Leadership Team

Nicole Austin-Hillery

President & CEO

Nicole Austin-Hillery is the President & CEO at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF). In this role, Ms. Austin-Hillery will lead and inspire a team of high-performing leaders and staff as they create and implement plans to carry out the organization’s mission and achieve strategic goals.  Ms. Austin-Hillery is a steward of the brand and mission of the organization, acting to build, enhance and leverage the power of relationships and networks across the private, public and corporate sectors to procure support and needed resources for the organization to further its mission.

Prior to joining to the CBCF, Ms Austin-Hillery led Human Rights Watch’s efforts to end violations in abusive systems within the United States. Her work focused on addressing and combatting systemic racism, improving the U.S. immigration system, tackling rights problems within the domestic criminal justice system and advocating for policies to address poverty and inequality informed by international human rights standards.

Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Ms. Austin-Hillery was the first Director and Counsel of The

Brennan Center’s Washington, D.C. office which she opened in March 2008. At the Brennan Center, she oversaw the growth and development of the Center’s advocacy and policy development work in Washington and served as its chief representative before Congress and the Executive Branch.

Ms. Austin-Hillery has testified before state and local legislative bodies as well as Congress. She has published numerous pieces for major news outlets including the Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Hill, CNN.com and others. She is a frequent speaker on a host of progressive issues.

Prior to her time at the Brennan Center, Ms. Austin-Hillery litigated at the law firm of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC as part of the firm's civil rights employment class action practice and as the George N. Lindsay Civil Rights Law Fellow at the national office of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C. where she focused on housing litigation and policy.

She served as the 2018-2019 President of the Washington Bar Association, is a past President and current Board member of the Washington Council of Lawyers, formerly served as an Advisory Committee Member of the ABA Standing Committee on Election Law, serves on the Board of Common Cause and is a former co-chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Defense Function Committee. She has also been an adjunct civil rights professor at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and is a former Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School. Ms. Austin-Hillery is a graduate of the Howard University School of Law and Carnegie Mellon University.

Paul E. Dumars, Jr.

Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer

Paul E. Dumars, Jr is the Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF). He will provide financial and operational leadership to advance the mission, goals, and purposes of CBCF.

With more than 19 years of experience in accounting, corporate finance, information technology, operations and human resources, Mr. Dumars’ background includes roles at nonprofits, private businesses, and for-profit corporations. He has spent the past 15 years ensuring the long-term viability of a multi-million-dollar companies. He considers himself an innovator in corporate structure, growth and expansion strategy, mergers & acquisitions capital funding and debt financing, as well as non-profit finance. He has proven his ability to challenge, change and better existing processes, procedures, and systems. He is equipped with excellent communication skills and the ability to communicate with a high level of professionalism with clients and colleagues that span the financial spectrum.

Mr. Dumars received his B.S in Accounting from Louisiana State University in 2001 and his M.B.A, cum laude, with a concentration in Management & Finance in May of 2010. During this educational journey, Paul Dumars gained the necessary experience through previous positions of accounts payable accountant, staff accountant, senior account, controller, and chief financial officer. In these various roles, he has gained the vital knowledge of how to grow any organization through strategic planning and finance management.

Paul E. Dumars, Jr also is the President for the Board of Commissioners of the Palm Beach County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, appointed by Governor Rick Scott in 2014 and reappointed to a second term in April of 2016. In August of 2016 Paul E. Dumars, Jr was named Legacy Magazine Top 40 Under 40 for Broward & Palm Beach County Black Leaders of Today and Tomorrow for 2016. Also, in April of 2018 in the Legacy Magazine Power Issue Edition named Paul Dumars one of the Top 50 Most Powerful & Influential Black Business Leaders of 2018. Paul Dumars, Jr is also a financial member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc and the vice President of the West Palm Beach, (FL) Alumni Chapter. In 2018 Paul Dumars, accepted a board position as the treasurer of the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, where he revamped the budget and the finance and accounting processes and is currently the President of the Board for the organization. In 2020, Paul Dumars, was selected for the Leadership Florida program, a statewide program that focuses statewide leadership for the future of Florida.

Donna Fisher-Lewis

Senior Vice President, Resource Development

Donna Fisher-Lewis is the Senior Vice President of Resource Development at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF). She provides strategic leadership for fundraising efforts around CBCF initiatives; sets direction and goals for planned giving programs; and oversees fundraising development and expansion, and portfolio management of current and prospective donors. With more than 20 years of experience in major gift development, annual fund management, corporate sponsorship, grant writing, and planned giving, Mrs. Fisher-Lewis’ background includes roles at nonprofits that focus on the arts, education, human services, housing, and the community. Prior to joining CBCF in 2014, she was the senior development director at Rebuilding Together, a national housing organization, where she facilitated a cultural shift for individual giving over a two-year period, making it a viable revenue stream for general operating support. The shift incrementally increased individual giving revenue by 75 percent. Prior to her tenure at Rebuilding Together, Mrs. Fisher-Lewis worked in three different community foundations in Michigan and Maryland, developing and implementing comprehensive development campaigns, facilitating planned giving, matching donor philanthropic interest and grant distribution, and building endowment funds. Throughout her career, she has presented at various fundraising conferences, seminars, and webinars on grant writing, board engagement in fund development, and individual giving. She earned a Masters of Public Administration with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and a bachelor’s degree in Communicative Disorders (Speech-Language Pathology) from Towson University in Towson, Maryland. She completed additional study at the Indiana School of Philanthropy of Indiana University for annual fund development and marketing for development; and honed her planned giving skills at Harvard University at the John Brown Institute for Planned Giving. Mrs. Fisher-Lewis is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and a proud member of Baltimore Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. A native Washingtonian, she lives in Baltimore with her husband and two sons, Donavan and Jordan.

Yolanda Raine

Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Yolanda Raine is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF). She is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of all marketing, branding, and communications strategies designed to protect, promote, and build the identity and reputation of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF).

Yolanda has a strong commitment and passion for doing good in the world through nonprofit work and for centering the needs and desires of vulnerable and marginalized communities. With over a decade of experience as a marketer and communications professional, Yolanda has developed a strong passion for advocacy, increasing brand visibility and awareness, implementing effective online and social media marketing strategies, and collaborating with business leaders to achieve their business goals. Prior to joining the CBCF, Yolanda served as Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for YWCA USA where she led and implemented integrated marketing and communications strategies to significantly improve the visibility of and strengthen the YWCA brand in the social justice space and in the quest to eliminate racism and empower women. Over the span of her career, Yolanda has been fortunate to work with nonprofits and companies to ensure that underserved communities were not overlooked and were given a face and a voice in healthcare, media and entertainment, and other industries. As a result of this work, Yolanda is the recipient of two silver AM&P Excel Awards for Advertising and Awareness campaigns.

Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Yolanda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management with a concentration in marketing from Case Western Reserve University. She is a member of the American Marketing Association, ColorComm, and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). In her free time, Yolanda enjoys all things Black culture, cooking at home or trying new restaurants, traveling, and being an active community member.