Kashif Shaikh is the co-founder and president of Pillars Fund. Under his leadership, Pillars has invested more than $10 million in Muslim-focused initiatives, launched one-of-a-kind programs supporting Muslims in the arts, and become a leading voice for Muslims in the United States.

Prior to launching Pillars, Kashif was a program officer at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, where he helped manage a portfolio that distributed more than $20 million annually and helped scale a variety of Chicago nonprofits working at the intersection of racial justice, poverty, and education. Kashif’s expert insight and writing have been featured in The New York Times, Buzzfeed, Variety, NPR, and Vice, among others.

He currently serves on the board of directors of the Peabody Awards (East Coast division), Donors of Color Network, and Mortar, a Cincinnati nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities access resources to start and run successful businesses.