Otis Rolley

Otis Rolley (he/him) is a Social Impact Advisor for David Steward at Kingdom Capital. He previously led the Wells Fargo Foundation. While there, Otis directed all policies, objectives, and initiatives regarding the Foundation in philanthropically investing $300M annually in 17 nations with a staff of 125+ employees. His efforts helped to maximize the effectiveness of the Foundation’s strategic investments in the communities served while increasing the visibility of the Bank’s brand in market areas. He was able to leverage the Foundation’s philanthropic investment 3:1 in private and public social impact investments.

Prior to his role at Wells Fargo, Otis served as Senior Vice President, U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative (US EEO) at The Rockefeller Foundation. Otis led The Rockefeller Foundation’s 2030 sustainability development goal of decent work and economic growth, SDG Goal 8, within the United States. Recognizing low wage workers as essential, even prior to COVID-19, Otis directed all U.S. work focused on enhancing the ability of every working person to meet the basic financial needs of their family and have a path to a better future. With a focus on equity, Otis provided stewardship for U.S. grant making and investing ensuring that it was aligned to strategic levers to fill key US economic opportunity gaps in tax and budget policy design and implementation; access to capital and asset ownership; and worker coalition-building and advocacy. Between 2019-2022 his team deployed over $100M.

Immediately prior to becoming an SVP in 2019, Otis served as a North America Managing Director for 100 Resilient Cities, a major project sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation. There he provided urban resilience (economic, environmental sustainability & community development) technical assistance and portfolio management for 29 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. He also served as Managing Director for the Africa portfolio of 10 cities for over a year. In both North America and Africa, he facilitated the development of 18 Urban Resilience Strategies that advanced an equity agenda and resulted in $500M in leveraged investments.

Otis’ career has been dedicated to civic engagement, advancing equity, economic and community development in cities, and leading organizations in the for-profit, public, and non-profit sectors. His 25+ years of experience also includes serving in various leadership positions. He managed the strategic planning and urban development unit of a national management consulting firm. He has held cabinet roles with five different mayors in three large U.S. cities. He has been a chief of staff, managing a $2B budget; city planning director for America’s largest independent city; and he has served as the first deputy housing commissioner for the 5th largest public housing and community development agency in the United States. Ever committed to volunteerism, building capacity and pursuing justice, Otis is a board member of the Stonewall Community Foundation and has served on a number of local and national governing boards, including but not limited to the Asset Funders Network, Municipal Employees Credit Union, Living Cities, and the Executive Committee of the Families & Workers Fund.

Otis is the father of three children. He has a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University.