Vanguard Legacy Awardee: Karundi Williams
Executive Director, re:power
Years in role: 5 years
Where: Maryland is home and service area is national
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
When I became Executive Director of re:power in 2019, it was a significant milestone. As we started reimagining our potential, the compounded trauma of 2020 tested our resilience. Leading through a pandemic while confronting systemic racism was daunting, but we quickly pivoted to train over 2,000 organizers online and form transformational partnerships with multiple foundations.
The pandemic clarified re:power’s mission and my purpose, highlighting the critical need to unlock the agency of historically oppressed communities and foster adaptive leadership. Despite initial fundraising insecurities, I also led re:power to grow from a $3.1 million to a $6 million annual budget and rebuilt our reserve accounts.
I challenged philanthropy and our movement to go beyond anti-racism rhetoric and put it into practice, sharing a clear vision with funders and conveying the necessity of investing in re:power, which garnered their support. In the past five years, we’ve also grown from a staff of 11 in 2020 to 25 by the end of this year. Our staff culture is strong, and we’re doing our best work ever!
What myths would you like to break in your organization’s work?
The excessive focus on organizations having a strategic plan is a symptom of the non-profit industrial complex.
Leaders must make highly strategic decisions to propel their organizations forward, even without a formal plan. For instance, the support and intentionality I aspired to create for women of color at re:power led to the development of new programming like the Women of Color Leadership Cohort, which supports 30-35 leaders annually across two cohorts. That’s why, for our strategic planning process to be more than a box we checked, it was essential to create an engaging process that involved our staff and board in creating a new strategic vision and brand identity.
Our strategic planning process provided us with exceptional clarity, and thanks to our innovative approach and brilliant team, we ensured continuous progress and alignment. Also, resilience isn’t about enduring injustice but building community support to dismantle oppressive systems.
In 2022, we did a movement-wide survey through which the data showed one of the biggest threats to our movement was burn-out. We’re losing people faster than we are able to activate them, and especially those who are closest to our work. For us, we realized that one of the keys to fostering resilience and hope was building the support networks organizers need. And re:power was in the perfect position to do so with an alumni community of over 7,000 in just the last few years. We are now building our alumni community through virtual and in-person gatherings, community conversations, and more.
What does it take to build power?
re:power trains local organizers all over the country all year-round who understand that real progress requires continuous civic engagement and community organizing at the state and local levels. They need sustainable, long-term investments to develop impactful program plans and maintain momentum. By investing in liberatory organizing infrastructure that re:power builds with grassroots organizations, communities will remain civically engaged and deeply involved in the democratic process—long after election day has passed.
Transformative capacity-building and leadership development programs tailored to the unique needs of women of color and trans and gender-expansive leaders of color who will catalyze a shift within their communities and beyond because it is liberatory organizing that will impact our movement and therefore our world!
What is your why?
I honor the Black women before me. I am creating a world where Black and Brown girls are living and seen in their full power. I fight for us everyday. My why is rooted in the liberation and freedom of women of color, inspired deeply by my little Black girl who drives everything I do and shapes who I am. I want to ensure my legacy will support women of color in the future who are living a life my ancestors could only dream of.
Learn more!
Learn more about re:power and their critical work.
