Director, Democratic Practice Program–United States Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Keesha Gaskins-Nathan is the director for the Democratic Practice–United States program and the Racial Justice Initiative at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. She is dedicated to advancing measures and ideas that improve democratic systems and engage democratic culture in the United States to support full and fair democratic and economic opportunity for all.
In 2024, Gaskins-Nathan kicked off the Political Climate Adaptation project. A national program focused on reimagining climate adaptation principles from physical infrastructure to social and political infrastructure. Partners in the effort include The Partnership Funds, Future Currents. ReBuild by Design, Organizing Resilience, and the Guinier Project of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute on Race and Justice.
She has worked as an organizer, lobbyist, and trial attorney. Prior to joining the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, she was senior counsel with the Brennan Center for Justice, serving as the director of the Redistricting and Representation program. Her portfolio included redistricting reform, voting rights, and elections, with a focus on voter suppression issues. She is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs teaching courses on Democracy, Movements, and Public Policy.
Currently, she is a commissioner for the New York State Public Finance Board, 2022-2023 Atlantic Racial Equity, and is the board chair for The Workers’ Lab, a national home for worker-centered innovation to realize a nation where the systems and structures that serve all workers are modern and inclusive.