Rebecca Balter, PhD, Chair

About Rebecca

Rebecca Balter is an organizer and strategist in the philanthropic sector. She grew up in Raleigh and became part of Triangle Community Foundation’s family in 2015 when she and her mother started a fund focused on environmental justice and combating climate change. In honor of joining the Board of Directors in 2019, Rebecca created the Cast Iron Skillet Fund with a mission to nourish social justice community organizing in the South.

Rebecca’s work is rooted in the belief that a vibrant society requires solidarity across differences so that no-one is left behind; a belief she absorbed through stories from generations of family history. She is grateful to the mentors and peers she has found as a member of the Solidaire donor network, the Nexus Impact Society and Generation Pledge. As a Senior Advisor at the Impact Finance Center she supports the development of projects that educate and activate investors who want to align their capital investments with their progressive values.

She would not be where she is without the political education and support she foundover a decade of participation in Resource Generation, a group which organizes young people, age 18-35, with wealth and class privilege in the United States to become transformative leaders working towards the equitable distribution of wealth, land, and power. During that time she was a founding member of the Funding Queerly giving circle, one of the largest, community-based LGBTQ+ funders in the United States. Rebecca also helped start and co-lead FrontPorch, an organization which brought together young, progressive political funders to move money to 501-c4 non-profits, building political power in marginalized communities in North Carolina.

Rebecca can’t help but bring an analytical and systems lens to all of her work, the legacy of her academic training. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Columbia University and went on to receive a Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In addition to serving on the Board of the Foundation, Rebecca also serves on the Board of the Triangle Land Conservancy where she chairs the Finance Committee.

When she is not trying to disrupt the field of philanthropy, Rebecca can be found exploring the art galleries, restaurants and cocktail bars outside her front door in downtown Raleigh.