Hi, I’m Dafina.

I am an attorney turned nonprofit strategist with nearly twenty years of experience advancing health equity and justice across the southern United States.  I have been an Executive Director—so I understand the complex pressure of organizational leadership. I have been a funder—so I know the weight of making decisions that significantly impact well-deserving grantees and their communities. My leadership spans direct service to executive leadership, including  intermediary grantmaking, organizational strategy, program design, capacity building, and coalition development. 

I am a proud graduate of Clark Atlanta University (B.A., Mass Media Arts) and Temple University’s Beasley School of Law (J.D.). I work with clients across the country (some globally), and reside in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where I’m grounded by my husband, two brilliant daughters, and sweet dog Grace.

How do you pronounce Dafina? Thanks for asking!

    • Executive Director of Southern AIDS Coalition, a regional organization with national impact focused on ending HIV disparities through policy change

    • Twenty years experience across the full spectrum of grantmaking—from conceiving funding processes to building grantee capacity for long‑term success.

    • Facilitator and speaker with a range of experience from grassroots spaces to the White House

    • Director of External Relations and Special Projects at national reproductive rights organization

    • Licensed attorney with rich experience in organizational structure, nonprofit law, intellectual property, and conflict resolution

    • Board leader serving national and local 501c3 and 501c4 organizations

    • Media spokesperson and writer featured in The Washington Post, National Public Radio, ABC News, The Jennifer Hudson Show, and several academic journals.

    • Southern Advocacy Award, New Orleans Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (2025)

    • Research in Action Award, Treatment Action Group (2024)

    • GLAAD Media Award, Best Talk Show Segment, Jennifer Hudson Show (2024)

    • Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS Appointee (2023)

    • Anthem Award, Community Health (2023)

    • Gilead Sciences Champions of Change Honoree (2023)

    • Trailblazer Award, Nu Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® (2023) 

    • POZ Magazine, POZ Hero (2021)

    • In community spaces where people need grounding, affirmation, and a clear path forward.

    • In leadership rooms where strategy, values, and humanity must coexist.

    • In moments of complexity when organizations need someone who can translate chaos into clarity.

    • In facilitation when groups need safety, structure, and a spark of joy to move.

    • In systems work where equity must be operationalized, not just discussed.

Why did I found Nia?

Because purpose is my north star.

Some of my earliest and most cherished memories are rooted in Nia — purpose — the fifth principle of Kwanzaa and the heartbeat of my family’s traditions.

Our annual celebrations were a microcosm of my mother’s vision. My childhood was a living classroom where I watched my mother imagine and build programs that strengthened our community. Through her example, I learned that knowing your purpose is not a luxury. It is the foundation for making a meaningful, lasting impact.

Summers spent at the Nia Creative Day Camps, which my mother founded to ensure young people learned the depth and brilliance of Black history, shaped me profoundly. Across multiple cities, my brothers and I witnessed how knowledge becomes a catalyst for self‑determination. Those camps taught us that purpose is not something you stumble upon — it is something you cultivate through learning, reflection, and service.

My parents modeled purpose as a daily practice. They showed me that Nia is not just a principle celebrated once a year; it is a way of moving through the world with clarity, responsibility, and intention. Their example became my North Star, guiding how I lead, how I build, and how I show up for our clients.

Purpose is still the compass that directs my work today — the reason I design people‑centered programs, create spaces for collective wisdom, and commit to work that honors identity, liberation, and possibility.

Nia is the thread that connects my childhood to my calling, and my calling to the communities I serve.