This month, we are thrilled to welcome Jennifer Broome, MA, CFRE, as Rise Up’s new Director of Strategic Partnerships. Jennifer brings exceptional leadership in fundraising, strategic communications, and partnership development to our team, and will play a pivotal role in accelerating Rise Up’s impact and sustainability as we partner with local leaders to advance gender equity and justice across the globe.

We asked Jennifer to share what drew her to Rise Up, her vision for our organization’s future, and how she plans to help guide our organization through its next phase of evolution. Read on to learn more about her perspective and the strategic vision she brings to our team.

With your extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, what drew you specifically to Rise Up’s approach to advancing gender equity and justice?

My work with nonprofits has always given me purpose and the ability to couple my contributions with the efforts of dedicated staff and generous donors to have an outsize impact on the world. Working in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector – where good gets propelled – has been an enormous privilege and I’m grateful to have been able to do well while doing good. At Rise Up, that promise is even greater. With the team’s commitment to trusting those closest to the problem to envision effective solutions and working in partnership to elevate local leaders’ capacity to execute their vision and secure hard won progress through advocacy, Rise Up is truly an organization poised to meet this critical moment in the struggle for gender equity. I’m honored to be part of this amazing team and to support the incredible work of local leaders around the world.

Rise Up has a strong foundation built over 15 years of impactful work. As we look toward our next chapter, what most excites you about the future?

Rise Up’s 15 year track record of incredible impact and success stands as a testament to the power of it’s vision, proven model, and capacity to deliver systems-level change grounded in local leadership. As I learned more about how Rise Up delivers on its theory of change during my interview process, I became increasingly excited about its ability to truly transform individuals, communities, and countries by lifting up and training local leaders and supporting their grassroots projects with tangible, financial, and coaching assistance, which in turn facilitates their success and delivers on the promise of gender equity at a time when hard won progress is threatened in many places.

With the generous backing of current and new funding partners, we hope to grow exponentially in order to expand our ability to reach and engage more changemakers, fund more grassroots projects, and advance our movement for gender equity and justice. A crucial move in our growth trajectory will come later this year as we step out as an independent organization and separate from our fiscal sponsor, the Public Health Institute. We are grateful for PHI’s many years of backbone support and are excited for the enhanced capacity that our independence will afford. As I look to the future, I see a bright and beaming opportunity for increased impact, with this transition standing as an inflection point in our organizational history and a springboard to propel our pressing mission forward. 

How do you envision your role in helping guide the organization forward?

I can’t wait to dig into this exciting role and provide strategic leadership and guidance to improve and perfect Rise Up’s external communications and development functions, rooted in my broad and deep experience across the nonprofit sector. It will be an honor to help lift Rise Up’s brand up, out, and into the world, attract new and deepen existing partnerships with generous donors, and build organizational systems and capabilities in support of a comprehensive, integrated business model that will generate a diverse and sustainable base of support to help the organization weather any hiccups the future might reveal. 

I envision my role serving as a facilitator to help Rise Up fully realize its potential as an internationally renowned and recognized brand, a trustworthy philanthropic partner, and an impactful trailblazer in the movement for gender equity and justice. Galvanized by the support of our generous funders and the incredible talents of our dedicated staff, I am confident that Rise Up will actualize our bold vision of transforming the world into an equitable and just society, here and around the globe.  

We invite you to join us in welcoming Jennifer to the growing Rise Up community. Her leadership will be vital as we continue to invest in local leaders and strengthen our collective work to advance education, expand economic empowerment, and protect the health and rights of women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people worldwide.