Moving at the speed of trust
- intentionalworks
- Jan 31
- 5 min read
South City Foundation’s inaugural CEO, Rahkiah Brown, prioritizes community relationships to support revitalization
Just a year ago, Rahkiah Brown was selected as South City Foundation’s first CEO, tasked with leading community-driven initiatives to support the Foundation’s mission of convener and champion of residents of Tallahassee’s South City neighborhood. Supporting revitalization on a community level is long-range work, so Rahkiah began her tenure as CEO by leading with her heart and focusing on relationship building as the foundation of SCF’s purpose. Mutual trust fuels collaboration. For the Foundation to advocate for South City in the ways that would most benefit the residents, Rahkiah and the team prioritize relationships that allow SCF to lead with and through the community.
“Community work isn’t linear – it’s up, down, it twists – understanding
what success truly is gives you a better understanding of how to proceed.”
─ Rahkiah Brown, CEO, South City Foundation
As a transplant to Tallahassee, Rahkiah knew that developing strong, genuine relationships with South City residents, the SCF board, and community partners would be critical to forward leadership for the Foundation. As a member of Purpose Built Communities, South City Foundation fills the role of “community quarterback.” Rahkiah has leaned into this approach which centers the residents of South City while bridging advocacy efforts through policy makers and funders.
Like many CEOs, Rahkiah is a leader who strives for measurable results. “Results” can mean different things, however, and Rahkiah keeps SCF’s relationships with the community as her north star. “Community work isn’t linear – it’s up, down, it twists – understanding what success truly is gives you a better understanding of how to proceed,” Rahkiah explains. When Rahkiah began her role as CEO, there were several large initiatives considered for 2024. However, in Rahkiah’s first few months, she and SCF’s leadership took inventory and recognized that understanding the capacity of the South City neighborhood and of the Foundation was critical. She and her board have prioritized understanding what the community envisions for themselves and where the community has capacity to engage and support.
Rahkiah began by building relationships with the five neighborhood block champions who had already committed to be the links between the community and SCF. Rahkiah values the champions as the hands, feet, and voices of the neighborhood. Since last fall, the original five block champions have recruited two more champions, ensuring multi-generational involvement. Rahkiah and the SCF team work to empower the block champions with resources to further initiatives and administrative support. To solidify their commitment, South City Foundation recently received a two-year extension of funding from the Knight Foundation to continue support of the block champions.
Rahkiah and SCF’s board have refocused some objectives to ensure that neighborhood initiatives are consistently reflective of information gathered from South City’s constituents and block champions. This is a marked reprioritization that demonstrates SCF’s commitment to building trust and partnership within the community.
Rahkiah is rooted in her belief that community work must be community led. She speaks passionately about “withdrawals and deposits” into and from the community.
“Asking for people’s time and trust to talk to us about what they need is a withdrawal.
When we’re able to listen and knock on those same doors to give them a tool that
helps solve some of the challenges they shared with us – that’s a deposit.
And that’s how we’re showing up for South City.”
- Rahkiah Brown, CEO, South City Foundation
A recent deposit into the community took the form of solar and crank-powered weather radios that also are cell phone chargers. When the South City neighborhood was devastated by tornadoes in May, 2024, many of the neighbors were without power for more than a week, leaving residents unable to communicate or to receive vital updates. Residents’ feedback made it clear to the Foundation’s block champions and leadership that providing a way to connect during crisis would be an impactful demonstration of the Foundation‘s partnership and commitment. South City Foundation secured funding for the radios and so far, has distributed more than 350 devices, answering a simple but critical need for a neighborhood that is frequently touched by natural disaster. The radios are practical, yet they are also a symbol of the trust-based relationship that has been developed over the past year between the community and the Foundation. “The community is empowered to express their needs in a way that moves to action,” Rahkiah explains. It’s a commitment to SCF’s prioritization of the community over the Foundation. Rahkiah says the radios weren’t something the Foundation had considered, but they were eager to pivot to provide a tool that communicates how the Foundation wants to show up, listen, empower, and partner.
South City Foundation will open its Early Learning Center (ELC) this year, offering vital access to education for children from 6 weeks to 3 years old. The ELC helps solve a need for accessible childcare and education in the area and allows parents and caregivers the freedom to pursue opportunities. As of this writing, the ELC is open with four classrooms and is led by a full-time director from Orange Avenue, one of the neighborhoods within South City. This thoughtful revisioning is helping to foster trust while signaling to the community how the Foundation will prioritize initiatives.
Rahkiah knows trust building is evident in the seemingly small ways. While she works to build community funding partnerships across public and private sectors, she centers South City’s residents. For example, the Foundation has paused tours of the neighborhood for potential funders until SCF’s leadership has the support of the neighbors. On the surface, this might seem like a counter-intuitive approach, but the decision has empowered South City residents and reinforced their role in moving forward. The neighbors hold the opportunity to influence and participate in the neighborhood tours, once resumed. Rahkiah says the community’s buy-in has made for richer and more impactful tours which in turn have led to deeper partner engagements.
Rahkiah’s first year has focused on developing understanding and building trust among South City Foundation’s internal and external partners. The results include more effective priorities that consider the shared capacity of both the neighborhood and the Foundation, forging an intentionally collaborative path forward. Rahkiah is emphatic that, “the ultimate goal of moving at the speed of trust must be that the community is empowered to be decision makers and implementers. In communities like South City where trust has historically been broken, the community knows what’s best for themselves and the neighbors set the pace. South City Foundation will be there to undergird the community’s vision and to support acquiring resources to see that vision come to fruition.”