About Me:
Taij Kumarie Moteelall is a visionary and changemaker who has blazed a successful path in the arts, activism and philanthropy. She acts on her deep belief that we can restore balance and foster peace, justice and sustainability by connecting to create and build thriving communities and movements. Whether working with communities of color to achieve self-determination or people with wealth to align their values with their resources, Taij has consistently increased opportunity and access for society’s most marginalized.

Prior to joining the staff of Spirit in Action,Taij served as a Co-Director at Media Sutra, a creative services and strategic consulting firm that supports clients to build visibility, ensure long-term sustainability and have a social impact by moving people to action. She co-founded this socially responsible business and helped to build it into a profitable company that served organizations across the United States engaged in social justice and transformative social change work. Her clients included: Social Justice Leadership, The Opportunity Agenda, The Young People’s Project and more.

As the former Executive Director of Resource Generation, an organization that works with young people with financial wealth and class privilege, Taij helped to build a more inclusive and sustainable organization while supporting members to move millions of dollars to social justice. She forged partnerships with national entities, like Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and the Council on Foundations, to lift up the vision and voices of Next Generation philanthropists. An innovator in the field of philanthropy, Taij has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Worth Magazine and Contribute Magazine’s cover story on “The New Face of Giving.” During her 6-year tenure at the East Harlem Tutorial Program she helped to more than double the agency’s budget, the number of young people served and the number of local sites where programming was offered.

Taij is a writer and spoken word artist who has performed nationally and internationally for the past 17 years. As a co-founder of Blackout Arts Collective, she worked at the intersection of art and activism, helping to grow a local NY-based group into a national network, and was recognized with a Union Square Award. She has co-produced hundreds of multi-disciplinary arts and activism events and national social justice tours.

Born in Guyana and raised largely in the United States, Taij remains rooted in her Indo-Caribbean community and works to build bridges and bring resources to this isolated immigrant group. She won several awards for her work in her community, and most recently she co-founded Jahajee Sisters, a movement-building organization, supporting the leadership development of Indo-Caribbean women activists organizing against gender-based oppression and violence. In 2009, she developed and facilitated an Arts & Empowerment Program, which lead to the creation of a poetry anthology entitled, Bolo Bahen! Speak Sister!

Taij is a board co-chair of The Funding Exchange and a board member of Grassroots International. She has a BA in History and Cultural Studies from Hampshire College, and a MA in Art, Media and Communications from New York University.

My Passions:
Healthy Living, Nature, Healing, Children, Poetry, Justice

My Challenges:
Letting go of the need to do it all and be a superwoman

My Vision for the Future:
A world in which every community is strong, vibrant, heart-centered and working joyfully together across our unique identities to sustain an interdependent system of caring for each other and the earth

My Areas of Expertise:
Non-profit management, writing, public speaking, leadership development, fundraising