Linetta J. Gilbert |
Linetta J. Gilbert is well-known and highly regarded in the community development field and the community philanthropy worlds. For ten years she worked as a program officer at the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF), and from 1995 to 2001 she served as Vice President for Programs. At GNOF she provided strategic direction and developed a grant portfolio for community initiatives in affordable housing, community development, workforce development, violence prevention, youth development, and rural development. She worked closely with donors and potential donors to show them the value of community philanthropy in the New Orleans region.
Ms. Gilbert has played a leadership role in community development, both in advancing faith-based community work and in her role as a board member for the Neighborhood Funders Group, where among other accomplishments she was instrumental in launching the Rural Funders Working Group as well as the National Rural Funders Collaborative. She served for one year as a Lead Consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Neighborhood Transformation "Making Connections" Initiative. Ms. Gilbert has been an active member of several national philanthropy and affinity groups - Neighborhood Funders Group (Board member), Association of Black Foundation Executives, Grantmakers for Children/Families and Youth, Black Church and Philanthropy (Board member) - and currently serves in leadership capacities with the Association of Black Foundation Executives and the Neighborhood Funders Group.
Ms. Gilbert is currently working as a Program Officer in the Community and Resource Development Unit at the Ford Foundation in New York. In this role, she leads the Community Philanthropy, Race and Equity in the American South Initiative, the Border Philanthropy Partnership Initiative, and the World Bank Community Foundations Initiative. She is an experienced, strategic grantmaker with a deep commitment to building community leadership and civic capacity. Ms. Gilbert is married and the mother of two adult women and one adult foster son.