GOVERNING BODIES
Grassroots community organizers from across the Carolinas set the strategic direction for Cypress Fund. We believe that organizers are the experts on the issues on the ground, and therefore should have decision-making power over where funds are directed. In lieu of the traditional Board of Directors structure, Cypress Fund has two governing bodies, both of which include the leadership of social justice organizers:
Movement Committee
Our Movement Committee advises our fund on strategic planning, long term goal setting, and our grantmaking docket. This governing body consists of movement leaders from North Carolina and South Carolina – and makes decisions through collaboration and consensus building. Movement Committee members are key influencers in the way Cypress Fund makes grants and builds relationships with grantees. This work includes evaluating the Fund’s mission and impact, nominating potential grantees, making final decisions about Movement-Advised Grants, providing input into the focus of annual Giving Projects, and connecting Cypress Fund to potential trainers or donors.
Vivian Anderson
Every Black Girl
Manzoor Cheema
Muslims for Social Justice
Executive Committee
Our Executive Committee is a governing body whose main goal is to support Cypress Fund staff and infrastructure. This includes assisting with fundraising, making high-level staffing decisions, evaluating the Executive Director, and approving the annual budget. The Executive Committee consists of a mix of movement leaders and aligned funders and philanthropic partners.
Maggie Heraty
Co-founder
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Maggie (she/her) is a co-founder of Cypress Fund who is based in Durham, North Carolina – occupied Occaneechi-Saponi land. Maggie comes to Cypress Fund through her deep commitment to working for wealth redistribution, as someone from an upper class family and with ancestors who enslaved people in the South. Over the past 5 years, she has been a member-leader with Resource Generation and Solidaire Donor Network, as well as a volunteer with the Durham chapter of Southerners on New Ground for their Black Mamas Bail Out campaigns. In these spaces, she has worked to show up authentically as someone with class privilege in social justice movements, follow the leadership of those most directly-impacted by injustice, and be an accountable donor and fundraiser. She is excited to continue on this learning journey through her work with Cypress Fund and influence other donors to do the same. Outside of her organizing, Maggie is also an educator, freelance illustrator, gardener, and backcountry trail fixer.
Bryan Perlmutter
Piece by Piece Strategies
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Bryan is the co-founder and currently serves as the co-president of Piece by Piece Strategies, a nonprofit consulting firm for the purposes of building capacity for organizations, institutions, and individuals in the social justice sector. He has spent his life building campaigns and organizations in the US South. He received his Masters in Public Administration, Nonprofit Management, and Policy from NYU Wagner School of Public Service. He is the founder and former Executive Director of Ignite NC/Ignite NC Action Fund as well as part of the founding team of the Southern Vision Alliance. Bryan is a NC native who builds community through cooking. Additionally he is a member of the Southern Partners Fund and a board member of the Southern Vision Alliance.