Steven guides the culture, processes, and systems of Inatai’s grantmaking programs, through which the foundation provides resources to more than 500 community organizations that share a vision of a more racially just, equitable Washington. He oversees the Grantmaking team, which manages more than $40 million of grants each year and, through grantmaking operations and program management teams, supports other Inatai colleagues to plan, manage, and facilitate an additional $25 million grants and contributions annually. His responsibilities include partnering with Inatai’s investment management company to develop the foundation’s program-related investment portfolio. Steven joined the foundation as the first member of the program team and has served on the executive leadership team since that time.
Before Inatai, Steven was the founding director of The Partnership Funds, a national funding collaborative dedicated to winning accountable, multiracial political power in states around the country. Steven owned a small business, was a senior leader at the Tides Foundation, and was an early staff member at Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Steven serves on the board of the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, an organization dedicated to moving resources efficiently to leaders and organizations on the frontlines of social change. He is the past co-chair of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation and has served on numerous other advisory and governing boards for nonprofits and donor collaboratives.
Steven grew up outside of Minneapolis. He studied philosophy, theology, and classics at Creighton University, where he learned formative lessons about organizing, politics, and his own queer community. Steven and his husband live in Seattle as guests on the homelands of the Suquamish and Duwamish people.