Today we are kicking off the fall with another slate of great season 2 episodes. In this episode, I speak with Roger Nozaki, Vice President at the Barr Foundation. You’ll get the rare opportunity to hear a foundation executive thinking through their work supporting nonprofit sector effectiveness. 

Roger shares his evolving ideas along the continuum from investing at the level of individuals - in particular executive directors - toward investing in “people-systems”, and a regional talent-ecosystem for nonprofits. We discuss how racial equity can be bolstered through such efforts, and Roger shares how the Barr Fellowship exemplifies the connections between nonprofit organizational capacity, leadership development, and workforce development.

Guest Bio:  Roger Nozaki · Barr Foundation

Resource Links Mentioned: 

• Barr Foundation - Boston
• Sector Effectiveness · Barr Foundation
• Movement Talent
• TSNE | Partners in social change
• The Institute for Nonprofit Practice
• Creative Disruption Report 
• Interaction Institute for Social Change
• Massachusetts Nonprofit Network 
• Council of Nonprofits 

Guest Bio: 

Roger joined Barr in 2016, in the newly-created position of vice president. With Barr’s significant growth in subsequent years, his role evolved to focus on programs and strategy. Roger now provides primary oversight for the Foundation’s grantmaking programs and initiatives. He also leads Barr’s sector effectiveness program and oversees learning and evaluation activities.

Roger brings experience across corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors. Before coming to Barr, he served as a senior policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Education, working with the Department and the White House to advance equity, innovation, and quality outcomes in higher education. He previously spent nearly nine years at Brown University, where he served as an academic dean, oversaw three centers, and co-taught a course on the theory and practice of philanthropy. Prior to Brown, he worked for the Hitachi and GE foundations in a number of roles from 1994 to 2005, including as executive director of the GE Foundation.

Roger currently serves on Independent Sector’s Public Policy Committee and is a member of the US-Japan Council and the LEAP Ambassador Community. He has served previously on a number of boards and committees, including the Independent Sector board, the Council on Foundations Corporate Committee, and the Institute for College Access and Success board, and chaired the board of Innovations in Civic Participation. Roger and his wife have three children and two dogs, and they live in Rhode Island.