Roger Nozaki

As VP for Strategy & Programs, Roger holds primary oversight for Barr’s grantmaking strategies, initiatives, and learning and evaluation. He also serves on the foundation’s executive team that provides overall strategic and operational leadership. For his first four years, he held the role of Barr’s first and sole VP, which included oversight of all operations and processes as well as Barr’s programs, a role that was split as Barr’s growth accelerated.

Roger brings experience across corporate, nonprofit, academic, and government sectors. Before coming to Barr, he served as a senior policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Education, working with the Department and the White House to advance equity, innovation, and quality outcomes in higher education. He previously spent nearly nine years at Brown University, where he served as an academic dean, oversaw three centers, and co-taught a course on the theory and practice of philanthropy. Prior to Brown, he worked for the Hitachi and GE foundations in several roles from 1994 to 2005, including as executive director of the GE Foundation.

Roger currently serves on the US-Japan Council program committee and has served previously on several boards and committees, including the 2022 Independent Sector CEO search committee, the Connecticut College President’s Leadership Council, the Independent Sector board, the Council on Foundations Corporate Committee, and the Institute for College Access and Success board, and chaired the board of Innovations in Civic Participation. Roger and his wife have three children and a dog, and they live in Rhode Island.