Neighborhood Funders Group
Dennis Quirin
Dennis Quirin has been selected as the next executive director of the Raikes Foundation.
The nonprofit which focuses its investments on youth-serving institutions across the country in the areas of education and youth homelessness chose Quirin after a nationwide search to replace its founding executive director, Erin Kahn.
Quirin arrives at the Raikes Foundation from the national philanthropic network, Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG), where he has served as president since 2013. He led NFG through a period of expansion and change as it strove to fulfill its mission to support grassroots initiatives and organizations working to empower low-income communities and communities of color long disadvantaged by traditional politics.
His tenure saw NFG’s institutional membership more than double while he led the launch of its new Amplify Fund and Philanthropy Forward, a fellowship program for progressive nonprofit CEO leadership development.
Quirin has breadth of experience working in many different social change movements, something the Raikes Foundation was specifically looking for.
“Given the broad scope of work we do at the Raikes Foundation, we knew we needed someone with a rare combination of skills and experience. Dennis understands the field of philanthropy broadly, and appreciates the importance of deep community engagement when advancing solutions. Dennis’s background aligns perfectly with our goals,” stated co-founder Jeff Raikes in a Raikes Foundation blog post about the appointment.
Prior to his time at NFG, Quirin worked for more than 20 years at the Proteus Fund as a race and equity-focused program officer.
Having spent much of his life in California, Quirin worked on California Forward, an ambitious government reform initiative, and for Californians for Justice. He also spent time as a community organizer in Los Angeles as well as at the San Francisco Foundation.
Dennis Quirin assumes the office of executive director of the Raikes Foundation in September.
