Fresh Faces of Philanthropy 2026: Juleesia Santiago-Karim

Profession: Program director

Nonprofit: Jonathan’s Path

For Juleesia Santiago-Karim, supporting young people through life’s most difficult moments is not simply a career — it is deeply personal. Raised in the Bronx by a single mother alongside her two older sisters, Juleesia experienced instability firsthand when her family lost housing just as she prepared to graduate high school. That experience shaped her understanding of hardship and her commitment to ensuring young people never have to navigate those challenges alone.

Today, as program director for Jonathan’s Path, Juleesia provides critical support for youth aging out of foster care and navigating complex systems without traditional family safety nets. She oversees programming initiatives, volunteer engagement and community partnerships while helping lead fundraising efforts like the Bright Soles Bash, which raised more than $200,000 to support the organization’s Path Line program.

Juleesia says she felt drawn to Jonathan’s Path because of its willingness to think differently about child welfare. Rather than focusing solely on placement, the organization works to create long-term stability through housing support, transportation assistance, emergency financial help and relationship-centered care.

“This work has deepened my understanding that while systems often operate in black and white, the needs of young people exist in the gray,” she says.

That perspective has guided Juleesia throughout her career. While attending Buffalo State College, she worked multiple jobs to support herself while mentoring young people from backgrounds similar to her own. She later served with City Year in the South Bronx and worked with organizations including buildOn and iMentor, helping students with civic engagement, service learning and college readiness — and even leading a group abroad to build a school in Nicaragua. After relocating to Nashville, Juleesia completed her undergraduate degree at Belmont University and now pursues a Master of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

What inspires her most, however, is the resilience of the young people she serves each day. “At its core,” Juleesia says, “this work is about showing up — consistently and compassionately — so that no young person has to navigate life’s hardest moments alone.”