in the areas of community organizing, leadership development, and technology and social change.

“We created these fellowships to deepen collaboration between the Foundation and movement leaders in the field and to access their strategic insight and wisdom,” said President Deepak Bhargava. “We want to make sure our strategies are informed by on-the-ground experiences of practitioners with track records of building institutions that win real change. Stronger collaboration between philanthropy and movement leaders in the field will result in more progress in all aspects of our work.”

More information on each of the new senior leaders is below.

Rakim H.D. Brooks – Senior Vice President of Risk and Legal Strategies

Rakim Brooks joins the Foundation as the new Senior Vice President of Risk and Legal Strategies. As president of the Alliance for Justice, Brooks oversaw significant organizational growth, embedded diversity, equity, and inclusion into the organization’s DNA, expanded the organization’s Bolder Advocacy and Justice programs and contributed to coalitions that won confirmation of approximately 200 diverse federal judges.

Lisa Abbott – Senior Fellow, Community and Worker Power

Lisa Abbott joins the Foundation as a Senior Fellow in the Community and Worker Power program. Lisa brings decades of experience in grassroots organizing and building real, state-based power in challenging geographies. Her extensive work with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth has been instrumental in driving progressive change.

Mariana Ruiz Firmat – Senior Fellow, Movement Infrastructure and Explorations

Mariana Ruiz Firmat joins the Foundation as a Senior Fellow for Movement Infrastructure and Explorations. As the outgoing Executive Director of the Kairos Fellowship, Mariana has led pathbreaking efforts to combat misinformation targeting marginalized communities. Her extensive experience in organizing and strategic campaigning will be crucial to navigate the complexities of modern advocacy efforts and build resilient movement infrastructures.

Darlene Nipper – Visiting Senior Fellow, Movement Infrastructure and Explorations

Darlene Nipper joins the Foundation as a Visiting Senior Fellow for Movement Infrastructure and Explorations and brings more than 25 years of experience in leadership development and advocacy. Darlene is the current CEO of Rockwood Leadership Institute, which she joined as a trainer, and where she has been developing and executing field-leading training programs for over a decade.

An Expanded Mission

The addition of Abbott, Brooks, Ruiz Firmat, and Nippert follows February’s announcement of six new senior leaders joining the Foundation alongside new President Deepak Bhargava. The announcement also outlined the Foundation’s expanded mission: to help people who have been denied power to build it, so they can change unjust systems and create a more democratic, inclusive, and sustainable society.

The Foundation is sharpening its focus on building collective power and bridges across communities to defend and strengthen multiracial democracy. It aims to strengthen the infrastructure of movements fighting to protect and enhance basic democratic institutions in the face of growing threats, including increasing inequality, assaults on personal freedom, and concentrated corporate power.

Elected by the Foundation’s board last spring, Bhargava is leading the way as JPB builds on its first decade of success. He brings over 30 years of work in social justice movements to his new role as President. Since 2011, the Foundation has provided over $2.5 billion in grants to support nonprofits that work to advance economic justice, health equity, innovative medical research, women’s rights, environmental health and justice, green infrastructure, and more across the United States.