On April 7th, the Nafasi Fund had the privilege of co-hosting a powerful session at the sold-out Harambee 2025 Conference, presented by the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE). In partnership with Black Male Educators Talk (BMEsTalk), we gathered alongside allies, funders, and movement leaders to explore the evolving landscape of fiscal sponsorship and the opportunity it holds to advance grassroots power, particularly within Black-led organizations.
The session, titled “Building Grassroots Impact & Sustainability through Fiscal Sponsorship”, emerged from a sobering truth. In both 2018 and 2025, the two largest fiscal sponsors in Baltimore closed their doors, disproportionately impacting Black-led nonprofits. This unfortunate event underscores the urgent need for funders and philanthropic institutions to rethink their roles in building sustainable ecosystems — not just programs.
Our Managing Director, Ernest Comer III, and Senior Manager, Chardinae Roy, shared the stage with Ayodele Harrison of BMEsTalk, while Dr. Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt, Nafasi Fund Board Member and CEO & Founder of The Moriah Group, guided the discussion with intentional and reflective questions. Their discussion was raw, rich, and real highlighting not only the successes of our partnership, but the challenges, the lessons learned, and the collective vision driving our work forward.
Linda Keely of the Maryland Philanthropy Network, brought vital insights from her experience as a fiscal sponsorship transition consultant. Her reflections on the collapse of Strong City Baltimore and the cautionary tales that followed, illuminated the very real risks of transactional relationships in the nonprofit space — and why thoughtful, values-aligned sponsorship matters.
Attendees engaged deeply through both a live Q&A and an interactive co-creation session, where participants helped shape guiding principles and practices to strengthen grassroots sustainability and reduce harm in fiscally sponsored models. The themes were clear: center community voice, align philanthropic values with practice, and reimagine funding systems to work for those doing the work — not around them.
The energy from this session didn’t end at 4:30 pm, but carried into our Nafasi Fund staff retreat the following day, where questions, insights, and ideas from the Harambee conference continued to guide our strategic conversations. Since then, outreach has poured in from foundations and community-based initiatives eager to explore partnership opportunities.To all who participated, supported, or simply showed up with curiosity and courage — thank you. We are inspired by your engagement, grounded in gratitude, and excited for what’s to come. Together, we’re not just talking about equity — we’re building it.