The board and staff of the Babcock Foundation are thrilled to announce that Flozell Daniels, Jr. will serve as our next CEO and lead the organization into its next chapter. Daniels currently serves as CEO and President of the Foundation for Louisiana, which launched in 2005 to foster an equitable recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It has since grown to become a “catalyst for justice,” supporting communities statewide through grantmaking and loan products, leadership development programs, and advocating on myriad issues facing Louisianians, including climate justice, economic justice, criminal justice reform, racial and gender justice, and more.
“With its position of great privilege, philanthropy has a moral responsibility to act courageously, especially now,” Daniels said. “Risk taking is in the Babcock Foundation’s DNA, and I am excited to work with the board, staff and grantee partners as we move forward boldly and thoughtfully.”
Given FFL’s and MRBF’s deep commitments to justice and equity, the two foundations have enjoyed a long history of trusted thought partnership. Daniels surfaced as a natural fit to lead MRBF during a difficult era when so many Southern communities are under attack. This moment in history is also an opportune time for our next CEO to help us lean into our new strategic directions and our commitments to racial justice and power building, and pursue the vision of an abundant South we share with our grantee partners. What’s more, Daniels’ warm personality, easy humor and attention to restorative practices will enhance the Foundation’s workplace culture.
“Flozell’s wealth of professional and lived experiences will prove incredibly valuable and stabilizing as we grapple with unprecedented times here in the American South,” said MRBF Board President Jerry Gonzalez, CEO of GALEO. “Fortunately for the region and for us, Flozell is deeply practiced in responding to the South’s most pressing challenges, and we are more prepared than ever to navigate these tumultuous times with him at the helm.”
Daniels has always worked with the understanding that the fates of all Southern people are tied together. From his early work on the Equity and Inclusion Campaign covering Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to his cofounding of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, Daniels holds a longstanding commitment to building the South’s infrastructure for justice and power.
A New Orleans native, Daniels brings expertise in public policy, community development, criminal justice reform, climate policy, transit equity and asset development. Before joining FFL, Daniels served as Tulane University's Assistant Vice-President and Executive Director of State and Local Affairs. Daniels serves as Chairman of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and Orleans Public Education Network, is board member emeritus of the Urban League of Louisiana, and serves on the Louisiana Public Defender Board and the Governor’s Climate Taskforce. He is a 2013 graduate of University of Oxford Said Business School's Impact Investing Programme, 2011 Fellow of the Opportunity Agenda Communications Institute, a life Fellow of the Louisiana Effective Leadership Program, an alumnus of Leadership Louisiana and a graduate of the Metropolitan Leadership Forum. Daniels holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the A.B. Freeman School of Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the University of New Orleans.
Daniels will officially join the Foundation on September 26. Please join us in welcoming him warmly!
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