Courtenay Barton

Courtenay has more than a decade of nonprofit development experience and a lifelong passion for public service. Courtenay’s first full time nonprofit position was at Thirteen/WNET as Corporate and Educational Development Associate. She was quickly promoted to Assistant Director of Educational Development.  From there, Courtenay went on to become the first Development Manager at New Heights Academy Charter School. During her time there, Courtenay, as the sole development officer, raised funds necessary to renovate the school building, support staff positions, purchase textbooks and classroom materials, and to send the every single student to visit at least one college in the Northeast each year.

Courtenay went on to become the Associate Director of Stewardship at the Brooklyn College Foundation. In this role, Courtenay advised college faculty and staff in their fundraising efforts and oversaw the management of nearly 1,000 restricted funds. She also served on the CUNY Scholarship Task Force to develop recommendations for best practices in soliciting, cultivating, and stewarding philanthropically-supported scholarship funds. She has volunteered with CUNY Citizenship Now to assist immigrants in documenting their status and participated in writing workshops with literary organizations such Cave Canem Poets and Imani House.

Courtenay graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor’s in English, African American Studies and Creative Writing. She received her Master’s of Public Administration from Baruch College. During her undergraduate studies, Courtenay also served as a writer with the Black Theater Ensemble and co-president of the Caribbean Students Association.