News
Freedom Together Foundation Announces Venus Phillips as Next Chief Investment Officer
New York, NY – The Freedom Together Foundation is proud to announce that Venus Phillips will join the organization as its next Chief Investment Officer. She brings deep experience from her career spanning philanthropy, higher education, and the private sector.
Phillips was most recently Managing Director of the Investment Office at the Kresge Foundation, a $4+ billion philanthropic institution, where she led the development of a resilient, mission-aligned portfolio. In this role, she oversaw investment opportunities across all asset classes, stewarded liquidity strategies, mentored a high-performing team, and managed relationships with dozens of investment managers. She was also a recurring presenter at Kresge’s Investment Committee meetings, delivering quarterly insights on economic trends, portfolio performance, cross-asset themes, and mission-related initiatives.
Deeply committed to aligning capital with community impact, Phillips partnered closely with Kresge’s program teams, co-chairing the Foundation’s Housing Work Group and applying investment expertise to challenges facing underserved communities.
“Venus brings not only extraordinary investment expertise, but a values-driven approach to stewardship,” said President Deepak Bhargava. “Her leadership will strengthen Freedom Together’s long-term strategy, and we are honored to welcome her to the team.”
“This is a defining moment for the work of protecting democracy and supporting vulnerable communities, and I am excited to join Freedom Together to rise to the challenge,” said Phillips. “I look forward to helping strengthen the strategies that will shape the years ahead.”
Phillips holds the industry’s highest professional designations as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). She earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Finance from Howard University and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She also studied International Economics at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business.
She has been honored by Pensions & Investments’ 2024 Influential Women in Institutional Investing, Crain’s Detroit, Institutional Investor, and Chief Investment Officer Magazine, among others. She has also served on the Advisory Board for the Value in Responsible Investing Forum.
Phillips’ professional career began at JP Morgan Private Bank and NexGen Capital Partners before she served as a portfolio manager at her alma mater, the University of Chicago‘s Investment Office and then Morningstar. She then served as the International Equity and Foreign Exchange Manager and then as the Head of Public Markets at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ $22 billion pension fund.
Phillips joins a growing group of leaders at the Freedom Together Foundation, which in 2025 has also welcomed Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Rodney McKenzie Jr., Chief Operations Officer Russatta Buford, Vice President of Communications Diana Lee, Senior Fellow Jenny Lawson, and Senior Fellow Felicia Wong. Phillips joins an experienced Investments Team at Freedom Together, which includes Bill Ribbecke, serving as Deputy CIO. Across this dynamic institution, Freedom Together is strengthening its capacity to meet the demands of this critical moment.
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