Lisa D. McGill
Lisa D. McGill is the founder of LM Strategies Consulting and the managing director of Kemp Whitfield, Inc. Over the years, McGill has consulted on projects for foundations, nonprofits, and public/private partnerships to drive social change. Her content expertise includes leadership and pipeline development, racial equity, youth-to-adult transitions, and increasing opportunities for under-resourced communities.
As an expert in philanthropy, McGill’s most strident work includes working with foundations and their community partners to deepen the perceptions around how diverse people lead, follow and give. This work positions her as a thought leader around the issue of philanthropy by people of color – who they are, what they give to and why. She’s also known for her efforts to convene people in efficient learning communities, where she curates their conversations and skill-building around philanthropic strategies with an equity lens.
McGill has managed and contributed to several publications on diversity, equity, and inclusion: On Message, a joint report from the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) and Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) that focused on the use of strategic communications to advance social change in Black and Latino communities; Community Foundations Take the Lead: Promising Approaches to Building Inclusive and Equitable Communities, a publication of CFLeads that featured the initiatives of leading community foundations committed to building strong, equitable communities; and Diversity in PR Firms, a perceptions study on career advancement for black and Latino Professionals in the PR industry.
She is also the author of Constructing Black Selves: Caribbean American Narratives and the Second Generation (New York University Press 2005), an academic book that focuses on the performing arts, literary production, and culture industry of black immigrants in the United States after WWII.
Her clients have included the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, Charles S. Mott Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation, among others. She has also worked with philanthropy-serving organizations and networks such as Grantmakers for Education, Independent Sector, Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG), ABFE, Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE), and CFLeads.
McGill earned a bachelor’s degree in English modified with Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree of arts and a master’s degree of philosophy in American Studies from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University.
