The Hopper-Dean Foundation is excited to welcome Dr. Samir K. Doshi as their inaugural Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Samir brings an impressive background and a strong alignment with the Foundation’s commitments to advancing human rights, social justice, and ecological justice.
Since its founding in 2011, the Hopper-Dean family has deployed over $150 million in philanthropic capital through the Foundation and an associated donor-advised fund, with early giving centered on STEM education. Today, their work has evolved to include a larger focus on equity, climate justice, internationalism, and scientific innovation through an integrated capital approach. The board is excited for Samir to build on that legacy, deepen the Foundation’s strategy, and strengthen operations in ways that center trust-based relationships, multi-year commitments, and movement-aligned grantmaking and investments.
Heidi Hopper, Chair of the Hopper-Dean Foundation board, echoes the excitement for Samir’s new leadership. “From his decades of organizing, systems thinking, and movement-centered practice, Samir embodies the relational, courageous leadership our foundation aims to strengthen. We are confident that as CEO, he will both honor the values that have guided our work and expand our ability to learn with and stand alongside movement partners at this consequential moment for justice, climate resilience, and community self-determination.”
Samir brings to his work with Hopper-Dean over 25 years of experience as a grantmaker, scientist, policy advisor, engineer, and organizer in the fields of food and land sovereignty, climate justice, disaster response, technology, worker justice, and community power building in grassroots movements, academia, and government. Most recently, he served as Program Director at the CS Fund where he helped launch their Just Transitions funding program in 2022, building long term support for grassroots organizations and movements for social and ecological justice that helps build collective power translocally, transnationally, and transculturally.
“I am honoured and humbled to work with the board to lead the Hopper-Dean Foundation as its first CEO,” Samir said. “This is a pivotal and potentially transformative time to support our grassroots communities, movements, and the ecological systems that we are in kinship with. I am excited to join the foundation in building on its already ambitious journey in philanthropy and impact investing.”
Over the past year, Ktisis has partnered with the Hopper-Dean family as an advisory and operational partner during this leadership transition. “Supporting families and foundations through moments of leadership transition is always deeply meaningful work for our team at Ktisis, and we’re excited to support Samir as he takes on this role at the Hopper-Dean Foundation. We also look forward to continuing to support the Hopper-Dean family’s broader civic engagement and philanthropic work alongside Samir,” shared Ktisis Principal Jason Franklin.
“Samir is a widely respected philanthropic leader, strategic thinker, principled practitioner and incredible enabler of collaboration,” wrote Chung-Wha Hong, Co-Executive Director of Grassroots International, who participated in the CEO search process. “With his deep experience in working with grassroots communities worldwide, combined with the justice and equity values of Hopper-Dean family members, the foundation is well-poised to make an extraordinary impact in amplifying community-led climate solutions around the world.”
“We congratulate Samir Doshi on his appointment as CEO of the Hopper Dean Family Foundation,” said Solomé Lemma, President and CEO of Thousand Currents, who also participated in the CEO search process. “Samir brings deep experience working with grassroots communities, knowledge across multiple disciplines, and a profound commitment to a just world. A visionary and principled leader, Samir has what it takes to advance the foundation’s mission and catalyze community-led transformation around the world.”
