Today marks the beginning of a new phase for the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation. After conducting an extensive national search with support from Koya Leadership Partners, we are thrilled to announce that Amy T. Morris has joined the Foundation as President and will start in the role on January 5, 2026.
Amy’s leadership draws upon a multi-faceted career in philanthropy that is informed by her early work in education, the labor movement, immigrant rights, and global human rights. Most recently, Amy served as the Interim President at Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG) — a funder network that has supported our foundation and other grantmakers to work together to accelerate racial, gender, economic, disability, and climate justice. Prior to guiding NFG through its executive leadership transition as Interim President, Amy was the founding director of the Amplify Fund, NFG’s first grantmaking fund. Operating with very similar values to the Foundation, the Amplify Fund’s grantmaking strategy is designed by local movement leaders and makes sustained commitments to support grantee partners’ operating expenses, while minimizing reporting requirements. Earlier in her career she served as Program Officer at Surdna Foundation, where she oversaw grantmaking to support leadership development, economic justice, and community organizing and served as the Director of Programs at the Fund for Global Human Rights, where she oversaw grantmaking programs that strengthened frontline human rights movements globally. She is a Board member of the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and Nexus Community Partners, and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Maria Fund.
We look forward to Amy leading and guiding us into this next exciting chapter, ensuring that the Foundation not only supports our community of partners and allies across intersecting movements to navigate the complexities of advancing positive social change in our current environment, but also amplifies the call to broaden support and collaboration.
“A core belief of mine that aligns closely with the Foundation is that grassroots organizing led by the people most impacted by injustice is key to our collective liberation,” said Amy. “I look forward to building on the depth of community that exists amongst the Foundation’s peers and partners and stewarding the Foundation’s long-term commitments through grantmaking and impact investments while also stepping into the possibilities of what this moment demands.“
Amy is enthusiastic about getting to know the Noyes community, as she has said consistently that she prioritizes relationships first. While we invite and welcome your questions about this transition, Amy will take some time to prioritize space for rest through the end of this year. She looks forward to being in conversation in the new year when she can be reached at amy@noyes.org.
