Stonewall Elects Rachel Korberg as Board President
Stonewall Community Foundation’s incoming Board President, Rachel Korberg
First Woman to Lead the Board, Succeeding Neill Coleman
Stonewall Community Foundation, celebrating its thirtieth year, announced today the election of Rachel Korberg as the next Board President. Korberg, who is a program leader at The Ford Foundation, joined the Board in 2018 and will succeed Neill Coleman, Chief Philanthropy Officer at Trinity Church Wall Street, in January. She will be the first woman and first parent to lead the Foundation’s Board, working in close partnership with Executive Director, Jarrett Lucas.
Stonewall is a foundation by and for the LGBTQ community, raising money and funding work that makes a difference on the issues that matter in the lives of LGBTQ people, from education and violence to family acceptance and health. With a focus on equity, Stonewall is one of the top funders on LGBTQ housing and homelessness and is recognized for its prioritization of initiatives led by transgender people, immigrants, and communities of color. During 2020, Stonewall’s Emergency Response Fund and other programs have allowed the Foundation to step up and help meet some of the most immediate and urgent needs of LGBTQ organizations and individuals navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Stonewall Community Foundation represents the future of the LGBTQ+ movement,” said Rachel Korberg. We work to center the vision and lived experiences of queer people in all that we do, especially those who are struggling the most. We know that we’re all in this together. True freedom and safety for LGBTQ+ people is inextricable from our fights for racial, gender, and disability equity and our work to build an economy that uplifts us all. And we are committed to coming together and pooling our resources. By serving as the next President of Stonewall’s board—and the first, but not the last, woman—I am excited to continue building the LGBTQ+ movement that we and future generations all need and deserve.”
“I am thrilled to pass the baton to Rachel,” said Neill Coleman, who is stepping down as Board President after four years. “I know Rachel as a former colleague at The Rockefeller Foundation and as a close partner on the Stonewall board and I know she brings to the role passion for further growth, knowledge and connections in philanthropy and a deep commitment to equity.”
Jarrett Lucas noted, “The historic growth and transformation of Stonewall Community Foundation over the past four years are a reflection of extraordinary board leadership, and this transition affirms exactly what is at the heart of that: adaptive talent, commitment to the work, and an inspirational vision centered on values. I am immensely grateful to Neill for his outstanding service as President and am excited to see that legacy carried forward by Rachel, someone whose power and brilliance has already strengthened our mission.”
As Board President, Korberg will draw on her many years of experience in the LGBTQ movement and in philanthropy, including at the Ford and Rockefeller foundations and as the co-founder of two, multimillion dollar funding collaboratives (the Communities Thrive Challenge and the Families and Workers Fund, which focuses on the economic impacts of COVID-19). She will work closely with other officers, including Christian Nwachukwu of Bloomberg Philanthropies (Board Vice President), Isaac Jean-Francois of Yale University (Board Secretary), Nick Hodges of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (Board Treasurer), Cymone Fuller of Columbia University (Chair of the Capital Committee), and Gabriel Morales of Citi (Chair of the Strategic Partnerships Committee). Other members of the Board include diverse LGBTQ+ leaders and allies from fields such as finance, media, social justice, and law.