Brandolon Barnett is an Agent of Change in the social impact arena creating a Better World. After experiencing adversity and struggle trying to gain the experience required by large philanthropic organizations., Brandolon wrote “Dreams Deferred: Recession, Struggle, and the Quest for a Better World” to provide inspiration to anyone struggling to survive and hold onto dreams that their work can have an impact, their voice matters, and hope is worth holding onto.
Through keynote speaking engagements Brandolon shares his story of the personal loss and hopelessness he experienced while trying to build a career in social impact. His work is now driven by his belief, developed over the course of his career and life, that impact can happen anywhere and that philanthropy – the act of moving resources to where they are needed – is something that belongs to everyone. He wants his story to be proof.
Brandolon has been helping to build and lead innovative products, initiatives, and partnerships at the intersection of tech and social impact. His approach is data-driven with deep recognized expertise in philanthropy, international development, corporate social responsibility, social enterprises, and impact investing.
He is the Founder of Democratize Ventures, a project helping entrepreneurs of color in Washington DC & New York. His mentorship, product advice, plus annual angel investments have provided solutions for many. He is also co-Founder of goARTful (goARTful.com) and The Regular tech startups based in Washington D.C.
Excited to give back and support, Brandolon was recently sworn into office through a special election to volunteer as @ANC1A commissioner for 1A06 in Columbia Heights. Brandolon is also an active volunteer serving as a mentor and on various boards.
Philanthropy Cloud is just one of the many solutions and partnerships for impact that Brandolon helped build and design, being a Director of Product Management with Salesforce at the time. Work.com Wellness is another project Brandolon was part of. The design of Shop Circulate is also a project he contributed to as the principal product design partner to Sean Combs and the Combs Enterprises team. Brandolon currently leads the Corporate Social Responsibility Industry Solutions efforts for Salesforce.org Philanthropy Cloud.
Brandolon often shares his experience through panels and keynote speaking engagements. Past venues include:
- 2014 Conference for Sustainable Heritage Management in Rome
- The 2016 conference of the Association for Corporate Contributions Professionals (ACCProf)
- The 2016 & 2017 Blackbaud Conferences
- Dreamforce
- SOCAP 2017
- 2016 Council on Foundations Conference
- 2017 South by Southwest/SXSW
- 2018 AFP
- The Pitt-Bradford Basecamp 2021
Brandolon is a Pragmatic Institute Certified Product Manager, a graduate from the Black Venture Institute out of UC Berkeley, and holds a certification in Corporate Responsibility practice from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. He also holds an MA in International Studies with a specialization in International Economics from the University of London SOAS.
Brandolon’s social impact experience includes NGO and foundation work managing programs in the realm of environmental sustainability, cultural heritage, and economic development in major US markets plus on the ground in 5 countries. Brandolon previously worked as a Senior Director within Global Impact leading the Growfund startup (MyGrowFund.org) during its first two years. He also worked as manager of philanthropic research & internal CSR with FrontStream/TRUiST and was the research manager with the Council on Foundations.
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