Empowerment Through Equity: Pioneering Capital Campaigns for Black-Led Organizations

Thursday, February 8, 2024
11:30 am - 12:00 pm - Lunch and Networking 
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Program 

Location:
Austin Community College 
Highland Business Center, Room 201.1
5930 Middle Fiskville Rd.
Austin, Texas 78752-4390 

Session Description: In this concise talk, Llyas Salahud-din will share his firsthand experience of the unique challenges and triumphs in fundraising for Black-led organizations. Reflecting on his past success with well-resourced campaigns, he will contrast this with the realities of spearheading a capital campaign for a Black-led charter school. Despite these successes, Llyas will discuss the stark difficulties in securing funds for Black-led organizations due to the lack of traditional resources. He will shed light on the broader challenges faced by similar organizations in the fundraising landscape. The talk will advocate for equitable fundraising practices, stressing the need for a systemic shift to recognize and support the vital role of Black-led charities in nurturing future generations.

Speaker: Llyas Salahud-din, MPA, CNP

Bio: Llyas Salahud-din's passion for philanthropy is rooted in his experience as a foster child for 15 years, which motivated him to become a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP). He is a 2013 Leadership Austin Essential Alum, a 2017 Austin Area Research Organization (AARO) McBee Fellow, and was named the 2021 Fundraiser of the Year by the Austin Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Llyas’ initial fundraising success was at United Way in Greater San Antonio, where he was part of a team as a Loaned Executive, raising $44 million for the community. His career highlights include pivotal roles in developing a multi-year giving model for the End Youth Homelessness campaign at LifeWorks and a Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas. More recently, Llyas played a key role in establishing a new Development Department at Texas Empowerment Academy, significantly increasing their fundraising efforts from zero to several million. In 2023, he completed a $39 million Charter School Capital Campaign, marking the largest education investment in the Austin, Texas African-American community since 1881.

Eight months prior to the conclusion of his capital campaign, Llyas delved into AI to streamline the grant writing process for charters schools and nonprofits. By December 2023, he developed a working prototype with a co-founding engineer.

*This course has been approved for 1 point of CFRE credit.

Registration is now closed