Transcendent futures
Transcendent Futures is an imagination, design, and action lab supporting public, private, and civil society leaders working toward social change. We focus on building, implementing, and evaluating social change strategies that seed a free and just world.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary includes the following in their definition of the word “transcendent”:
The Latin verb scandere means "to climb", so transcend has the basic meaning of climbing so high that you cross some boundary. A transcendent experience takes you out of yourself and convinces you of a larger life or existence; in this sense, it means something close to "spiritual".
In order to achieve a more just world, we must be willing to transcends our current way of being, working and dreaming.
Our Services
Fund Development
Our work and expertise in this area range from fund creation, management, fundraising, communications, programs, and governance.
Grantmaking
We focus on trust-based and community-centered philanthropic practices, including participatory grantmaking models.
sTRATEGY & iMPACT
We help our clients articulate, create and build a roadmap towards the world they long to see. Some of our offerings include community engagement, equity and justice, and co-governance.
About our founder + principal
Jonathan is the Founder and Principal of Transcendent Futures, an imagination, design, and action lab powering social change.
Jonathan brings over a decade of nonprofit, philanthropy, and political experience in senior leadership roles. Some of these roles include Vice President of Programs at the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Executive Director of the UndocuBlack Network, and National Latino Vote Director in Senator Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 Presidential Campaign. Jonathan also served as an external advisor to the MacArthur Foundation’s $120M Racial and Ethnic Justice Fund of 2021.
Jonathan has served on the boards of the Alliance for Youth Organizing, eBay Foundation, Hispanics in Philanthropy, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Liberty’s Promise, and Montgomery College Board of Trustees.
Jonathan earned a Master of Public Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Jonathan completed several Harvard fellowships with the Center for Public Leadership, Rappaport Institute of Greater Boston, and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
Jonathan’s purpose is to co-create a world of joy, love, and freedom.