A national network of funders supporting strategic, innovative, and effective solutions to homelessness

James Crowder, Jr.

Senior Associate for Local Policy Reform and Advocacy, Annie E. Casey Foundation 

 

Funders Together Board Member

 

 James Crowder, Jr., Senior Associate for Local Policy Reform and Advocacy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a committed advocate for policies and programs that enhance the quality of life for low-income families in distressed communities. He brings 20 years of experience in the fields of affordable housing, community development, and policy research and advocacy. Prior to Casey, James was a Senior Associate at PolicyLink, a national research and action organization focused on advancing policies that improve outcomes for the 100 million Americans living at or near the poverty line. At PolicyLink, he provided technical assistance to city leaders across the country on strategies for leveraging racially disaggregated data for policy change, and published several research briefs on themes ranging from employment equity to stemming residential displacement, and more. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a Master of Public Policy degree from Rutgers University, as well as a Master of Arts in African American studies from Columbia University in New York. 

 

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  • Rachelle Matthews
    published this page in Board 2025-02-13 23:06:45 -0500

We joined Funders Together because we believe in the power of philanthropy to play a major role in ending homelessness, and we know we have much to learn from funders across the country.

-Christine Marge, Director of Housing and Financial Stability at United Way of Greater Los Angeles

I am thankful for the local partnerships here in the Pacific Northwest that we’ve been able to create and nurture thanks to the work of Funders Together. Having so many of the right players at the table makes our conversations – and all of our efforts – all the richer and more effective.

-David Wertheimer, Deputy Director at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Very often a lack of jobs and money is not the cause of poverty, but the symptom. The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, in a lack of education and training, in a lack of medical care and housing, in a lack of decent communities in which to live and bring up their children.

-President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964 State of the Union Address

Funders Together has given me a platform to engage the other funders in my community. Our local funding community has improved greatly to support housing first models and align of resources towards ending homelessness.

-Leslie Strnisha, Vice President at Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland

Our family foundation convenes local funders and key community stakeholders around strategies to end homelessness in Houston. Funders Together members have been invaluable mentors to us in this effort, traveling to our community to share their expertise and examples of best practices from around the nation.

-Nancy Frees Fountain, Managing Director at The Frees Foundation


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