MIAMI – Veteran social entrepreneur and nonprofit executive Siobhan Canty has joined Knight Foundation as program director for strategic initiatives.
Knight’s Strategic Initiatives Program supports innovative leaders and entrepreneurial organizations working across disciplines to promote informed and engaged communities. In her new post, Canty will help identify effective strategies for engaging people in transforming their communities.
Canty has two decades of experience in community engagement, nonprofit development and philanthropic design. Most recently, she served as U.S. change leader for Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, which promotes and supports social entrepreneurship around the world. She also was president and founder of Philanthropic Revolution, a consulting practice that helps nonprofits and businesses develop innovative programs for volunteering and strategic philanthropy.
Previously, Canty was president and CEO of Greater DC Cares, the largest volunteer facilitator in the Washington, D.C., area. She has also held positions as a community organizer and grants administrator, and served as program director for The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.
“Siobhan has the experience Knight needs to help identify and cultivate organizations that understand the life cycle and effective management of engaged community members,” said Paula Ellis, Knight Foundation’s vice president of strategic initiatives. “Her range of experience – from local community organizer to national innovator in volunteering – allows her to see the issues of engagement from a unique and valuable perspective.”
“I am thrilled to join the Knight Foundation,” Canty said, “and have the opportunity to explore and support effective approaches to community leadership and increased capacity within the nonprofit sector to engage people of all backgrounds in transformational social change.”
Canty has served on the boards of directors of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, Leadership Washington and DC Central Kitchen. She has spoken at and moderated a wide range of national conferences focusing on philanthropy.
Canty earned a bachelor of music in vocal performance at North Carolina School of the Arts. In her musical career as a vocalist and composer, she has performed for audiences that included three U.S. presidents.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Contact: Marc Fest, Vice President of Communications, Knight Foundation, (305) 908-2677; [email protected].
High-res photo available at www.kflinks.com/canty