Burnell is a social impact executive with over 20 years of experience in philanthropy, education, consulting, and state & local government. If it involves a complex problem that needs to be solved, I’m willing to help – especially if it means increasing access and opportunity for others.
Background
Burnell E. Holland III is a strategic advisor, organizational leader, and social impact executive with more than a decade of experience helping institutions translate vision into outcomes that lead to transformational impact. As the Founder and CEO of Gilded Knight Consulting, he has built a practice recognized for its ability to operate at the intersection of power, policy, and community, advising nonprofits, government agencies, and philanthropic institutions on strategy, governance, and execution.
Before launching GKC, Burnell served as Deputy Director of the My Brother's Keeper Alliance at The Obama Foundation, where he led the development and implementation of a national grant competition that directed over $5 million toward evidence-based programming in youth violence prevention and mentoring. That work required him to operate simultaneously at the national policy level and on the ground with local communities, a balance he has carried forward into every engagement since.
Prior to the Obama Foundation, he served as Chief of Staff in the DC Public Schools Office of Innovation and Research, managing the Empowering Males of Color initiative, a flagship priority of Mayor Muriel Bowser and former Chancellor Kaya Henderson to improve educational and life outcomes for African American and Latino males. Earlier in his DC tenure, he led outreach campaigns, operations, and staff recruiting in the district's Office of Family and Public Engagement.
His roots are in the political and civic arena. During the early stages of his career, Burnell worked as a public affairs consultant and campaign field operative in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he was part of the team that helped elect the first Chinese American State Senator in California's history. He later staffed the Speaker Pro Tempore of the California State Assembly and served as a Senior Project Manager at Barbary Coast Consulting, one of the Bay Area's leading public affairs firms. He is an alumnus of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership's Fellows Program in Public Affairs.
That combination of government operations, political strategy, and community-facing work shapes how he leads today. Burnell's client portfolio spans Ivy League institutions, county governments, local education funds, civil rights organizations, justice coalitions, youth development organizations, private businesses, and family service nonprofits. He works across government, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector with equal fluency, bringing the same discipline and strategic rigor to each.
His issue expertise spans K-12 education, boys and men of color, workforce and economic opportunity, reentry and public safety, housing, and nonprofit governance.
Burnell holds a Bachelor's degree from Boston College, a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and an Executive Master's in Leadership from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.
