Centering Frontline Communities & Transforming Public Investment

Communities First Fund is transforming how federal, state, and local governments invest public dollars in Black, Indigenous, People of Color and low-wealth communities by implementing a relationships-first approach to community-driven solutions that centers frontline communities’ leadership, innovation, and priorities.
BACKGROUND

Investing In Communities To Combat Racial Inequity

Communities First was founded to seize on the opportunity of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, announced in a January 2021 executive order.

Through this initiative, the federal government committed to “delivering 40 percent of the overall benefits of relevant federal investments to disadvantaged communities.” Therein, the federal government articulated a promise to intentionally direct substantial investments into communities in order to combat racial inequity and advance racially just development.

To fulfill this promise, the Biden administration and its federal agencies and state and local partners must build strong relationships and partnerships grounded in the expertise and leadership that already exists in communities across the country. 
It also must coordinate all of the government and align the breadth of resources at its disposal, especially from the Infrastructure Investment (IIJA) and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in service of their equity goals.

The success of the Justice40 Initiative, and the path toward a future of racially equitable and just development, will be achieved through recognition that communities themselves hold the solutions that best address their needs, and that government must be accountable to investing in those solutions.

Communities First plays a crucial role in actualizing the racial justice values of Justice40 and expanding its potential by creating bridges between communities and governmental planning processes that are often inaccessible to the very people they are meant to serve.

Communities First is leveraging the Biden Administration’s readiness to direct funds to Black, Indigenous, People of Color and low-wealth communities by advancing investments and partnerships in service of community plans, solutions, priorities, needs, and visions for a thriving future.

Communities First focuses on actions that can be taken right now, and with existing and emerging funds and support. 
Our work is immediate and targets federal grant and technical assistance programs to increase capital and non-capital community investments.
GOALS

Communities First seeks to ensure that:

1. Under-served communities achieve greater economic vitality and resilience by accessing public funding, including COVID-19 Economic Recovery, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Inflation Reduction Act investments and resources.

2. Black, Indigenous, People of Color communities have the local investment infrastructure necessary to attract philanthropic, public, and private capital to support building community assets.
3. Black, Indigenous, People of Color leadership is centered in decision-making positions within regional, local economic development networks/ecosystems.
4. A racially equitable and justice lens is adopted across multiple federal agencies and their grant programs at all levels.

Our work to achieve these goals includes:

• Partnering with community anchoring institutions to identify how the federal grant process should be improved in service of community applicants.
• Establishing a community-centered accountability framework to guide federal agencies’ relationships with impacted communities.
• Convening cross-sectors leaders, investors, and experts to support communities in stewarding resources in ways that honor community leadership, plans, and priorities.
• Counseling key federal agencies on developing new criteria for grant programs that support racial equity outcomes.
• Designing and overseeing Infrastructure and Innovation Learning Labs providing a forum for government agency staff and community anchoring institutions to build relationships and collaborate on projects aimed at advancing the federal racial equity commitment.
• Conducting research and creating resources to provide BIPOC communities clear pathways to access the flow of discretionary capital from American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.

Meet the Team

Helen Chin

President, Communities First Fund
Helen Chin is the President of Communities First which is housed at Race Forward and Amalgamated Foundation where she serves as a Senior Fellow. Under Helen’s leadership, Communities First is transforming how federal, state, and local governments invest public dollars in low-wealth and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities by implementing a relationships-first approach to community-driven solutions that centers frontline communities’ leadership, innovation, and priorities.

Prior to launching Communities First, Helen worked at the Surdna Foundation for 13 years, as the Program Director for six years and Program Officer for Sustainable Environments at the Surdna Foundation. She led the program’s work to develop and support Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and low-wealth communities in building accountability, alternatives, and democratic muscle to promote infrastructure development that simultaneously aims to achieve racial equity, and economic, environmental and climate justice.
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Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins

Vice President of Strategy, Communities First Fund
Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins champions public policy solutions that promote economic, social, cultural, and environmental benefits for communities. She is a 2022 Open Society Foundation Leadership in Government Fellow and former public official who applies a transformative justice approach to public infrastructure investment. As a social entrepreneur and partner at North Star Strategies, Stephanie co-envisioned the Communities First Infrastructure Alliance to advance community-centered plans, racial equity practices, and climate resilience principles, serving as Vice President of Strategies. She fosters strategic partnerships to advance federal campaigns, coalition efforts, racial equity, cultural resilience, and climate justice.
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Leanne Kaplan

Communities First Infrastructure Alliance Partnerships and Program Manager, Communities First Fund
Leanne Kaplan (she/her) is the Communities First Infrastructure Alliance Partnerships and Program Manager. Her work focuses on building the relationships and policies needed to create more just, equitable, and resilient communities. She manages the Communities First Infrastructure Alliance, which brings together technical assistance providers, frontline communities, and community leaders to unlock the potential of new federal infrastructure investments. The Infrastructure Alliance seeks to support communities with the resources, capacity, and technical assistance required to actualize community-centered plans, projects, and visions to meet this moment.
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Alya Davis

Program & Grants Manager, Communities First Fund
Alya Davis (she/her) is the Program & Grants Manager at Communities First. In her role, she manages grantmaking to build power for frontline communities of color and low-wealth communities. Additionally, Alya supports the President and Vice President of Strategy with overall project management and administrative support.

