Angela Stanley
Director of Impact
Can you share your journey into the work you do? What experiences, moments, or values led you here?
My career has been nonlinear. I like to say I've always been in the same neighborhood, just on different streets.
It started with politics. I knew voting was my responsibility, but I wanted to understand how the system actually worked and how it impacted my life and the lives of people I cared about. I studied political science at Purdue University, where a professor recognized my curiosity and nudged me toward graduate school instead of law school. I took her advice and entered a PhD program at Ohio State University, focusing on American politics, political behavior, and Black, urban, and gender politics.
I thought I wanted to be a professor. I did research, I taught, and then I realized academia wasn't for me. I wanted to impact people beyond the campus, so I moved into an applied research role at a social and racial justice institute at OSU. There, I worked on projects that influenced public policy and started writing for mainstream publications, blending research with popular culture to reach a wider audience.
That role introduced me to philanthropy. I worked with community groups on grant-funded projects, which meant interacting with foundation program officers. I had no idea that kind of work existed before then, but it immediately appealed to me as another way to help people navigate systems.
When I returned to Fort Wayne, I began writing about local issues. As a result, I connected with the former executive director of the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation. That relationship led to contract work and, eventually, to a full-time position as a program officer. After a few years there, I began working for the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.
Different streets, same neighborhood: understanding systems, helping people, and finding ways to make research and resources work for communities.
Who or what has most influenced your leadership and commitment to this work? This could include mentors, community, lived experience, books, faith, or movements.
I come from a civic-minded family. I had a great-grandfather who was a Justice of the Peace, an uncle who was a city councilman, and parents who took me with them to vote in every election. I grew up seeing older family members volunteer for organizations that help people in need. Voting and volunteerism were role modeled for me. I also grew up being very aware of racial issues, from hearing stories from great-grandparents born in the 1800s to my own experiences as one of the very few Black kids in the private schools I attended. My commitment to helping others, especially marginalized people, was instilled in me early on.
One of the biggest influences, however, was reading Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities in college. That book showed me a world full of systemic injustice that was unimaginable to me and my sheltered life. Segregation, underfunded and overcrowded schools, whole communities intentionally being left off of maps, neighborhoods being physically blocked off from accessing opportunities available to the rest of the city, and people in power unapologetically turning a blind eye. That’s when I knew I had to do something to help people navigate systems designed to ensure certain people fail.
For those who feel called to doing this work, where would you suggest they begin? Is there a book, organization, practice, or resource that helped shape you?
I think you have to have a passion to serve and patience, because change isn’t going to happen overnight. I also think it’s helpful to understand systems and how they operate. Nothing truly happens in silos. Much like gears in a machine, everything is a moving part that affects the other parts around it. Where can you intervene to stop what’s happening or change the direction? You don’t want to just patch problems; you also want to address the root causes. Philanthropy can’t and shouldn’t solve everything, but it can be part of the solution.
Having experience working with or for nonprofits is also helpful. That way, you understand both community needs and what organizations need to successfully serve people.
What wisdom or encouragement would you offer to the next generation of Black women leaders entering this space?
Be open to opportunities because you never know what can come from them. Introduce yourself to and network with other Black women in the field. As with most things, our experiences are unique to us, and other Black women can be your best resources and allies.
How can people stay connected to and support your work? Please share your website, social media, current campaigns, or other ways to get involved.
You can find me on LinkedIn or look me up on the Community Foundation’s website and send me an email. I’m happy to connect.