Raël Nelson James

About Raël Nelson James

Raël Nelson James is a Partner and Head of Equity at The Bridgespan Group, a global nonprofit that collaborates with philanthropists, nonprofit and NGO leaders, and impact investors to make the world more equitable and just. Since joining the organization in 2016 as Bridgespan’s first-ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) leader, she has helped shape the way the organization thinks about its people and culture, operations and external impact. Raël leads a global team of DEI leaders on three continents and is based in Bridgespan’s D.C. Hub. In addition to her internal role, Raël has coached other non-profits through one of Bridgespan’s cohort programs, Advancing Racial Equity, on how to effectively create DEI strategies for their own organizations. Raël served on the Advisory Committee for Equity in the Center’s publication “Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture.” Prior to joining Bridgespan, Raël was Director of Recruiting and Diversity at Education Board Partners (EBP)– now part of Bellweather – an organization that works to make sure that all children have access to an excellent school by partnering with school boards to offer candidate recruiting and matching as well as personalized coaching; strategic tools and resources; and networking and training opportunities to board chairs, school leaders, and board members. At EBP, Raël facilitated nearly 65 local professionals joining charter school boards. She also directed EBP\'s commitment to diversify charter school boards and to serve as an organizational model for diversity and inclusion in the charter sector. During her tenure, nearly half of the professionals who joined boards through the EBP network were Black and Latine. Raël was the first-ever executive director of LIFT-DC, where she expanded the organization into the District\'s bilingual communities, and east of the Anacostia River. Raël managed KIPP DC\'s foundation and corporate relations and served as the program director at Operation Understanding DC, a leadership development and dialogue program for Black and Jewish high school students. Raël was the founding board chair of the Social Justice School, an EL Education Public charter school in Washington, D.C. She is a native Washingtonian and Tufts University alumna.

Experience

1. Partner, Head of Equity

   The Bridgespan Group

   Sep 2021 — Present

Education

• Sidwell Friends School

  Diploma

• Tufts University

  B.A., Political Science

Skills

• Investor Relations
• Public Speaking
• Strategy
• Program Evaluation
• Non-Profit Board Development
• Community Outreach
• Research
• Leadership Development
• Proposal Writing
• Non-Profits
• Program Management
• Event Management
• Volunteer Management
• Training
• Grants
• Grant Writing
• Leadership
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Social Media
• Nonprofits
• Board Recruiting
• Program Development
• Fundraising
• Organizational Development
• Editing