Go Back. Give Back.
GiveSankofa was created from a simple belief: those who have benefited from opportunity have a responsibility to help create opportunity for others.
Our name comes from Sankofa, a principle that reminds us that moving forward sometimes requires returning to retrieve what is valuable from the past.
For us, Sankofa represents both remembrance and responsibility.
We honor the people, communities, experiences, knowledge, and opportunities that helped make our own journeys possible. And we recognize our responsibility to use what we have gained to create possibility for others.
That is what we mean when we say:
Go Back. Give Back.
GiveSankofa invests in leaders, ideas, and communities creating public good.
We believe meaningful change requires more than programs. It requires sustained investment in people—their leadership, imagination, restoration, relationships, and capacity to act on what they know.
What began as a commitment to go back and give back is growing into a long-term philanthropic institution designed to invest across generations.
Mission
GiveSankofa invests in the people, ideas, and communities creating lasting public good.
We expand access to resources, coaching, relationships, restoration, and opportunity so people have the resources to imagine, build, sustain, and contribute.
Vision
A world where people and communities have the resources, relationships, and freedom to lead, create, and invest in generations that follow.
Meet Our Founder
Our Founder
Dr. Annice E. Fisher founded GiveSankofa from a deeply held belief: when we have benefited from opportunity, relationships, knowledge, and resources, we have a responsibility to create possibility for others.
From Chicago’s South Side to earning her doctorate from Harvard University, Dr. Fisher’s journey has crossed sectors, institutions, and communities. Along the way, she experienced firsthand the difference that access to opportunity, meaningful relationships, leadership development, and people willing to invest in her potential can make.
Those experiences shaped a commitment not simply to succeed, but to go back and give back.
The idea for GiveSankofa began in 2017, followed by its establishment as a nonprofit organization in 2021 and its first philanthropic investments in 2022. Dr. Fisher personally funded GiveSankofa’s earliest investments, putting into practice the belief that would become central to the organization: invest in people and what becomes possible through them.
Dr. Fisher also founded Developing Capacity Coaching (DCC) in 2017, a leadership infrastructure firm that helps institutions navigate high-stakes change. While DCC and GiveSankofa are distinct organizations with different purposes, they share a commitment to strengthening people, expanding possibility, and contributing to lasting public good.
Today, Dr. Fisher is building GiveSankofa as an enduring philanthropic institution—one designed to invest in leaders, ideas, and communities today while creating opportunity for generations to come.
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Dr. Annice E. Fisher is a systems change architect and executive advisor with more than 20 years of experience operating in complex systems. She is the Founder and CEO of Developing Capacity Coaching (DCC), a leadership infrastructure and systems advisory firm.
Dr. Fisher has built executive leadership capacity with mayors and senior officials, designed statewide systems, stabilized organizations during periods of public scrutiny, and strengthened cross-role alignment. Through partnerships with organizations like the Mayors Innovation Project, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, American University, and Harlem Children’s Zone, her work has driven stronger decision-making, improved alignment, and more consistent execution.
Dr. Fisher is a Gallup® Strengths Coach trained in the Immunity to Change™ methodology and the author of The Power Within Me. She has authored op-ed pieces, designed leadership courses, and served as an invited speaker on the topics of leadership, organizational change, and capacity building.
She launched GiveSankofa, Inc., a nonprofit advancing leadership and innovation in underserved communities. Dr. Fisher remains active in community leadership through her church, volunteers teaching leadership at the Cook County Department of Corrections through the Harvard Club of Chicago (also serving as a tutoring program board member), and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Dr. Fisher was recognized as an Outstanding Young Alumni Under 40 by the Iowa State University Alumni Association. She holds a Doctorate of Educational Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Master’s of Educational Leadership from Iowa State University, Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Outstanding Young Professional (under 40) Alumni Award, Iowa State University Alumni Association
Abundance Magazine, Black Women Creating Social Impact, The Highland Project
Antiracism Pedagogy Scholar Moves the School Forward Feature, Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Outstanding Young Professional Award, Iowa State University, College of Human Sciences
Director’s Award: Best Practice in Addressing a Current Student Retention Issue: Transfer United, National Consortium Student Retention & Data Exchange
Outstanding New Professional Impact Award, University of Arizona
Annice is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
She recently published her first book, "The Power Within Me: The road back home to the real you.”
Meet the Board
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Treasurer
Anthony is the current Sr. Volunteer Programs Manager and Organizational Culture for Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). He facilitates various efforts to encourage corporate and community volunteers to empower students’ entrepreneurial mindsets. He also leads initiatives to strengthen the organization’s culture, diversity, and inclusion mission.
Anthony is a former high school English teacher. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.A. in English and Secondary Education.
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Secretary
Clarybel has over 20 years in higher ed administration and has provided consulting services for a variety of institutions, corporations and associations. She is an expert in strategy, leadership development, organizational culture, implementation of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Clarybel earned a B.A. in Sociology from Syracuse University, M.A. in Higher Ed Admin from University of South Carolina and a Ed.D in Org Leadership and Communications from Northeastern University. She is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and The Links.
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Incoming Board President
Rose is a leader in the nonprofit education sector with over eight years of higher education, talent development, program quality and delivery, career coaching, and leadership development. Rose is also the author of A Generational Cry: Based on A True Story of the Haitian Revolution and founder and principal of A Rising Up Coaching. Rose loves people and processes. She is a lifelong learner who earned certifications in performance coaching, Becoming a leader: by making sound decisions, Allyship and more.
Investments We’ve Made
Village Life Prep
The Called Entrepreneur
The Sanctuary
African American Civic Leaders Scholarship
Pilot Cohort of 2023 - BEE FREE Community Healing Grant
What People Are Saying