As a first generation student at Marist College, Alya was a summer intern on the NRCC team at the Ford Foundation, an experience which introduced her to the philanthropic sector. After graduating in 2019, Alya worked in the non- profit sector before finding her way back to philanthropy where she spent the past 3.5 years working on the Sustainable Environments team at the Surdna Foundation.
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Communities First Resources

Announcing the Communities First Infrastructure Alliance Transformative Justice Fellows

PolicyLink, the Communities First Infrastructure Alliance, and Race Forward's Government Alliance on Race and Equity are excited to announce the 2023 Fellows cohort of leaders who play strategic roles in embedding equitable approaches to local infrastructure investments.
See Announcement →
The American Rescue Plan Act: Centering Equity and Impacted Communities

This Communities First report provides an overview of selected opportunities created by ARPA's historic investments. With collective advocacy, decisions made by state, local, territorial and Tribal government decision-makers and other actors could translate into tangible resources for communities that have historically not received their fair share of public investment.
Read full report →
Read blog post → 

Keeping Communities at the Center of Equitable Infrastructure by Reimagining Risk, Power and Accountability
Blogpost by Helen Chin.
Read blog post → 

White House Releases Technical Assistance Guide to Help Communities Unlock Resources From Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
White House announcement, including the Communities First Alliance.
Read announcement → 

Talking Headways: Communities First Infrastructure Alliance

Podcast interview with Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins and Helen Chin.
Listen to podcast →

Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins

Stephanie previously served as Vice-Chair of the board of directors for the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA); senior director at the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, a former political appointee in the Obama administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation; Hurricane Sandy Taskforce chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and local government leader. Stephanie began her career working on Capitol Hill.

An ambassador of joy, Stephanie laughs without fear of tomorrow, as a spiritual act of resistance. Her writing has been published in the Washington Post, Politico Magazine, and quoted in the New York Times, Grist, Vox, and Miami Herald. She is a cultural bearer, wife, mother, and community advocate, who lives in Washington, D.C.

Helen Chin

Helen’s work spans working for frontline communities at West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT) in New York City to working internationally with indigenous communities as Acting Deputy Director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), where she managed a grant portfolio that designed and supported programs in over 15 countries, providing indigenous communities with the technical assistance and resources needed to preserve and protect natural resources and wildlife habitat. She spent a significant amount of time in Africa and Asia working directly with communities, and then she went on to consult for the Wildlife Trust of India, living in India for almost a year before returning to the U.S. Before joining IFAW, she was the Community Programs Manager at the New England Aquarium, where she created outreach and educational programs to cultivate relationships between urban families and leadership development programs to engage young people. Prior to that, she held positions with the Natural Resources Defense Council working on national environmental policies.

She holds a Master of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Marketing at Pace University. Helen served on the board of the Environmental Grantmakers Association and at present serves on the Advisory Committee for the Amplify Fund and Freedom Funders.


Leanne Kaplan


Prior to joining Communities First, Leanne was the Alliance & Policy Manager for the New Urban Mobility alliance (NUMO) based at the World Resources Institute’s Center for Sustainable Cities, where she led NUMO’s federal policy work and engagement with allies and partners. As a graduate student, Leanne worked at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) where she supported countries in planning metropolitan regions for sustainable urbanization. She also worked as a graduate consultant for Fundación Corona, developing a framework to help implement open government in Colombian cities. Previously, Leanne managed special events for Central Park Conservancy in New York City.

Leanne holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs with a concentration in Urban Policy. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Communication with majors in honors Public Relations and Geography from the University of Miami. Leanne enjoys bringing old and new friends together for dinner parties, exploring new cities, and spending time outdoors with her dog, Willow. Born in New York and raised in New Haven, Leanne now lives in Washington, D.C.

Alya Davis


There she started as a Program Assistant and most recently led the team as interim Program Officer. In this role she managed a $9.2M budget supporting grantmaking to build power for communities of color and low-wealth communities as determined by those on the frontlines of racial, economic, gender, environmental, and climate justice. She also served as Steering Committee Co-Chair for Community Food Funders housed at the North Star Fund from 2022-2023.

Passionate about demystifying entering the philanthropic sector, Alya founded and launched PhilanthroSee, a curated job board for early career roles in the philanthropic sector in November 2022.

Born in Germany and raised in the United Kingdom, Alya now calls Brooklyn home.