Common Future Launches New Women-led, Multiracial Co-CEO Model

OAKLAND, Calif., June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Common Future, an award-winning Oakland-based nonprofit focused on building a future where all people—no matter their race and class—have power, choice, and ownership over the economy, announced today that it is launching a women-led, multiracial co-CEO model.

Current executives Jessica Feingold, Chief Strategy Officer; Sandhya Nakhasi, Managing Director of Community Credit Lab and CF Investments; and Jennifer Njuguna, Chief Operating Officer, will assume their new roles as co-leads of the organization effective June 15th.

Since it was founded in 2001, Common Future has incubated, co-created, and funded field-defining initiatives to advance economic and racial justice. Common Future deeply believes that in order to build a new economic system, organizations must commit to building power and moving resources to the people and organizations building the economy of the future, and they must also invest in leaders with equitable visions. The three co-CEOs—a multiracial team of women—each bring a unique skill set that will help drive forward Common Future's strategic plan centered on moving capital at scale.

Through this leadership change, Common Future is leaning into its values at its highest levels and pursuing new possibilities by leveraging the expertise and lived experience of each leader: Jess Feingold holds institutional knowledge, funder relationships, and overarching revenue strategy; Sandhya Nakhasi has developed community-led investment products bringing insight and relationships in impact investing and capital innovations; And Jennifer Njuguna brings expertise in organizational development, operations, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

"How Common Future shows up, the work we do, and the change we strive to create in our economy has never been more critical," said co-CEO Sandhya Nakhasi. "As co-CEO, I am looking forward to leading by example and showing what is possible to create when we step outside of the confines of our perceived economic constraints."

"In these turbulent economic times, the expertise that exists within communities can be a stabilizing force. As I take on the role of co-CEO, I recommit myself to continuing to channel attention and investment towards those who are leading the way to a stronger and more inclusive economy," said co-CEO Jess Feingold.

This leadership change is just one of many ways that Common Future has modeled systemic change for more equitable communities and economies. Common Future also designed and funded its own community-led catalytic capital programs and showed funders, investors, and other leaders how to do the same. And the organization has implemented internal policies that advance its vision of equity in the workplace, such as a four-day workweek and compensation audit.

"Common Future continues to pilot and support field-defining initiatives that bring about economic justice, and I am proud of how we are helping to set a standard for how organizations can effectively partner with BIPOC communities," co-CEO Jennifer Njuguna said.

Rodney Foxworth, Common Future's current CEO, will step down after six years of transformative leadership. He will remain on the board through 2023 while building his next venture, Worthmore, a mission-driven consulting and private investment firm focused on impact investing.

"I'm deeply honored to transition leadership of Common Future to Jennifer, Jess, and Sandhya," said Rodney Foxworth "They are dynamic leaders individually and as a collective leadership team they will take the organization to new heights. I have experienced first-hand their commitments to racial and economic equity, innovation, and community. I'm excited to watch the impact of their leadership on the field and how they will continue to shift capital and power. Under their shared leadership, Common Future will continue to be a field-defining organization."

About Common Future

Founded in 2001, Common Future works to build a future where all people—no matter their race and class—have power, ownership, and choice over the economy. Common Future recognizes that generations of Black and Indigenous communities and other communities of color have been and are currently intentionally locked out of wealth and power, causing persistent economic inequities that hold us all back. For more than two decades, Common Future has elevated the solutions of more than 200 community wealth-building organizations across the country, shifting $280 million into communities of color and toward equity in our economy.

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SOURCE Common Future