DETROIT — The McGregor Fund has announced the hiring of Nikia Washington to serve as the fund’s inaugural Director of Engagement & Communications.
The new role is intended to transform both the Fund’s own communications and its support for grant partner organizations. This senior position was created as a direct response to grant partners’ request that the Fund elevate its relationship-forward grant partner support, advocacy for rest for non-profit leaders, and unfolding work for racial and economic justice.
“This position marks a new chapter for us. It will bring greater accountability and partner participation to our work, while offering partners a bigger platform for theirs, and the support of additional, essential skills among our team,” McGregor Fund President Kate Levin Markel said. “Kia brings those skills and so much more. We are thrilled to welcome her as a colleague, to introduce her to all our partners, and to support her as she creates this new, experimental role.”
“As I join this team of dynamic philanthropy futurists in a role focused on amplifying the voices, knowledge, and strategies of those with lived experience in the work we champion, I carry with me those who taught me the power of relationships, story, and authenticity,” Washington said. “I come to this role pouring out just as I’ve received, leading with love and community at the center. I come bearing the spirit of ubuntu: I am because we are.”
A highly regarded and innovative leader in philanthropy in Detroit and beyond, Washington is already well-known to many of the Fund’s grant partners. In her current role as Director of Member Engagement for the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF), she has supported CMF members’ network- and relationship-building efforts.
“On behalf of the CMF Board of Trustees and staff, we are deeply grateful to Kia for her leadership, insights and contributions she brought to CMF as our Director of Member Engagement,” Kyle Caldwell, President and CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations, said. “Kia has a strategic and collaborative approach that is well-aligned with her new role at the McGregor Fund. We look forward to continuing to engage with Kia as a CMF member.”
Washington’s work supporting philanthropic and non-profit partners has also included a consultancy with EarlyWorks and independent research on Black philanthropy. In 2023, she served as co-chair of The Soul of Philanthropy: Michigan steering committee which hosted the “Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited” exhibition and curated the “Detroit Gives Black” celebration, both recognizing Detroit’s extensive Black philanthropic tradition.
