26 Jul Anti-poverty nonprofit A Wider Circle names new CEO
A Wider Circle has named Amy Javaid, a four-year veteran of the Greater Washington anti-poverty
nonprofit and its interim chief since January, as its next president and CEO.
Javaid, A Wider Circle’s former senior vice president, took the helm after Mark Bergel, the
organization’s founder and leader since 2001, stepped down to launch a spinoff institute with a
nationwide anti-poverty focus.
The 65-employee A Wider Circle offers programming aimed at ending poverty, providing services
over its 20 years to more than 270,000 children and adults in Greater Washington.
The nonprofit’s 25-member board, with the help of K&A Partners, launched a nationwide search in
April for a new exec. Marty Dubin, the board chair, said in a statement the organization reviewed
“hundreds of candidates” and Javaid emerged as “the clear choice for the role.” She was
unanimously backed by the board Wednesday, per a release.
Javaid has 20 years of experience in the nonprofit field, specifically in workforce development,
reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention, according to a release. She joined A Wider Circle in
2017 as a full-time staff member, but had volunteered with the group for years prior. As senior
vice president, she led workforce development and neighborhood partnership programs while
spearheading fundraising and development efforts.
A Wider Circle brought in roughly $18 million in revenue in 2020. It recently opened a new center
to support individuals and families in D.C.’s Ward 8, and will reopen its renovated Silver Spring
headquarters in August.
As for Bergel, his new Bethesda-based organization is called The Shared Humanity Project, which he co-founded with Katherin Ross Phillips, formerly of the Urban Institute. The organization’s signature program so far is The National Plan to End Poverty.