June Wilson headshot

June L. Wilson

Executive Director, Compton Foundation | NCFP Fellow (2018–2021)

June Wilson, a celebrated philanthropic leader in racial justice advocacy and alternative approaches to legacy and perpetuity, is Executive Director of the Compton Foundation. She is guiding the 75-year-old philanthropic organization’s trajectory as it moves all of its assets toward its purpose: climate resilience, peace and security, democracy, reproductive justice, and narrative strategy. To that end, Wilson is shaping the foundation’s reparations strategy and transitioning its partners toward new avenues of support. Overall, the foundation’s process of “spending up,” in alignment with its mission, will enable Compton to close its doors at the end of 2025.

Wilson brings extensive hands-on expertise to this effort, having guided the sunset process of the Quixote Foundation in Seattle, Washington. She has engaged philanthropic families and foundations in examining and designing practices and policies that promote racial equity and justice, repair, and return, and encourages foundations to consider increased financial payout and alternative models to perpetuity. Wilson’s background as a choreographer, movement-based performer, and community arts organizer are foundational to her leadership style. She values reflective listening and utilizes creative and improvisational approaches to feed and sustain her life, her leadership, and her relationships with others. Wilson uses the pronouns she, her, and hers, and cherishes her identities of mother, daughter, sister, spouse, and friend.

 

Contributions

2020 Trustee Education Institute

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Christopher Fletcher, Jennifer Davis, Robin Snidow, Kathleen Simpson, Laura Collins, Paul Liu, Greg Ratliff, Tamara Larsen, Dana Lanza, Shaady Salehi

past TEI attendees
Attendees, please visit the event website for the most up-to-date agenda and Zoom links. The website passcode was emailed to all registrants. NCFP’s Trustee Education Institute provides a comprehensive introduction to important legal, investment, ethical, grantmaking, and family dynamics issues facing family foundation board members. Featuring a faculty made up of donors, board members, and highly respected philanthropy experts, this… Read More

Consensus and Complexity: A Retreat for New Family Foundation CEOs

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Alexa Cortes Culwell, Nicholas A. Tedesco, Virginia M. Esposito, Ambassador James A. Joseph, Stephen Treat, June L. Wilson, David Weitnauer, Jim Parsons

SOLD OUT! Contact NCFP at (202) 293-3424 to add your name to the wait list. Serving in the leadership staffing role for a family foundation can be one of the best jobs you’ll ever have, but it is not without challenges and complications. This first-of-its-kind NCFP peer retreat provides a unique opportunity for new family foundation CEOs to reflect on… Read More
From NCFP

Courage and Commitment: Our Personal Journeys for Racial Equity

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Mary Mountcastle, June L. Wilson, Kelly D. Nowlin

There's a blackboard with "are you ready?" written on it in white writing
As NCFP’s 2020 Class of Fellows, we’ve been sitting down and doing a lot of listening. Not the kind of listening you do at a plenary session or on a webinar. The kind of listening that requires some courage. Courage to be in spaces and conversations that are often uncharted waters and make us entirely uncomfortable. Welcome to three women’s journeys around racial equity in the field of family philanthropy… Read More

Building Bridges: A Conversation with NCFP’s New Fellows on Racial Equity

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Mary Mountcastle, June L. Wilson, Kelly D. Nowlin, Doug Bitonti Stewart

Are you breaking or bridging? We all have been affected by structural racism. NCFP’s own 2019 Fellows have dedicated themselves to getting proximate to the people, to the issue, to our families, to the field, and to thinking about how we have been impacted by racial injustice and inequity. From our Imagining the Future cross country focus groups we have heard… Read More

2018 Trustee Education Institute: The Signature Seminar for Family Foundation Board Members

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Virginia M. Esposito, Andrew Schulz, David Grant, Hanh Le, Holli Rivera, Alice Buhl, Leticia Peguero, Lindsey Griffith, Mary Phillips, Nat Chioke Williams

NCFP’s Trustee Education Institute provides a comprehensive introduction to all of the key legal, investment, ethical, grantmaking, and family dynamics issues facing family foundation board members. Featuring a faculty made up of NCFP’s senior staff and highly respected philanthropy experts, this three day, intensive seminar typically covers: What does it mean to be a steward of both the public’s trust… Read More

Spending Up: A Discussion on Strategic Lifespan at the Quixote Foundation

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Jeffrey Solomon, Lenore Hanisch, June L. Wilson

In the 2015 Trends Study, NCFP found that nearly three-quarters of all family foundations are still considering whether they want to limit their philanthropic lifespans. This webinar features a roundtable discussion on questions to ask your organization, values and beliefs that play into the decision, and the benefits and costs of choosing to spend up your foundation, featuring the perspectives of two leaders from The Quixote Foundation, which completed its “spend up” process in December 2017… Read More
Voices from the Field

How Can I Be 1% More?

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Philanthropy Northwest, June L. Wilson

I believe that Quixote Foundation’s reflective practices allowed us to hold multiple truths while engaging in internal and often uncomfortable racial equity training. Our ability to do this work at every level of the organization made a tremendous difference in our final year of grantmaking and grantee engagement… Read More