There are moments in the life of an organization when you can feel something opening. New capacity, new energy, new possibility. This is one of those moments for us. I’m so glad to share that Shun Ahmed has joined the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund as our new Senior Program Associate.
Shun is a Nashville native and a graduate of Metro Nashville Public Schools, whose work has been deeply rooted in the communities we serve. Over the past several years, she has contributed her leadership and care to organizations that many of us know and love, including several Maddox partners. In each of these spaces, she has built programs, strengthened systems, and walked alongside young people and families across Middle Tennessee.
She brings a rare combination of technical skill and relational depth. A graduate of Vanderbilt University in Engineering Science, Shun has consistently worked at the intersection of data, community engagement, and equity. She has led efforts to build data systems that help organizations better understand and communicate their impact, while also ensuring those systems remain grounded in the lived experiences of the communities they serve.
In her leadership at ADROIT, Shun has directed a growing statewide program engaging hundreds of young people in hands-on learning, leadership development, and innovation. Across her roles, she has helped steward programs, manage complex grant processes, and build partnerships that expand access and opportunity.
What stands out most is how she approaches this work. Shun brings a participatory spirit, creating space for young people and community members to shape the solutions that affect their lives. She has facilitated dialogue and collaboration across lines of difference, always with a deep commitment to belonging, dignity, and shared ownership.
At Maddox, we often say that our work is about more than grantmaking. We are tending to relationships. We are cultivating trust. We are learning alongside our partners as we seek to better the lives of young people and protect the natural environment across Middle Tennessee.
Shun will play a vital role in that work. She will help steward relationships with our partners, support our grantmaking processes, and strengthen how we learn from and alongside the communities we serve. Her experience working within partner organizations gives her a unique perspective, one that will help us continue to grow as a more responsive, relational, and community-rooted funder.
As a small team, each person shapes not just what we do, but how we do it. Shun’s presence already feels like a gift, bringing both rigor and warmth, thoughtfulness and action.
I’m especially excited for our partners to get to know her in the months ahead. Please join me in welcoming Shun to the Maddox community.
With gratitude,
Jen
