New Profit Announces Stephen Jennings Will Serve as New Chair of the Organization’s Board of Directors

April 25, 2023

New Profit has named Steve Jennings as the organization’s new Board Chair. Steve is a longtime board member of New Profit and has 30 years of executive experience at Deloitte* and other companies. Steve became Chair on April 13 as Jeffrey Walker, who served in the position for seven years, stepped down while remaining on the board.

“We feel incredibly fortunate that Steve will lead New Profit’s board at this moment of evolution and opportunity, bringing with him deep passion for our work and deep experience in board and organizational leadership built over nearly 30 years at Monitor Deloitte.” said New Profit Co-CEOs Vanessa Kirsch and Tulaine Montgomery. “We also want to send our heartfelt thanks to Jeff Walker for his years of service as Board Chairman, during which time New Profit grew its portfolio and impact dramatically thanks to his vision and tireless commitment to our community.”

Steve has worked closely on strategy with the board, the leadership team, and grantee-partners as New Profit has accelerated impact and evolved its model over the last two decades. Most recently, he has served as a thought partner to New Profit’s leadership team as they have advanced a range of new strategic initiatives, including the organization’s efforts to invest in proximate leaders who have the deepest connections to communities and experience with systemic challenges across education, economic mobility, health, and democracy. He has also been a strong supporter of New Profit’s efforts to expand and mobilize its unique multiracial, intergenerational, cross-sector community to drive transformative change in the above areas.

Steve has been a key driver of New Profit’s 10-year collaboration with Deloitte to bring strategy and other support to social entrepreneurs in the organization’s grantee-partner portfolio, and he serves on the board alongside two Deloitte executive colleagues: Chief Growth Officer Stacy Janiak and Chief Purpose Officer Kwasi Mitchell. Steve led efforts in the late-1990s to help establish New Profit’s original, groundbreaking cross-sector collaboration with The Monitor Group, a top-tier global consulting firm where he was the CEO/Managing Partner in the years leading up to the firm’s 2013 acquisition by Deloitte.

“It is an enormous privilege to take on the Chair role at New Profit at this exciting time in New Profit’s history. The first 25 years have been ones of incredible impact and New Profit’s prospects could not be brighter.”

Steve is an accomplished strategy and corporate governance leader, operating executive, and corporate board member with over 30 years of experience advising Global Fortune 500 c-suite executives and Boards of Directors. He is currently principal in Deloitte Consulting LLP and has served as a trusted advisor to the c-suites and boards of directors of his clients and is one of the organization’s most sought-after leaders on enterprise growth, M&A, organization transformations, and strategy. He is also a member of both Deloitte’s U.S. Board of Directors and Deloitte Global’s Board of Directors.

Steve received a B.A. from Oxford University, where he studied philosophy, politics, and economics as a Marshall Scholar. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics at Dartmouth College.

About New Profit

New Profit is a venture philanthropy organization that backs social entrepreneurs who are advancing equity and opportunity in America. New Profit exists to build a bridge between these leaders and a community of philanthropists who are committed to catalyzing their impact. New Profit provides unrestricted grants and strategic support to a portfolio of organizations led by visionary social entrepreneurs to increase their impact, scale, and sustainability. It also partners with social entrepreneurs and other cross-sector leaders to shift how government and philanthropy pursue social change to ensure that all people can thrive. Since its founding in 1998, New Profit has invested over $350M in 200+ organizations and, through the America Forward Coalition’s collective advocacy efforts, has unlocked over $1.9B in government funding for social innovation.