Justine Lucas

Justine Lucas is a social impact strategist, advocate, and organizational change leader with more than two decades of experience at the intersection of philanthropy, policy, and global advocacy. Lucas is the founder of Q15 Impact, an advisory practice that develops and implements philanthropic strategies for foundations, corporations, individuals, and influencers. As an organizational and systems change strategist, Lucas has established herself as a leader in the philanthropic and policy sectors. She is recognized for her expertise in social impact strategies and her approach to creating lasting change, emphasizing the importance of building partnerships to achieve significant societal impact.

For seven years, Lucas served as executive director of Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation, which focuses on climate resilience and climate justice in the Caribbean and the United States. Central to her work is the perspective that the climate crisis disproportionately affects communities with the least support. Under Lucas' leadership, the foundation received recognition from Fast Company as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies and for its Climate Resilience Initiative in the World Changing Ideas climate category. During her tenure, the foundation leveraged $47 million in giving to support COVID-19 relief and racial justice efforts.

Prior to her role at the Clara Lionel Foundation, Lucas was global director of programs for Global Citizen, where she oversaw the Global Citizen Festival, events, programs, and strategic partnerships, and served as a producer of the Global Citizen Festivals in Central Park and the Global Citizen Earth Day event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Before taking on production responsibilities, Lucas led policy and advocacy campaigns in the United States, mobilizing government officials, students, and constituents in key congressional districts to take action on issues of extreme poverty. She has also consulted for international and domestic nonprofits and worked extensively on grassroots program development around human rights and access to justice issues in Cameroon.

Lucas holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and anthropology and a Master of Arts in global affairs and nonprofit management, both from New York University, and completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of directors of One for Democracy and Ekō, as a strategic advisor to 100Kin10, and on the advisory board of Future BARBADOS. Lucas is a keynote speaker on topics including vulnerability in leadership, innovation in philanthropy, and building a career in impact. She has been profiled in Her Agenda, appeared as a podcast guest for GreenBiz and 33voices, and been quoted in Inside Philanthropy and Social Investor Magazine.