Brianna Rogers

About Brianna Rogers

Brianna is a proximate philanthropic leader who brings incredible energy, insights, and experience to her work. She’s able to connect with and engage people from all backgrounds, and is a powerful advocate for low income Black and brown communities. She grew up in Berkeley, attended Berkeley City College where she served as one of two student delegates to the Peralta Community College District, then transferred to UC Berkeley as a first-generation, re-entry student parent, earning her BA in Rhetoric Studies. While at UCB, Brianna developed innovative programming for the African Student Development Center and the Department of Equity and Inclusion. She became a fearless leader for Black and Brown transfer students navigating post secondary education and also became a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Inc, Kappa Chapter, and sat as a City Planning Commissioner where she allocated over 1 million in funding to non academic youth programs in Berkeley. She went on to receive her master’s degree from the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and cut her teeth in philanthropy as a National Urban Fellow at the Andrus Family Fund in New York City. Brianna is known for having “found her freedom through education”. In October 2020, she joined The San Francisco Foundation to put her community building skills to work on the HOPE SF Initiative. 15 months later she was promoted to lead a NEW project in workforce development. “It has been an honor to serve the communities of HOPE SF for the past 15 months. I recall being excitedly eager to work with the residents this initiative aims to serve because I saw myself in every one of them. Growing up in a low-income, single parent household, I am no stranger to public housing and housing voucher programs. I know, firsthand, the implications that come with living within these systematic constraints, and was proud to use, both, my professional and personal lived experience to empower residents in a way that called them in, not out—offering tools and funding needed to build power and possibility in ways that allowed a reimagining of how to grow holistic wealth while centering Black and Indigenous community members. Although I am proud of what I gave to the HOPE SF initiative, I also know there is much work ahead; creating generational wealth and access to sustainable good jobs in the Bay Area is a growing opportunity, and the dismantling of oppressive systems and structures remain a priority for me. I am excited to help build power and improve the lives of BIPOC in the Bay Area.”

Experience

1. Initiative Officer

   San Francisco Foundation

   Jan 2024 — Present · San Francisco, CA, US

   Promoted to Initiative Officer after joining the ReWork team in January 2022 as an Associate Initiative Officer, after more than a year on the HOPE SF team. Since joining ReWork, I have successfully led two multi-sector demonstration projects involving grantmaking, funder relations, and project management. Ive also taken an active role in building relationships with new partners and funders for ReWork, as well as becoming a key spokesperson for ReWork, representing Rework on panels at three different conferences last year. I’ve also invested considerable time in my own development, including completing the Georgetown University Executive Certificate in Philanthropic Leadership in 2023. Within SFF, Ive played a key role on the Internal Equity Working Group, planning teams for SFF events and gatherings, and actively participated in Black @ SFF, among other things. As an Initiative Officer, I will continue to grow my fundraising and public speaking roles on the ReWork team. ReWork the Bay brings together systems leaders, economic justice advocates, education and training providers, business leaders and funders to take bold, urgent action to create a prosperous Bay Area for all, especially working people.

Education

• Berkeley City College

  Communications and Liberal Arts, Speech Communication and Rhetoric, 3.9 GPA

  2014 — 2016

• Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy

  Masters in Policy Management, Public Policy Management, Graduate Student

  2019 — 2020

• University of California, Berkeley

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Speech Communication and Rhetoric, 3.5 GPA

  2016 — 2018