NEW YORK | May 4, 2022 – The Rockefeller Foundation is pleased to announce that Khalid Pitts has joined as Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Coalitions. In this role, he will work across the Foundation to design and operationalize influence strategies, and forge new collaborative partnerships that will help scale renewable energy for all, stimulate economic mobility, and ensure equitable access to healthy and nutritious food.
“Khalid is passionate about making an impact on the world and our goal of making opportunity universal and sustainable,” said Eileen O’Connor, Senior Vice President of Communications, Policy, and Advocacy at The Rockefeller Foundation. “He has deep experience building advocacy campaigns, creating coalitions, and identifying and acting upon policies that could be created or affected through influence strategies based on educating power brokers on the research and facts – all of which are critical to reimagining philanthropy for the 21st century.”
Khalid, who has more than two decades of experience developing partnerships, actionable research and policies, and agenda setting domestically and internationally, joins the Foundation after eight years with Democracy Partners. As Principle Partner, he worked with a range of Democracy Partners clients on political and communication strategies, campaign management advice, grasstops advocacy plans, and grassroots mobilization systems. Prior, he was National Political Director at the Sierra Club, where he directed the organization’s federal and statewide electoral strategy and activities through its four political committees and 64 state chapters. He also served for five years as President and Board Chairman of USAction, one of the largest grassroots networks in the United States, encompassing 30 state affiliates, where he oversaw all programmatic development, communication, strategic outreach, and accountability of state affiliates.
“Covid-19, climate change, and the growing global food crisis as result of Russia’s barbaric attack on Ukraine are exacerbating inequality everywhere, which was too high to begin with even before the pandemic,” said Khalid Pitts, Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Coalitions at The Rockefeller Foundation. “I’m thrilled for the opportunity to join one of the world’s most innovative institutions to help communities all around the world and here in the United States grow more resilient and thrive in the face of these crises.”
As co-founder and executive board co-chair for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), Khalid helped build a coalition of over 1,000 organizations representing 30 million people. As founding Executive Board Member of the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority, he has spent more than a decade supporting the institution’s efforts to tackle the increasingly complex challenges of healthcare delivery, access, outcomes, and cost in the District. He also advised the Obama White House on issues around healthcare and gun violence.
In addition, Khalid is co-owner of Cork Wine Bar and Market, where he has helped ensure the culinary and financial success of a multimillion-dollar small business, while also prioritizing underrepresented communities and addressing issues of food insecurity in Washington, DC since 2007. Previous positions include serving as Director of Strategic Campaigns at the Service Employees International Union (2004-2014), State Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (1999-2004), Director of Health Analysis and Outcomes at the Central Detention Facility at the United States District Court (1997-1999), and Senior Researcher at the National Institutes of Health (1995-1997).
About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation to enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We work to promote the well-being of humanity and make opportunity universal. Our focus is on scaling renewable energy for all, stimulating economic mobility, and ensuring equitable access to healthy and nutritious food. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn.
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