BROOKLINE, Massachusetts – The Brookline Community Foundation (BCF) is thrilled to announce Aba Taylor has been selected as the organization’s next Executive Director. She brings more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, community engagement, and advancing equity to this key role. Aba comes to BCF from the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC), where she most recently served as the Director of Training and Interim Co-President. Prior to IISC, Aba was the Executive Director of the Network for Social Justice, and before that the Deputy Executive Director of the Astraea Foundation for Justice. “I am deeply excited to be joining BCF at this time of growing momentum for our community engagement and equity work,” Aba shared. “This is a wonderful opportunity to work alongside community members, expand our commitment to mutual community investment, and use the power of collaboration to promote change and improve the lives and experiences of everyone connected with the Town of Brookline.”
Aba joins BCF at a time of significant organizational growth and momentum. Having led a community-wide engagement process in 2021 to collect community members’ ideas and insights for investing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and having recently completed the organization’s first participatory grantmaking efforts through the Racial Equity Grant Program, the organization is poised to further expand on this work under Aba’s leadership. “We are thrilled to have Aba join BCF as we continue our work to create opportunity and promote equity through the transformative power of giving,” said Gioia Perugini, President of the Board of Trustees. “Her skills as a leader and facilitator committed to equity are well aligned with this period in BCF’s organizational growth.”
BCF worked closely with Positively Partners—a social enterprise committed to helping organizations hire, engage, retain, and develop talented professionals to achieve exceptional results for the communities served—on this national search. “Positively Partners worked diligently to understand what BCF needed in a new leader and supported a search committee of Board and Staff throughout the hiring process,” Gioia said.
Aba will formally join BCF in her new role on October 17, 2022. In the interim, she will begin onboarding, participating in key organizational meetings, and meeting other community leaders in advance of her full-time start date. “I look forward to connecting with diverse members of the Brookline community in the coming weeks,” Aba said, “and I’m excited to work with the staff and board of BCF with whom I share a deep commitment to community empowerment and equity.”
The Brookline Community Foundation is a public charity dedicated to advancing opportunity and promoting equity through the transformative power of giving. By leveraging core strengths in building philanthropic partnerships, supporting nonprofits and community efforts through grantmaking, and driving the research that informs a shared community agenda, the organization is helping build a better Brookline for all who live, learn, work, and play in the community. Learn more at www.brooklinecommunity.org.