Keisha Browder has a legacy of breaking barriers to pave the way for communities of color - from her early years as a member of one of the first African American Girl Scout Troops in Compton, CA to serving as the first African American CEO in United Way’s 80-year history in Santa Cruz County, Keisha is a courageous leader who can adeptly navigate challenges while taking advantage of opportunities in order to achieve meaningful results in the community. 

Growing up in South Los Angeles, Keisha’s parents instilled the importance of community engagement and ensured that she participated in various activities that would promote dignity, integrity, and compassion. As a middle school student, Keisha launched the Young Black Entrepreneurs Club for youth at the local library where she would invite business owners to speak with youth about entrepreneurship and business plan development. Keisha’s local library and schools noticed her passion for writing short stories and essays and entered her in several oratorical competitions where she won several city and regional awards, including acknowledgement from Former U.S. President George H. Bush for her 5th grade essay on the impacts of substance use disorder in communities of color. Her parents and community nurtured her gift to leverage her voice for change and making space for others to join in creating a thriving and safe community. 

 

Keisha is an experienced nonprofit executive leader with a career spanning 20 years in community development, education, youth success, and philanthropy throughout the United States. She leads multiple initiatives addressing issues ranging from youth wellbeing to leveraging local data - these initiatives have earned national recognition for their equity-centered approach to creating a culture of health. 

In addition to being part of the design team that developed the nation’s first citywide afterschool system that is replicated in several major U.S. cities, Keisha leads the nation’s longest-serving Community Assessment Project - a robust tracking of community wellbeing that aligns with the social determinants of health and includes community voice. Keisha co-authored “Leveraging Data for Meaningful Improvements: How Credible Data Enables Partnership Alignment to Achieve Well-Being at the Population Level” (Community Quality of Life Indicators Best Cases VIII, Springer). 

 

Keisha serves on several boards that reflect her values of equity, integrity, compassion, and dignity create thriving communities for all. These include the United Way Worldwide Equity Advisors Council, Santa Cruz County Health Improvement Partnership, Dignity Health Dominican Hospital Community Advisory, Digital NEST Advisory, Nonprofit Connection of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz County Black Health Matters Advisors, Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast, and Monarch Services. 

 

Keisha is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women - Silicon Valley Chapter, Soroptimist International - Watsonville Chapter, and the Santa Cruz County Black Coalition for Racial Justice and Equity. Keisha is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Nonprofit Management Institute.