Tiffany Friesen

Tiffany Friesen is the Vice President of Programs & Partnerships at the Southeastern Council of Foundations since March 2019 as vice president of programs and partnerships. Her responsibilities include all educational leadership development programs for constituencies ranging from community foundations to family foundations to corporate foundations.

Tiffany leads several key organizational committees, including the Equity Committee, which launched a new core initiative in 2023, the Equity Learning Collaborative. The effort builds networks, provides experiential learning and focuses on the role of philanthropy in the institutional and structural change required to upend inequities in the American South.

Prior to that she was with the United Way of Greater Atlanta as senior director for partnership engagement, where she created new programming to strengthen and deepen relationships with funded and non-funded agencies to increase collaboration and impact for the well-being of children and families in Atlanta.

While at United Way she took an 8 month leave of absence to lead a constituency focused team for the 2018 gubernatorial race for Stacey Abrams. Her prior experience also includes work with Be The Match, part of the National Marrow Donor Program, where she led an initiative to grow the diversity of bone marrow donors in the Southeast region.

Since arriving in Atlanta in 1991, Tiffany has worked across sectors, including in the political arena as campaign manager for Lisa Borders for Mayor and on the support team for Mayor Franklin’s Atlanta Committee for Progress. In addition, her experience in the nonprofit sector has ranged from working at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce during the Centennial Olympics period to the fundraising firm, Coxe Curry & Associates.

Tiffany is an active community member, having served on the boards of True Colors Theater, Hands On Atlanta, KIPP Ways Academy, Families First, Victim Witness Assistance Program and the D’AIR Project. She was integrally involved with the startup of the Neighborhood Charter School in Grant Park and taught English as a second language to Vietnamese immigrants through the Carter Project in 1992.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Goshen College and is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta Class of 2012.