Valaida Fullwood

Apr 17

CATHERINE FERGUSON PHILANTHROPY AWARD

Described an “idea whisperer,” Valaida Fullwood brings unbridled imagination and a gift for harnessing wild ideas to her work as a writer, public speaker and consultant on various projects and events. Valaida is the award-winning author of Giving Back, a 400-page hardcover book profiling stories of philanthropy among African Americans that was developed with photographer Charles Thomas. Giving Back was named one of the 10 Best Black Books of 2011 and received the prestigious 2012 McAdam Book Award, which recognizes “the most inspirational and useful new book for the nonprofit sector.”

Valaida is a recognized thought leader on African American philanthropy and community-led philanthropy and is frequently invited by a variety of groups to write, talk and consult on the topic. She is featured in a 2013 TEDx Talk on philanthropy and was named the 2014 Lake Distinguished Visitor at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. In 2015, Valaida collaborated with HBCUs, museums and other cultural institutions to launch the multimedia, touring exhibition Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited. Today, the exhibit has been touring for over a decade and been hosted by 35 cities nationwide, and counting.

In 2020, the Charlotte Chapter of the Association of Funding Professionals (AFP) named Valaida “Charlotte’s Outstanding Champion of Diversity”. YWCA Central Carolinas honored her as its 2020 Women of Achievement • Community Champion. The same year, she earned the Trailblazer Award from ABFE, the national network of Black executives and professionals in philanthropy.

In 2022, Valaida received the Madam C.J. Walker Award for Trailblazers of Color in the Nonprofit Community from F3: Fab Female Fundraisers. That year she also was named among “The Great 28” by QCityMetro, a list highlighting influential Black shaping the city of Charlotte.

She recently shared her journey in philanthropy as a part of “The Roots of the Work” panel at the Women’s Philanthropy Institute Symposium 2026.