10/27/2026
Linetta J. Gilbert serves as Managing Partner of Gilbert & Associates. A respected global leader in the philanthropic community, Linetta provides consulting, coaching, and network-building support to foundations, large and small nonprofits, and emerging thought leaders. She commits her energy to the communities that matter to her and the organizations that serve them – developing the boards that govern; planning the strategies that sustain and elevate; and developing leaders with the head and heart, the humility and fortitude, to stand and deliver, the joy and rhythm to dance with style at the party, and the love and discipline to celebrate just as jubilantly at worship service, too.
From various posts in global philanthropies, Linetta has leveraged investment in improving our lives and changing our world for the better. As Senior Program Officer for Social Justice Philanthropy with The Ford Foundation, Linetta invested, monitored, and leveraged more than $1 billion in resources to transform and strengthen community-based philanthropic organizations worldwide. A significant portion of her life’s work has focused on influencing the reach into Black and other communities of color as donors, elevating their leadership on critical national and global issues.
In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Linetta helped guide decisions on philanthropic focus that would help to rebuild infrastructure and increase capacity in government, resident leadership, nonprofit organizations, and the business community. Her leadership inspired and attracted others, moving this region from recovery to transformation. She served as a place-based consultant in New Orleans to the Annie E. Casey Foundation for its Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. As the former Vice President of Programs for the Greater New Orleans Foundation, Linetta designed and implemented grant-making and programs that guided the foundation to live more fully in its moniker, moving from good to greater, expanding its programmatic reach to include critical issues such as housing and community development; work force development; violence prevention; neighborhood resident engagement; faith-based economic development; and rural development initiatives. She has served as a national consultant on public policies in the fields of early learning and education, health, housing and child welfare services.
Linetta has actively used her years of development experience to improve her community serving on the boards of Agenda for Children, the Amistad Research Center, the Old Algiers Main Street Corporation, and as a Founding Board Member of the Louisiana Children’s Museum. She has contributed to the Advisory Board for Tulane University's John Lewis School of Public Administration and The Solutions Project. She is the immediate past Chairman and a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Louisiana, a statewide public charity that invests in people and practices working to reduce vulnerability and build stronger, more sustainable communities. With such a record of service here at home, when the City of New Orleans celebrated its Tricentennial, Linetta was named among 300 people who inspired and connected us, one of 300 people who made New Orleans, New Orleans.
In 2019, Linetta was recognized for her achievements in philanthropy by being selected as the 29th James A. Joseph Lecturer by the Association of Black Foundation Executives. In that same year the Community Investment Network, a group of young community donors, established a service award in Linetta’s name, which is awarded annually to persons with distinguished service and financial contribution in their community. In 2025, Linetta received the Community Leadership Award from the New Orleans Chapter of the NAACP.
Linetta J. Gilbert is a member of Christian Unity Baptist Church, the wife of Rev. Paul H. Gilbert, mother of Dr. Marita C. Gilbert and Ms. Ashleigh Gilbert Gardere, and grandmother of Jayden and Justin Gardere. She is an alumna of Howard University, Class of 1970, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
