Jenny Paulk

Jenny Paulk is the Vice President of Grants and Contracts at City Fund, where she oversees grantmaking operations to ensure the effective deployment of grant investments and contracts. In her role, she maintains rigorous compliance standards while supporting education and advocacy partners in expanding access to high-quality public schools nationwide.

Previously, Jenny served as Global Director of Grants Management at one of the world’s largest private foundations, where she led a team of more than 35 staff in administering more $800 million annually in grant investments supporting democratic principles, human rights, and justice as well as various rapid response initiatives for disaster relief across five continents. Before that, she was a Director at an international NGO and an Ivy League research university, overseeing $30 million annually in multi-donor agreements, managing funding from multilaterals, private foundations, and the U.S. government to support public health initiatives in Africa and Latin America. Earlier in her career, Jenny worked at a 501(c)(3) public charity, where she coordinated national asset-building projects across 17 states, managing partnerships with credit unions and more than 60 AmeriCorps VISTA members. She began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa.

A native of rural South Georgia, Jenny holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Georgia and certifications in fraud prevention, project management, and conflict resolution. She splits her time between New York City and Savannah, Georgia, and is an active member of multiple grantmaking associations, where she contributes expertise on international grantmaking and operational best practices.