E. Bomani Johnson

E. Bomani Johnson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Community Progress. He serves as the Senior Director for Special Initiatives of ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities. ABFE’s mission is to promote effective and responsive philanthropy in Black communities. It does so by providing a plethora of professional development and capacity building resources, tools and events designed to advance racial equity and racial justice in institutional philanthropy.

Previously, he cofounded and served as the first executive director of Nafasi Fund, a fiscal sponsor that focused on supporting Black-led organizations and projects that serve Black communities. While leading Nafasi Fund, he developed their three-pronged culturally restorative approach to fiscal sponsorship that centers the experiences of Black organizational leaders and prioritizes their health and wellness. He also oversaw Nafasi’s growth from an idea to being an established fiscal sponsor supporting more than ten projects, managing more than $16 million of its partners’ assets and building an operating budget of nearly $1 million all in its first full year of operation. Johnson is honored to have codesigned and led the grantmaking processes of the $9.1 million Momentum Fund of the United Philanthropy Forum, and the $24 million Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund—a collaboration between Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta. Together, these initiatives supported the operations and COVID-19 response efforts of more than 400 nonprofits, community foundations, women’s foundations and United Ways throughout the United States, on Native American Reservations and in US Territories between the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and mid-2022.

Rooted by a racial justice philosophy, Johnson is committed to building environments that allow all people, especially Black people and other people of color, and their families, to thrive. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Johnson has more than 25 years of community organizing, program development, organizational development, advocacy, strategic grantmaking, and philanthropic advising experience having worked in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors locally, nationally and internationally. He possesses a unique blend of skills, competencies and perspectives that has resulted in a strong track record of successful programming and impactful philanthropic investment throughout his career.

In 2015, Johnson founded Emergent Pathways, a management consulting firm that builds and implements strategies for racial and gender equity and justice with organizations working to increase positive life outcomes for children, youth and families of color. Johnson has served on several nonprofit boards of directors and advises a number of nonprofit and philanthropic leaders. One of his most cherished professional accomplishments is being a member of ABFE’s Connecting Leaders Fellowship Program Class of 2014-2015. Johnson is a father of two, loves spending time with his family and is an avid tennis player.