Women’s Foundation of Alabama Board Names 20-Year Corporate Veteran Kimberly L. Jackson as President and CEO

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA – (May 12, 2025) – Women’s Foundation of Alabama, the state’s leading voice and philanthropic engine for women’s economic advancement, proudly announces the appointment of Kimberly L. Jackson as its new President and CEO, effective June 16, 2025. Jackson succeeds Melanie R. Bridgeforth, whose visionary leadership over the past seven years transformed the Foundation into a statewide force leveraging research, public policy, and strategic grantmaking to build and sustain women’s economic opportunity. The leadership search, conducted in partnership with BoardWalk Consulting, concludes after a period of interim leadership by LaShundra Pinkard.

Jackson brings to Women’s Foundation of Alabama more than 20 distinguished years of experience in corporate leadership, strategic community investment, and nonprofit board governance. Most recently, she served as Government and Community Relations Manager for the Birmingham Division of Alabama Power Company, where she led high-impact civic and community partnerships across Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair counties. A respected finance leader with a reputation for forging meaningful public-private collaborations, Jackson has also held key leadership roles in economic development and currently serves as Board Chair of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce.

“As a fellow colleague at Alabama Power, I’ve had a front row seat to Kimberly’s consistent demonstration of leadership and an unwavering dedication to mission-driven results. Her community-first spirit and deep knowledge of economic development from a systems and a people perspective will continue to drive women and the economy forward, which is exactly what Alabama needs in this moment,” said Yvonne Essix, Vice President of Transmission Construction & Protection and Control and Board member of Women’s Foundation of Alabama. “She brings the perfect blend of experience and innovation that will propel Women’s Foundation of Alabama into its next chapter of impact.”

Jackson steps into Women’s Foundation of Alabama leadership at a pivotal moment. With a 2027 goal to move 10,000 women into the workforce and onto pathways of economic mobility, the Foundation remains steadfast in its mission to advance opportunity in Alabama.

“Alabama is home—and this mission is vital to Alabama,” said incoming president and CEO Kimberly L. Jackson. “As a daughter of this state, I know the strength of our communities—and the barriers women still face even amidst great progress. We have an opportunity to continue shaping policy, influencing philanthropy, and delivering economic strategies that reach women where they are. I’m ready to get to work—partnering with communities, investing in solutions, and making sure progress isn’t just promised, but felt across the entire state of Alabama.”

As Women’s Foundation of Alabama enters its next chapter, the Board of Directors is confident that Jackson’s leadership will chart new paths for impact and innovation across Alabama.

“In Kimberly Jackson, we have found the right leader to carry forward our mission of impacting the world around us by accelerating economic opportunity for women,” said Elizabeth Goodrich, Board Chair of the Women’s Foundation of Alabama. “This search was led by our Board with care and discernment, and we are confident that Kimberly’s results-driven leadership will strengthen our statewide impact in both proven and innovative ways.”

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Women’s Foundation of Alabama is a community-driven foundation impacting the world around us by accelerating economic opportunity for women. We envision a society where power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, or place. Founded as a regional women’s fund in 1996, Women’s Foundation of Alabama is the state’s only public women’s foundation applying a gender lens to grantmaking, research, and advocacy.

Media Contact:

Alexus Cumbie

acumbie@wfalabama.org