Name
Alisha Johnson Perry
Title
Director of Development
New Orleanian Alisha Johnson Perry’s first high school job was as administrative assistant for land-based, community-centered non-profit Neighborhood Housing Services. A dual undergraduate degree in Journalism and Spanish, followed by a decade as a Louisiana Legislative Aide, a federal flood, and eventually a law degree, ground Alisha as a fundraising professional. Her spiritual, cultural and community traditions illuminated a post-Hurricane Katrina recovery path into skilled grant writing, keen donor relationship development, and community engagement that has resulted in millions of philanthropic dollars directed to racial justice advancements in secondary education and immigrant justice across the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
In 2021 Alisha became a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). Her self-decolonization work includes deference to the Opelousas, Biloxi, Choctaw, Chitimacha, United Houma Nation, and other indigenous people who stewarded the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain for ancient generations.
Alisha’s ancestral self-care regimen includes a lifelong unfolding of walking, gardening, storytelling and writing practices that connect her to her urban and rural ancestors. She is honored to join her experience with SAAFON’s rich tapestry of tradition and culture bearers, to continue the development of fertile ground for seasoned, new and returning Black agrarians.