A Bittersweet Departure
I write today with bittersweet news. After an incredible almost six years at the Andrus Family Fund, I have decided that it is time for the next leg of my journey. I have accepted a position at the Nathan Cummings Foundation and look forward to becoming their Vice President of Programs in the new year. This was an incredibly difficult decision for me to make, as many of you know, I work with an incredible team here at AFF and am incredibly proud of the work that we have been able to accomplish together.
Partnering with many of you over my time here has been a gift. It has allowed me to make real a social justice philanthropic practice that I have always believed was possible. I have been humbled by your work, your courage and your dedication and it has been an honor and a pleasure to support your work. While we have made mistakes along the way, I hope that you know that my deepest intention has been to create an organization that allows you to do your best work for all our young people. I hope you could see that my intention has been to #ElevateTheGenius like we said at Education Anew: Shifting Justice. It has been a great pleasure to elevate your voice on our blog, our podcast and simply in our interactions.
Part of AFF’s work has been to engage the next generation of philanthropists in a vision of social justice that is led by and for those most impacted. I hope that during my tenure, we have at least begun this conversation on our staff, board and with many of you. I believe that we do this work not for us but for all that is yet to come. We sow the seeds, for as our Native family reminds us, we work for seven generations in the future. I believe that this vision of creating a more just philanthropic practice has allowed AFF to sow a few seeds.
I will be forever grateful for the way that many of you welcomed me into this role six years ago, and I do look forward to continuing our work together as I step into my new role at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. As many have guessed, this work is personal for me. I look forward to continuing to build a reflective philanthropic practice that centers the voice and the untold brilliance of our communities.
I will be at AFF through the end of this year.
In deepest gratitude,
Leticia Peguero, Executive Director, Andrus Family Fund
