Community Leadership

Partnering with the community, Maddox leads and follows with courage to advance justice and liberation.

See our Community Leadership North Stars

In our 2016 Maddox partner listening meetings, we were challenged to use our voice more on issues impacting the nonprofit sector, youth and the natural environment.  In our 2022 grant design workshops, partners asked how we could be stronger community leaders.  Community Leadership is the least developed of the Maddox North Stars.  We will continue to explore how we look at this part of our work through advocacy, partner training, and engagement with local and national foundations.

Advocacy

The Maddox Fund developed an Advocacy Policy in 2017 to guide how we use our voice in public policy and practice to support our mission and nonprofit partners.  Since that time, we have stood with our nonprofit partners on issues from water quality to education equity, from building resilient cities to immigration reform.

National & Local Foundation Engagement

Maddox is a member of the following local associations

We are a part of the following national movement builders

In partnership with other local foundations, we have been exploring ways to utilize assets beyond the 5% IRS required payout.  This group has covered different topics in 2024.  Check out this playlist to see what we are learning about.

See the Playlist

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Community Leadership North Stars

Partnering with the community, Maddox leads and follows with courage to advance DEIJL.

  • Advocacy
    • Maddox Staff are in the community and engaged in DEIJL movements.
    • Maddox has a responsive advocacy agenda that advances DEIJL that is shaped by the community.
    • Maddox uses its voice and resources to amplify the DEIJL efforts of our partners.
  • Partner Training and Consulting
    • Maddox supports partner and community learning and reflection on issues of DEIJL.
  • National and Local Foundation Engagement
    • Maddox is connected to communities of practice, national and otherwise, to explore, engage and deepen DEIJL understanding and skill. 
    • Maddox collaborates with other foundations and colleagues to advance DEIJL.

Jen Bailey is the Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, bringing her deep experience in community-based leadership, philanthropy, and movement-building to the organization.

Jen is the Founder of Faith Matters Network, a national Womanist-led organization accompanying spiritually-grounded leaders on their journey to heal themselves and their communities. Since its inception, Faith Matters Network has served over 25,000 leaders through its programs and initiatives. She is Co-Founder of The People’s Supper, a global initiative that has hosted over 2,000 gatherings in 135 communities to foster conversation and collective healing across lines of difference.

Committed to advancing social change through philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Jen serves on the boards of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Fetzer Institute, and The Healing Trust, where she is the Board Chair.

An Ashoka Fellow, New Pluralist Field Builder, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow, and Truman Scholar, Jen holds degrees from Tufts University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School, where she was awarded the Wilbur F. Tillett Prize for accomplishments in the study of theology. Her work has been featured by On Being with Krista Tippett, CBS This Morning, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more. She is also the author of To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss, and Radical Hope (Chalice Press, 2021).

email Jen: [email protected]