Ms. Dennis began her career in social justice and child advocacy when, as a recent college graduate, she joined the National Black Child Development Institute, which focused on improving conditions for Black children in the areas of education, child welfare, and health.  There, she helped develop a program to mobilize the community in five pilot cities to work one-on-one with at-risk youth to increase their chances of success in school and beyond.  Following law school, Ms. Dennis worked as a staff attorney for the National Audubon Society, where she built a powerful coalition that brought social justice groups to lobby alongside the environmental community on a range of issues.  While stepping away from the law to raise two daughters, she volunteered as a community leader in her children’s California school district, where she was active in fundraising and promoting student achievement, as well as outreach to new immigrant communities.  Upon her return to DC in 2009, Ms. Dennis received specialized student advocacy training from the Took Cowell Institute for At-Risk Youth at the U.D.C. David A. Clarke School of Law.  She went on to co-found and direct a DC-based nonprofit that paired volunteer mentors to work individually with homeless middle school-aged youth.  There she was responsible for all facets of board development, community outreach, program administration, and fundraising.  Ms. Dennis received a B.A. in Politics from Mount Holyoke College, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

“After years of providing direct services through a number of nonprofits in DC, I’m drawn to the idea of creating a single transformational grant that can change an organization — and the people it serves.”