Jenny Hodgson (South Africa)

Executive Director, Global Fund for Community Foundations

Jenny Hodgson has been the executive director of the Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) since 2006 when it was first established as a pilot project. Over the course of the past twelve years, she has overseen the emergence of the GFCF as the leading global voice on community philanthropy as a core strategy for people-led development and shifting power closer to the ground. The GFCF is a champion of this largely overlooked but rapidly emerging global field, using grants, research and convenings to support thought leadership and the emergence of a global community philanthropy (#ShiftThePower) movement.

Jenny moved to Uganda in 1992 and never returned to her native UK, setting up home – with cats, dogs and family – in Russia, Kenya, Singapore, Thailand and South Africa, where she has been based for the past decade. Jenny has a BA (Hons) in English from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins School Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is on the board of the African Philanthropy Network.

Click here for more information on Jenny’s Big Conversation panel: “#ShiftThePower”