An Interview With Jakada Imani, executive director, Ella Baker Center

FundRaising Success: How do you fund your mission?
Jakada Imani: Mostly through foundation support, some individual donors and some corporate support.

FS: What are the biggest challenges your organization faces as far as fundraising is concerned? How do you overcome them?
JI: We do a lot of criminal justice reform, and a lot of the funding for that has dried up. Recently, oddly enough, since our founder, Van Jones, went to the White House to become a special adviser to the president on innovation and technology, there's this perception that somehow now the Ella Baker Center has an endowment. And we don't. We've been walking this fine line between being financially healthy and folks thinking therefore we don't need help. People don't want to take a bet on something that may not be here, and there's a little hesitancy about what a donation to the Ella Baker Center will provide. They think it's just a drop in the bucket, but the truth of the matter is it isn't.