Testimonials
I am so privileged to have had the opportunity to get to know and work with such amazing people.
Many thanks to great colleagues and friends for the kind words below:
Janis Richardson has a distinguished record as a successful community builder and a pioneer funder of innovative community development approaches. Her insights have contributed significantly to the powerful work of community leaders and their supporters across North America. She is an important part of the Asset Based Community Development Institiute's growth and influence--and her colleagues agree that working with Janis is a great pleasure.
Jody Kretzmann
Co-Founder, Asset-Based Community Development Institute, Chicago, IL
Janis Foster Richardson gave me my first bite of Memphis barbeque. There is no greater gift.
Erin Barnes
Executive Director/Co-Founder, ioby, Brooklyn, NY
I have known Janis professionally and personally for 20 years now. She has an innate talent for listening, synthesizing, and springing forth brilliant (and plentiful) solutions. The core of Janis' being can be characterized as thoughtful, strategic, and innovative. She is honest and candid and I always jump at the chance to work with her.
Shannon Mae Bangham Dixon
Consultant, Memphis, TN
I’m proud to call Janis a friend and colleague. She is a content expert in community-led philanthropy, but almost more importantly she’s led and supported citizen efforts to make neighborhoods and communities better for everyone. She is a strategic thinker, an excellent communicator, and a bridge builder who connects many people across sectors. In addition, she plays a mean game of pool!
Susan Dobkins
Program Officer, The Russell Family Foundation, Gig Harbor, WA
Janis is fearless and relentless, challenging aspiring change makers to adopt philosophies and tools that will lead to more perfect democratic local communities.
Lisa Leverette
Program Director, Community Connections Grant Program, Detroit, MI
Janis is a rare bird in the philanthropic ecosystem. Amid the cacophony of buzzwords and theories du jour, she focuses on what really matters, and she does so with a profound and penetrating clarity. I greatly value her wisdom, honed by years of first-hand experience in neighborhoods engaged in the work of building genuine community. She's the real deal.
Tom David, Ph.D.
Philanthropic Consultant & Writer, San Francisco, CA