Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina (CCF) is pleased to announce Kerri Forrest as Vice President of Grantmaking and Community Leadership. Forrest will lead CCF’s grantmaking and scholarship programs, strengthen and grow the foundation’s relationships within the community, while encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.
“Kerri has developed a broad scope of experience and appreciation for all six of CCF’s pillars for a vibrant community,” said President and CEO Darrin Goss Sr. “She has a thorough understanding of grantmaking practices and the skillset to build deeper engagement with grantees, donors, and other funders in the co-creation of programs designed to provide access to resources and opportunity.”
Kerri Forrest was born in Charleston and has more than a decade of experience in the nonprofit field. She was the Senior Program Director of Equity Centered Leadership and Philanthropy for MDC, a legacy nonprofit committed to systems change in the South. There she directed leadership development initiatives for nonprofits and foundations working toward collaborative, human-centered, approaches to inclusive economic mobility in the region. Prior to her role at MDC, Forrest was the Lowcountry Program Director for the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation where she managed grantmaking, communications, advocacy, and partnerships for the foundation’s three program areas in South Carolina. She is a Furman University DLI Riley Fellow and a Liberty Fellow. Forrest holds a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Clemson University and a M.A. in Interactive Journalism from American University. Before her nonprofit work began, Forrest had a 16-year journalism career with national broadcast outlets MSNBC, NBC News, and CBS News.
“I am very excited to return to working with communities in the region. I missed being deeply embedded in the Lowcountry,” said Forrest. “I believe my experience in philanthropy and my time with MDC has deepened my understanding of what is necessary to bring philanthropic resources—not just financial—but social, reputational, and other forms of capital to create solutions that benefit our neighbors across CCF’s nine-county footprint.”
