Jamye Wooten, the founder of CLLCTIVLY, was selected as a fellow in ABFE’s: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities 2021 class of its Connecting Leaders Fellowship Program (CLFP). The CLFP is a year-long experience designed to sharpen the skills and strengthen the leadership capacity of foundation staff, donors, and trustees who are committed to assisting Black communities through philanthropy.

Currently, only 5 percent of racial equity funding in the U.S. is specifically focused on movement-building and grassroots organizing, indicating an urgent need to increase funding for activists and groups that are advancing sweeping change. As the Black community struggles to manage these overlapping pandemics, philanthropy has a critical role to play.

Being new to the philanthropic arena, I have relied on ABFE as my go-to organization for the latest research impacting Black-led organizations. I am honored for the opportunity to be a part of this community and build with an amazing cohort!”

– Jamye Wooten, CLLCTIVLY

CLFP Fellows have the opportunity to learn from seasoned grantmakers and peers on a regular basis, understand how to be more effective agents for change within their institutions, and participate in a network that focuses on innovative solutions to community challenges.

Fellows were chosen based upon a set of criteria covering their experience in philanthropy, their future goals, as well as their interest and passion for making systemic change in Black communities.

Members of the 2021 class join 145 other ABFE Fellows since the program’s inception in 2005. CLFP fellows work in diverse fields across various nonprofits and foundations.

“This country is in a crisis and these non-profit and philanthropic leaders have taken a stand for racial justice,” said ABFE’s President and CEO, Susan Taylor Batten “I have no doubt thatJamye will continue the trajectory of significant pledges by the philanthropic sector to fund Black-led and Black-focused social change and not let it become stagnate or fade after a leadership transition or when philanthropy (or society) elects to turns its attention elsewhere.”