Tides Center picks Ayesha Khanna of Atlanta to be its top executive

Long-time Atlanta civic leader Ayesha Khanna is the new executive director of the Tides Center, a national philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing social justice.

San Francisco-based Tides, founded nearly 50 years ago, is the “mother” organization of Tides Foundation, which has about $1 billion in assets through donor-advised funds and initiatives, and Tides Center, which supports up-and-coming nonprofits by providing advisory services and by serving as their fiscal sponsor. 

“Tides Center is interested in the grassroots emerging solutions,” Khanna said in an interview about her new role working to help promote democracy, improve criminal justice, serve immigrants and other social capital needs. “I’m excited to be working on these issues and working with an organization that prioritizes these issues.”

Before joining Tides, Khanna served for nearly five years as managing director of CARE Enterprises Inc., the international organization’s impact investment arm. She also led civic innovation and the global practice for Points of Light, where she worked for 10 years. Before that, Khanna was chief operating officer of United Way of Greater Atlanta and CEO of the YWCA of Greater Atlanta.

In addition to those roles, Khanna serves on the board of the Atlanta Civic Circle and TEDx Atlanta. She also is a co-founder of the Atlanta Civic Collab, a convening of civic leaders and key local institutions.

Khanna is delighted to join a well-respected national nonprofit in a leadership position and to be able to stay in Atlanta. That’s because much of the Tides organization operates remotely.

But Khanna said the organization regularly brings its executive team together under the leadership of Tides CEO Janiece Evans-Page, who has been with the organization a little more than two years. 

“I’m excited about building new partnerships in the Southeast,” Khanna said. “Tides Center is continuing to grow nationally, and as part of that, it will have a growing impact in the Southeast.”

Tides is projected to deploy about $480 million in grants this year. It held a donor-focused campaign called “Get Off Your Assets” as part of its mission to create a greater impact by investing in social programs.

“The timing of joining Tides right now in this political climate is inspiring to me because of its focus on marginalized communities,” Khanna said. “We work with communities that might be the most impacted by shifting policies. We can act. Tides can really lift up the voices and solutions that are needed right now.”

Two examples of Tides fiscally sponsored projects in Atlanta are:

• The Prosecutors Alliance, which activates prosecutors and their allies to improve the effectiveness, fairness and compassion of their state and local prosecutorial systems.
• The Southern Economic Advancement Project, which partners with policy thinkers and doers to amplify their efforts and bridge gaps in policy infrastructure.

Ideally, Khanna would love to build a national network of social justice leaders, especially Black and brown leaders, to help them accelerate their work.

Currently, Tides Center has 65 employees working with more than 135 active fiscally sponsored partners. Tides awarded more than 5,600 grants in 2023.

“ Tides Foundation is the partner out there raising the capital,” Khanna said. “Tides Center is the entity that supports people who are doing the day-to-day work.”