Nneka Allen

Nneka Allen is a Black woman, a descendant of the Underground Railroad, an Ojibwa of Anderson Nation, a Momma and a sixth-generation Canadian. Born in the 70s, Allen was raised during a time of Black power and acute political awareness in North America. As a result, the air in her childhood home was generous, brilliant and proud. Her parents and their siblings with great intentionality poured their consciousness into her multi-ethnic identity. Today, Allen is a relationship builder, a stone-catcher, a freedom fighter and a storyteller. As a lover of justice, Allen has inspired philanthropy as a Fundraising Executive in the charitable sector for over 20 years. As the Principal and Founder of The Empathy Agency Inc., she helps leaders and their teams deliver more fairly on their missions by coaching them to explore the impact identity has on culture and equity outcomes. Allen is also the founder of the Black Canadian Fundraisers' Collective, a group of fundraisers who inspire and elevate the philanthropic sector in the African tradition of Ubuntu - "I am because we are".

Allen is an award winning author and joint editor of a book featuring the first-person narratives of 15 Black contributors, mainly fundraisers from the United States and Canada called Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love. She lives and works on the unceded shared territory of the Sumas and Masqui First Nations. As forced inhabitants of these beautiful territories, Allen's African ancestors had a historic relationship with the First Peoples of Canada and she gratefully acknowledges this connection.