About Giving Gap

Bridging the Divide: The Story and Future of Giving Gap

In a world marked by deep systemic inequities, Black-founded nonprofits have long stood on the frontlines—mobilizing resources, amplifying community voices, and advancing racial equity. Yet, in the vast landscape of American philanthropy, where over $450 billion is donated annually, only a sliver of that generosity reaches Black organizations. Despite our transformative work, philanthropy continues to impose disproportionate funding barriers and structural disinvestment on our organizations and leaders, leaving us with fewer resources to scale our impact.

Our Origin: A Vision for Equity in Philanthropy

Giving Gap (originally launched as Give Blck) was founded in September 2020 by Christina Lewis, Stephanie Ellis-Smith, and David Setiadi. With backgrounds in philanthropy, data, and technology, they created a digital platform to spotlight and support Black-founded nonprofits across the United States. Their mission was clear: break down barriers to visibility and funding by centralizing these vital organizations in one easily accessible hub. The founders’ vision laid the groundwork for a powerful movement—one rooted in racial justice and sustained by the belief that giving Black is giving back.

Today, Giving Gap continues to close the gap for Black-founded organizations by providing:

A searchable platform for individuals and institutions to explore and support Black-founded nonprofits.
Aggregated data that documents the unique strengths and needs of Black-founded nonprofits, including through its flagship 2024 State of Black Nonprofits Report.
Campaigns that mobilize communities and institutions to increase giving to Black-founded nonprofits.

Through these efforts, Giving Gap builds on its original mission—expanding visibility, channeling resources, and accelerating equity for Black-founded organizations nationwide.

A New Era of Leadership: Heather Infantry

Since 2022, Heather Infantry has served as CEO of Giving Gap, bringing a dynamic blend of vision, strategy, creativity and cultural leadership to the organization. Under Heather’s stewardship, Giving Gap has evolved beyond a directory into a vibrant ecosystem for nonprofit growth and donor engagement. She has championed a model that not only lifts up organizations but also galvanizes the public through storytelling, community activation, and bold, visible presence across platforms.

Heather’s leadership reflects an unwavering commitment to equity—not just in funding but in narrative, influence, and opportunity. Her efforts have inspired an expanded strategy that meets organizations and donors where they are, cultivating connections that transcend transactional giving.

Our Growth: Over 2,000 Black-Founded Organizations Strong

Today, Giving Gap connects the public to more than 2,000 Black-founded nonprofits spanning education, arts, health, criminal justice, and beyond. This growth is not just a milestone—it’s a movement. Through our platform, individuals, institutions, and funders can discover, support, and amplify the work of change-makers in real time.

Where We Are Now: Building Visibility and Community

With a strong presence on Instagram @closethegivinggap and on YouTube at Giving Gap TV, we’re telling richer, bolder stories that highlight and elevate our collective impact. Our content strategy spans leadership conversations, spotlight interviews, donor stories and behind-the-scenes looks at grassroots work, all designed to create deeper emotional connections between givers and the organizations they support.

Our Values

At Giving Gap, we believe in...

Amplifying Black Organizations

We use our platform and resources to amplify the critical work our fellow Black-founded organizations are doing. By elevating visionary organizations, we connect them to key people opening doors for opportunities, funding, and partnership.

A Community Focused Approach

We work to build collective power through community as a bottom up organization. We listen, seek input, are accountable, and use data to understand more deeply. As an intersectional group representing a vast array of causes, we work to find common ground that serves as a foundation for all to build off of. We empower each other to do better, work smarter, connect with more people, and raise more money.

Collective Black Brilliance

We are proudly Black-founded and exist to support Black leadership and help Black leaders shine. We are intersectional and inclusive and honor the diversity within the Black community — working to uplift individuals along with our collective. We believe in building allyship across lines of difference to celebrate and lift up Black brilliance in rooms and spaces where it has been absent. We celebrate the genius of our community, operate from a place of abundance, and believe in radical joy.

Aligning Money & Morals

We help people put their money where their morals are. We work to create cultural and mindset change for those interested in advancing racial equity, facilitating behavior change in how people are giving, who they're giving to, and the causes they're supporting.

Enabling Measurable Change

We aim to encourage and enable people to take action for Black lives. By facilitating tangible ways for people to donate, volunteer, and partner with Black-founded organizations we work to close the racial giving gap.

Board of Directors & Staff

Shawn Dove

Board Chair

Managing Partner, New Profit

Susan Taylor Batten

Board Vice Chair

CEO, Association of Black Foundation Executives

David Setiadi

Co-Founder, Board Treasurer

CTO, @Point of Care

Rupal Parekh

Board Member

Partner, Work & Co

Michael Thatcher

Board Member

CEO, Charity Navigator

Heather Infantry

CEO, Giving Gap

Tina Terrell Brown

VP, Marketing & Communications, Giving Gap

Christina Lewis

Co-Founder, Honorary Board Member

Founder, Beatrice Advisors

Our Partners

Giving Gap wishes to thank all of our generous partners for their donations, in-kind contributions, and their expertise towards the fulfillment of our mission.