Firelight announces appointment of Marième Daff as new Executive Director
The Firelight Foundation Board of Directors is delighted to share the exciting news that Marième Daff has accepted our invitation to serve as the next Executive Director of Firelight. She will start the new role in September.
Marième is a dynamic leader with over 20 years of experience with a focus on women’s economic empowerment, social inclusion, and gender-sensitive programming, primarily in Africa. Marième is a global citizen with deep roots in Senegal, an upbringing in France, and a professional career spanning the United States and Africa. She holds degrees from the Sorbonne in Paris and New York University.
Marième joins Firelight from Vibrant Village Foundation, a private foundation working to improve food security, family health, financial wellbeing, and education in communities around the world. Serving as its Director of Programs & Partnerships, Marième was a critical voice in transforming the organization’s approach to grantmaking and spearheaded the growth of the African team. Prior to this she served as the Director of the Africa Program at Trickle Up, an organization that partners with women living in extreme poverty to build economic opportunity and drive inclusion.
As a trained journalist, Marième has used her voice to catalyze honest dialogue about a range of topics including the power imbalance in philanthropy. Her recently published opinion piece in Devex titled “African Diaspora Can Decolonize Philanthropy from Within,” reflects her thoughts on African leadership in philanthropy.
Several years ago, Firelight began a journey of transformation to shift power and decolonize our systems and practices. This included our commitment to and operationalization of community-driven systems change and how we work with community grantee-partners; changes in our internal organizational systems, structures, and processes; and critically, a shift towards African leadership. Marième is joining a strong and experienced African team that continues to be the strength of the organization.
We are grateful for the vision and passion of our outgoing Executive Director, Nina Blackwell. During her tenure, she enhanced Firelight’s work in countless ways. We specifically wish to recognize her contribution to the evolution of Firelight’s programming model, staffing, and governance – all of which are innovative and concrete examples of shifting power in meaningful ways that inform and influence organizations across the globe. We appreciate the important groundwork she has laid for this next chapter at Firelight. We know that Nina will continue to catalyze important and needed changes in the development and philanthropic sectors, and we are excited for what her future holds.
For additional information, please contact info@firelightfoundation.org. We look forward to an exciting new season in Firelight’s journey!
With appreciation -
Gloria Johnson-Cusack, Board Chair, on behalf of the Firelight Board
