Janine Lee was the President and CEO of Philanthropy Southeast, the premier philanthropic network for courageous leaders, ideas and resources focused on the American South and U.S. Caribbean territories. Philanthropy Southeast works in partnership with members in 11 Southeastern states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, connecting them to experts, innovations and best practices in philanthropy while promoting peer-to-peer learning and leadership development. By coming together, Philanthropy Southeast and its members spark transformative work that achieves lasting impact, advances equity, and builds a brighter future for the South, its communities and all its people.
During a career in philanthropy spanning more than 30 years, Janine has served in leadership roles at The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, where she worked as vice president of education programs, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where she was vice president of community building and philanthropy.
Janine served on the Board of Directors of Independent Sector and on the United Philanthropy Forum’s Racial Equity Committee, as well as its Racial Equity Capacity Assessment Subcommittee. Her previous board service includes the United Philanthropy Forum (formerly the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers), the National Center for Family Philanthropy and the Mayor’s Advisory Board on Homelessness in Atlanta. She also serves on the Advisory Committee of Third Sector Capital Partners, the Advisory Committee for ABFE’s 50th Anniversary Campaign, the Steering Committee of the Georgia Grantmakers Alliance (GGA), the Advisory Committee for the Foundation Center in Atlanta, and the Steering Committee guiding the Bechtel Foundation’s research into resiliency. She was a co-founder and former chair of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). She presented at various conferences, including those held by Independent Sector and the Council on Foundations. In 2015, she was named one of America’s Top 20 Women in Philanthropy and Civic Engagement by Michael Chatman, one of America’s leading advocates for philanthropy on social media. In 2017, she was named an Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Aspen Fellow. She has been featured multiple times in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, including its July 2019 cover story, “Leaders of Color Speak Out,” and as co-author of a November 2019 op-ed, “A Call to Grant Makers: National Progress is Impossible Without Southern Progress.” She was interviewed for articles in Inside Philanthropy and other publications.
Janine held a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation services education, a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling, a master’s degree in business administration from Rockhurst University, and is a co-author of “Funding Effectiveness: Lessons in Building Nonprofit Capacity” (Jossey-Bass, 2005).
