Yamani is a visionary and transformative leader from the Midwest, committed to the balance of rigor and compassion. She has been working in non profits since 16 and has 30 years of experience in the social sector at neighborhood, city, state, and national levels and is overjoyed to bring her leadership learnings to Groundswell Fund which has funded nearly $200M to grassroots organizing for reproductive and gender justice led by women and gender expansive people of color.
Prior to Groundswell she served as a partner at The Management Center, coaching some of the most critical leaders of our time. Prior to that she was the first Black executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, the membership, technical assistance, and advocacy organization for 100 grassroots organizations funding abortion and building cultural and political power.
Over seven years, she built a team and strategy that scaled from 12 to 60 staff, grew the budget from $2M to $20M, and cultivated a values-aligned and embodied community rooted in racial, economic, gender, reproductive justice, and the politics of care.
Yamani has a B.S. from Cornell University and M.Arch from the University of Washington. She takes tremendous joy in being a plant, dog, and human mom of her two adult children. Outside of work, Yamani enjoys travel, hiking adventures, pretending to be a photographer, and soaking up every healing modality she can.