Grants
Todd Battiste is the Education Grants Program Director at Baptist Community Ministries, wherein he designs, manages and monitors strategic grantmaking initiatives aimed at improving outcomes in Education.
Todd has spent the last 16 years of his career working in philanthropy. Prior to joining BCM, Todd served as Senior Vice President for Education & Equity with United Way of Southeast Louisiana. Todd has also worked for Total Community Action/Head Start and New Orleans Public Schools, improving educational opportunities for children and families. Todd prides himself on Enhancing Programs, Engaging Philanthropy and Enacting Policy.
Todd is a 2019 Distinguished Fellow of the Nancy Marsiglia Institute of Justice and a 2017-2018 Fellow with The Association of Black Foundation Executives – Connecting Leaderships Fellowship. He currently serves as treasurer for the Children & Youth Planning Board, an appointment by New Orleans City Council, Youth Force, New Orleans Youth Program Quality Initiative/New Orleans Youth Alliance, Campaign for Grade Level Reading and a host of other initiatives.
Todd is an active member of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and serves as Co-Chair for the Greater New Orleans Funders Network. He was nominated and elected to Chair the Child Care Block Advisory Council. He is the Past President for the Louisiana Association for the Education of Young Children and former Vice President for Public Policy. He served on the Advisory Committee on Licensing of Childcare Facilities and Child Placing Agencies, Louisiana’s Quality Rating System for Early Childhood Programs Steering Committee, Louisiana Advisory Council on Child Care and Early Education, Delgado Early Childhood Education Advisory Board and the Greater New Orleans Rebuild.
Todd received the Young Leadership Council (YLC) 2011 Role Model of the Year and the Children Defense Fund-Louisiana 2011 Champion for Children awards and is a proud members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
Todd is a native of New Orleans, graduated from Southern University at New Orleans with a bachelor in Psychology, Xavier University at New Orleans with a Master’s in Business/Industry Counseling and University of New Orleans with a Master’s in Public Administration. Todd is married to Caryn Rodgers-Battiste and the proud father of two sons, Todd II and Dillon.