Proteus Fund partners,
As chair of Proteus’ Board of Directors, it’s my honor to welcome three new members: DeAnna Hoskins, Chisun Lee, and Crys Middlestadt. These social justice leaders bring a wealth of movement experience and philanthropic knowledge to our dynamic Board. Their careers have been dedicated to supporting efforts that are deeply aligned with Proteus Fund’s mission and work.
These new additions to the Board of Directors are part of an exciting period of growth for Proteus Fund, as we also prepare to welcome a new president and CEO, Amar Singh. At a time when the social justice field needs all of the expertise, energy, and fresh perspectives we can offer, Proteus stands ready to meet the moment.
Please take a few minutes to learn more about the impressive work and contributions of our new Board members.
A. Nicole Campbell
Proteus Fund Board Chair
DeAnna R. Hoskins is President and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing incarceration and advancing economic mobility through the leadership of people with lived experience. She is widely recognized as a national systems leader working at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, workforce development, and policy innovation. Throughout her career, she has helped shape local, state, and federal policy, advised government agencies, and built cross-sector partnerships that improve outcomes for individuals and communities.
Hoskins most recently served as a White House Fellow, where she was assigned as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. In that role, she supported initiatives focused on quality of life, suicide prevention, leadership development, and military personnel policy while advancing efforts to improve fairness, accountability, and systems transformation. Her leadership spans executive nonprofit management, federal service, public policy, organizational strategy, and implementation science. She currently serves on multiple national advisory and governing boards, bringing a unique perspective that combines executive leadership, policy expertise, and firsthand understanding of the systems she works to improve.
Chisun Lee is a multidisciplinary civic impact leader, bringing more than 20 years of experience spanning nonprofit executive management, policy and narrative change, investigative journalism, law practice, and philanthropic strategy. Currently, she serves as the inaugural Chief Innovation Officer for the Brennan Center for Justice, a national nonpartisan law and policy institute. She fosters new ideas to solve fundamental problems of American democracy. In an earlier role, she collaboratively built and led a 25-person program to expand opportunity in the democratic process. She has authored research publications, media commentary, and book chapters. She has advised lawmakers at every level of government and taught public policy at NYU School of Law.
Previously, Chisun covered law, government, and culture as a reporter for ProPublica and for the original Village Voice, winning numerous awards. Early in her career, she led media relations for a citywide elected official in New York City. Along with service on the Proteus Fund Board, Chisun advises and supports numerous civic organizations, including as a member of Leadership Now Project, a network of business and civic leaders, and as a director on the board of the New York Women’s Foundation.
Crys is an executive leader and strategist with 20+ years of experience in social justice philanthropy, resource mobilization, and organizing for racial, economic, and gender justice. They are recognized nationally for their work to democratize philanthropy and organize funders to resource social justice movements. As the Co-Senior Director of Consulting at Justice Funders, Crys partners with philanthropic institutions to align their grantmaking, governance, and investments with the values of a Just Transition — redistributing wealth, democratizing power, and shifting economic control to communities.
Crys most recently served as Executive Director of Chinook Fund, a Colorado-based social justice fund, where they launched the Another World is Possible Fund in collaboration with movement leaders. They served as Board Co-Chair of Resource Generation, a national membership-based organization mobilizing young people with wealth and class privilege in the U.S. to become transformative leaders working towards the equitable distribution of wealth, land and power. Crys previously held leadership roles with the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training, Survivors Organizing for Liberation, and the National Giving Project Network.
