Meet Our New Vice President of Programs, Caroline McCoy
“I am so thrilled to be joining the Woods Fund and support its work of advancing racial equity and economic justice through grantmaking, especially in this moment when philanthropy has a critical role to play in supporting immediate and long-term strategies to address the systematic disparities and inequities that have long affected communities of colors.”
Caroline McCoy’s professional interests and passion include supporting community-driven strategies that influence equitable services, systems, and practices, and advancing racial equity in philanthropy. Prior to joining the Woods Fund, Caroline was a Program Officer at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, where she led the Foundation’s place-based initiative in Englewood and its health and wellness funding strategy. She also managed relationships with corporate partners to help them achieve impact in their local communities.
Previously, Caroline was an Associate Director at Arabella Advisors where she supported family and individual clients to build and implement grantmaking strategies across several issues. She also worked at the Ounce of Prevention Fund, where she supported advocacy efforts to improve services for young children and families in Illinois.
She holds a BA in political science with a minor in African American studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a MS in public service management from DePaul University. She is a former ABFE Connecting Leadership Fellow and BMe Vanguard Fellow and serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and the executive leadership team and Social Justice Committee Chair for Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy.