• Anne Delaney Co-Founder

    Anne Delaney is a visual artist and a leader in feminist philanthropy. As co-founder of Lambent Foundation, she is committed to honoring the role of artists in public life, and how cultural expression catalyzes social movements for progressive change. Anne began grantmaking by founding the Starry Night Fund in 2002 and then deepened this commitment by co-creating Lambent Foundation in 2008. 

    Anne is a proud member of New York’s Bowery Gallery collective. She uses drawing and painting to make sense of socio-political issues in the current climate. Many national organizations have recognized Anne’s vision for philanthropy and support of women’s empowerment, including the Ms. Foundation, the New York Women’s Foundation, the Korean American Family Service Center, and the Women’s Funding Network. Anne has served as a board member for Peace is Loud, the Ms. Foundation, and as an Advisory Council member of Common Justice.

  • Michelle Coffey Co-Founder, Executive Director

    Michelle Coffey leads the strategy and drives the vision of Lambent Foundation while mindfully honoring complexity. By nurturing emergent ideas and welcoming uncertainty, Michelle works as an advocate and partner to imagine and build more just and equitable societies.

    While working at the Walker Arts Center during the 1990s American culture wars, Michelle learned to fuse her work with her personal and political values and respect the interconnections between art, location, and community. Michelle has built on her background in human rights advocacy and philanthropy to develop Lambent’s approach. She served as Director of Starry Night Fund and Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Tides Foundation. Her portfolio spanned global human rights, women and girls, criminal justice reform, arts and culture, and HIV/AIDS. This challenging work alerted Michelle to the vital role of arts and culture in progressive movements. Michelle serves on the boards of Socrates Sculpture Park, Grantmakers in the Arts, and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

  • Leah Franklin Gilliam Senior Strategy & Design Officer

    Franklin has always been fascinated with emergent systems and how things work. An internationally recognized artist and designer, Franklin has channeled this curiosity into a wide-ranging career at the intersection of creativity, technology, and social innovation.

    Franklin’s penchant for analysis has fueled professional experiences that include stewarding a learning network at Mozilla, developing curricula and digital products at Girls Who Code, opening a public school inspired by game design at Institute of Play, and serving as a tenured professor in electronic arts at Bard College. 

    At Lambent, Franklin functions as a strategic adviser and designer-at-large. Franklin helps chart organizational direction through research and assessment and designs and fine-tunes processes and practices, so they are more transparent and values-aligned. Franklin is the former Vice President for Education, Strategy & Innovation at Girls Who Code and is a board member of Out in Tech, a 50,000-strong volunteer community uniting LGBTQIA+ techies.

  • Vincent Cinco Executive Assistant to Michelle Coffey

    Vince’s interests in creativity and organization have influenced his design of tactical solutions and administrative processes that free others to pursue their most rewarding work. As a creative, he enjoys finding beauty in unfamiliar environments. As an organizer, he enjoys coordinating with people and developing systems. He has studied architecture, engaged in customer relationship management, and trained managers.

    Vince served as the Vice President of the Cebu City Progressive Uptown Movement, a non-government organization that advocates for community volunteerism and private-public partnership in Cebu Island, Philippines. In this role, he introduced the city mayor to people-powered proposals to initiate community development. Vince also helped to promote economic growth by forging ties with established businesses.