Neill Coleman

Neill Coleman is a leader in deploying philanthropy, partnerships, and persuasion to drive social change. As Chief External Affairs Officer for Enterprise he leads Enterprise’s integrated external affairs agenda, including philanthropic fundraising and grantmaking, strategic communications, policy advocacy at the federal level, and marketing and brand.

Neill has a lifelong commitment to ending homelessness and advancing housing opportunity: from his first job, at a homeless shelter in Scotland, to advising leading foundations on their giving to advance affordable housing. As the Principal of Mission Magnified Consulting he advised foundations, individuals, and donor collaboratives on philanthropic strategy and grantmaking program design.

Neill served for five years as the Executive Director of Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies where he developed a strategic direction for an expansion of Trinity's grant-making from $10 million to $57 million a year, including developing the largest housing initiative by a NYC-based philanthropy. He co-developed Trinity’s $100 million impact investing fund, focused on affordable housing.

From 2012 to 2017 Neill was Vice President for Global Communications at The Rockefeller Foundation. As part of the Foundation’s centennial year in 2013 Neill designed and launched 100 Resilient Cities – a $160 million effort to support 100 cities worldwide in planning climate-focused development, and accessing private-sector funding for implementation. 

During the first term of the Obama Administration Neill served as Chief External Affairs Officer at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he helped communicate the Obama Administration’s response to the housing crisis and repositioned HUD as a source of innovative policy.

Before assuming the leadership of HUD’s Office of Public Affairs in 2009, Neill served for four years as Assistant Commissioner for Communications at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and as Director of Communications for the New York League of Conservation Voters. He also managed North American communications for the global architecture firm RMJM.

Neill served as President of the Board of the Stonewall Community Foundation, the only public foundation focused on the needs of New York’s LGBTQ community.  Neill was a board member of Philanthropy New York, an organization of more than 280 funders advancing effective, strategic philanthropy.