Moninder-Mona Jhawar is Deputy Director at Aspen Institute’s Forum for Community Solutions.
In this role Mona leads AIFCS’ Belonging, Meaning, Wellbeing and Purpose Funder Community of Practice (BMWP CoP) and supports BMWP strategy development and learning efforts. BMWP operationalizes racial equity by centering belonging, meaning-making, wellbeing and purpose within the narratives, systems, pathways, and structures impacting young people across the US. The BMWP CoP offers a broad set of funders and partners mechanisms for shared learning, strategic co-creation, and impact.
Prior to joining Aspen, Mona worked extensively across the public health sector—from coordinating on the ground solutions at ACCESS as part of the reproductive justice movement to recently working at the intersection of learning, strategy, and improvement at The California Endowment for 15 years. As senior Learning & Evaluation manager she successfully managed a multimillion-dollar portfolio focused on capturing and communicating foundation progress and organizational learning, including spearheading a DEI audit to hold the foundation accountable to its values and foster organizational change towards a culture of equity as well as deeply partnering with program staff on a statewide youth power building evaluation reflecting across a decade of effort. Mona earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Toxicology and a minor in Women Studies from the University of California, Davis, and a Master’s in Public Health from University of California, Los Angeles.