Community-Centric Fundraising is a fundraising movement that is grounded in equity and social justice. Organizers and practitioners of this movement prioritize the entire community over individual organizations, foster a sense of belonging and interdependence, present our work not as individual transactions but holistically, and encourage mutual support between nonprofits.

In April we will be joined by two members of the Community Centric Fundraising Leadership, Erika Chen and Rakhi Agrawal. They will lead us through an interactive virtual lunch-in that will introduce the Community-Centric Fundraising movement and the 10 Principles. Then in smaller groups, we will take a deeper dive into each of the principles. The goal for this presentation is for everyone to feel energized, motivated, and empowered to take actionable steps to be more community-centric in their everyday work. Together we will build momentum!

This presentation will also include local fundraisers from Virginia Community Voice and Legal Aid Justice Center that have embraced the Community Centric Fundraising principles in their development programs. 

Approved for 1.5 hours of CFRE credit.

Our Presenters

Rakhi Agrawal is a nonprofit development consultant with The New Philanthropists and a freelance data scientist. She has also joined the Community-Centric Fundraising Leadership Team since the movement launched in July 2020. She is one of the amazing folks who coordinated CCF’s BIPOC Town Hall series - a space where BIPOC fundraising and development professionals can gather to discuss their relationship to fundraising and philanthropy, share successes and struggles, and engage in brave conversation. 

Erika Chen is a founding member of Community-Centric Fundraising and an independent nonprofit consultant. She works with many organizations and holds a variety of leadership positions, such as the VP of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access with AFP Advancement Northwest and as a past steering committee member with Social Justice Fund NW's Seattle Donors of Color.  

Angela Ciolfi is the Executive Director at Legal Aid Justice Center. She began working at LAJC in 2004 as a Powell Fellow, before serving as JustChildren Legal Director from 2010 to 2017 when she became Director of Litigation and Advocacy. During her tenure, Angela has been a prolific and fierce advocate for justice working on and often leading many of LAJC’s signature campaigns and cases, including the Drive Down the Debt Campaign targeting Virginia’s driver’s punitive license suspension statute. She has also litigated significant cases in the Virginia Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of The College of William and Mary and University of Virginia School of Law. 

Lea Whitehurst-Gibson is the Executive Director of Virginia Community Voice and a seasoned community organizer. Prior to leading Virginia Community Voice, Lea was the Director of Community Engagement at Thriving Cities Group. She also worked for Richmonders Involved to Strengthen our Communities (RISC) where she organized 1,000 people in 20 diverse congregations to stand together for just practices. Lea has a degree in theology from Elim Bible College. Lea and her husband are foster parents and live in Jackson Ward.

Our Schedule

• 12 p.m. Program begins
• 1:30 p.m. Adjourn

Registration Fees

Due to the importance of this topic, this program will be offered at no cost to all registrants.

Our thanks to the AFP Central Virginia Chapter for their sponsorship of this program.