Delia Coleman

“Calls for civility seek to evade our calls for change.” – Tavia Nyong’o & Kyla Wazana Tompkins

You should get to know her because:

• Delia leads the Strategic Communications team to tell the stories that advance gender justice. She has served the nonprofit sector for over 14 years as an advocate, lobbyist, and strategic communications professional. A skilled policy advocate, speechwriter, and policy communicator, Delia strives to make ERA’s vision of gender justice accessible – and actionable.
• Delia has built ERA’s new strategic communications function and is proud of the organization’s revitalized voice, rapid growth, and reach.
• She is the organization’s passionate internal and external brand evangelist, a strategic thought partner to the executive team, and culture lead.
• Before coming to ERA, she was Vice President of Strategy and Policy at Forefront, a statewide association for foundations and nonprofits in Illinois; in that role, she enjoyed killing bills that opposed nonprofit and philanthropic independence at the state and federal level. She was the lead to communicate the value of the Illinois nonprofit sector and demonstrate its social return on investment (Building a Stronger Illinois) and, for three years, led the state’s first statewide giving day campaign #ILGive for Giving Tuesday – which raised $11 million in 2016.
• Before her career with nonprofits, Delia was an ex-academic working in private industry for such firms as Deloitte Consulting, Starpoint Solutions, and Gagen MacDonald. She has been Board Co-Chair of the Chicago Abortion Fund and Board member of several charitable nonprofits with missions affecting women and communities of color.

Alumna of:

• UCLA (BA) and a Master’s in 19th Century British & American literature from the University of Michigan.

Outside of Work:

• Delia has a horrible sense of direction and writes multicultural romance novels in her spare time.