Nakea West, 2006-2008 Carol H. Pitchersky Development Fellow
As the first Carol H. Pitchersky Development Fellow, Nakea West has set a high standard for future Fellows. Before becoming the 2006-2008 Fellow, Nakea was the development manager at the Illinois Facilities Fund (IFF), which provided below-market real estate financing services for nonprofit corporations that serve marginalized communities.
Prior to working at the IFF, Nakea received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago. While at the university, she immersed herself in social justice causes, including serving as President for two years of Student Organizing Support, which raises awareness and resources for communities in the developing world devastated by disasters; working as a volunteer at Lambda Legal and tutoring young students at a local public school in Chicago.
Having worked both in a programmatic capacity and a fundraising capacity, Nakea understands the challenges and rewards of both aspects of social justice work. Yet Nakea was clear in her choice to pursue the fundraising path in the civil rights community. In her own words:
"The importance [Carol Pitchersky] placed on the advancement of young minority development professionals cannot be overstated. In the development world, the power brokers tend to be the same race and gender. I feel that, in order to be successful, social justice organizations must do the work and not replicate the same oppressions internally that we challenge externally."
Nakea served her two-year Fellowship with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF), which houses the Fellowship program that is conducted among the national civil and human rights community. Serving in all facets of the donor pyramid from direct marketing to special events, she concentrated her efforts on establishing a major gift program for the organization.
Her dedication and skills led to a need for furthering the work that she began as a Fellow, and at the end of her term she joined the LCCREF staff as Manager of Special Gifts.
