The Fetzer Institute

The Fetzer Institute is dedicated to helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world. We do this by funding innovators and organizations that research spirituality, engage in individual and societal spiritual transformation, and build the spiritual infrastructure for the future, especially in service of our current program areas of Democracy, Education, Faith & Spirituality, and Organizational Culture. We believe in the power of ideas and we convene leaders to explore, discover, sharpen, and publish on spiritual transformation. And we work with allies with shared values within philanthropy to achieve greater impact. Our mission is to help build the spiritual foundation for a loving world. The Fetzer Institute is a growing community of people who see we’re part of something more. We aim to inspire and serve a global movement that transforms the world into a more loving home for all.

Website:  https://fetzer.org/

The Fetzer Institute’s work with The Harwood Institute

  • The Fetzer Institute’s program areas of Democracy, Education, Faith & Spirituality, and  Organizational Culture align with the work of the Institute. 

  • The Fetzer Institute is interested in partnering to explore how human flourishing, love, faith,  and values can be levers for creating change

RODNEY McKENZIE, JR.

Vice President of Ally Development

Rodney is an openly gay person of faith, a community organizer, and a reverend. He comes to Fetzer from Demos, a “’think-and-do’ tank that powers the movement for a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy.” He served there in many roles, most recently as executive vice president leading the organization’s programmatic, movement building, and communications functions. Prior to Demos, he worked at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force—the nation’s oldest national LGBTQ  advocacy organization—where his work focused on disrupting the national narrative that LGBTQ people aren’t people of faith and that people of faith don’t support LGBTQ equality and running smart campaigns to win power for marginalized communities.  

Earlier in his career, he co-founded Expansion Church where he served as its spiritual director,  regularly preaching on Sundays using a framework of liberation theology. He also served as the  executive director of Resource Generation, an organization comprised of 18–35-year-olds with  access to wealth who are among the richest top 10% of individuals or families in the United States. He  currently serves on the boards of the Freedom Center for Social Justice in North Carolina, the National  LGBTQ Task Force, and Seek Common Ground. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University  of North Texas and a master’s degree in divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.  He grew up in Dallas, Texas.