Black Men in Development Panel

Join us for a powerhouse panel of Black male development professionals representing multiple generations as they discuss their experiences as fundraisers. Alphonce, Ken, Juan, and Brandon will share why they were drawn to fundraising, challenges they have experienced and successes they have achieved in a profession that is historically female and White. This is an event that you don’t want to miss. The discussion will take place on the AFP Global Facebook page at @AFPFan.

Presenters
 

Alphonce J. Brown, Jr., ACFRE

Alphonce J. Brown, Jr. has worked with large established nonprofits, as well as small grassroots organizations for almost thirty-four years. He also has consulted with local, state and federal governmental agencies and international NGOs. He currently serves as the director of development and alumni relations at the Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, FL. He was the director of development, National Minority AIDS Council, Washington, DC; vice president, University Advancement of California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA; president & CEO of the Prairie View A&M University Foundation; assistant dean of External Relations at the College and Graduate School of Business, University of Texas at Austin—and has held senior positions at a number of other nonprofit organizations. He has considerable expertise in the areas of strategic planning, feasibility studies, organizational assessments, board development, volunteer management and fund development. Brown is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, an Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive (ACFRE), and an AFP Master Trainer. He is a past chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)—a 30,000-member global professional organization.

Brandon Parkes

Brandon Parkes is the Founder of Parkes Philanthropy, a social impact firm dedicated to equipping constituents with the resources they need to deepen his impact. He also serves as a Senior Consultant for Bridge Philanthropic Consulting, LLC, the nation's largest African-American fundraising firm in which he supported a wide variety of nonprofit clients including the Apollo Theater, National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, and Global Community Charter School. Prior, he was the Nonprofit Engagement Manager at CariClub, an AI tech company that connects young professionals to leadership roles on nonprofit boards. Through this role, he supported over 350 organizations such as Teach for America, UNICEF, Make a Wish, and Museum of Modern Arts in capacity building initiatives. Previously, he worked in development for an international humanitarian nonprofit, Right To Play, helping to secure over a million dollars in funding annually. He has formerly worked in a corporate philanthropic capacity for companies such as Morgan Stanley and Toyota. Through these professional titles, he gained experience supporting effective philanthropic strategy that increases social impact, external/internal engagement and nonprofit capacity building. He was humbled to be named one of CauseArtists’s “20 Inspiring African Americans Impacting the World Through Social Impact & Social Innovation,” named one of Startup Boost’s NYC 33 under 33, and has been featured in several publications such as Nonprofit Technology News, Blacks in Technology, Blavity and WhyWeGive. It’s Brandon’s passion to empower any constituent looking to make a positive social impact.

Ken Miller, CFRE

Ken Miller is the president of Denali Fundraising Consultants, a fundraising and management consulting company for non-profits located in Anchorage, Alaska. Ken originally moved to Alaska in 1975 and graduated high school in 1980. He then attended and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1984.

Ken began working in the field of nonprofit fundraising in 2010 after a long career in sales & management and was the director of development for Anchorage nonprofit Bean's Café before starting Denali Fundraising Consultants in 2014. Ken was awarded his Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) designation in 2016 and in 2020 was elected to the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) global board of directors. Ken is the past-president of AFP Alaska Chapter, past-president and founder of the Dartmouth Alumni Club of Alaska, and past-president of the Anchorage Gateway Rotary club. In his free time Ken enjoys weightlifting, mentoring young men, and reading non-fiction books.

Juan McGruder

Juan McGruder is senior vice president and chief development officer at Junior Achievement of Georgia. Prior, he was the director of development for Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech. He also served as associate director of development in the College of Computing and later as the first director of development for the School of Computer Science. He is former AVP for institutional advancement at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Previously, he served as special assistant to the president and director of alumni relations at Clark Atlanta (CAU). At CAU, he also served as director of development and assistant professor. He also served as assistant director of the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education at the Council of Independent Colleges in Washington, D.C.

McGruder completed a doctorate in education and human development at Vanderbilt, where his research was HBCUs and institutional advancement. He earned a master's degree in administration, planning and social policy at Harvard University. He holds a master's degree in counseling and human development from CAU, an Education Specialist in student affairs from WKU, and a Certificate in Romanesque and Gothic Architecture in Britain and Europe from University of Cambridge, England. His bachelor's degree in political science/pre-law is from Clark College. He also holds the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) international professional designation.

He served as president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Greater Atlanta, on both the CFRE International Job Analysis Task Force and the Committee of Directorship, and the Practitioner Advisory Board of The Science of Philanthropy Initiative at Uni. of Chicago. He is a faculty member at both the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and LaGrange College's Master's program in Philanthropy and Development. He is also currently president of Midtown Atlanta Rotary Club and Leadership Atlanta (2018).