Since 2004, Della Britton has been President & CEO of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a national, non-profit organization founded in 1973 to promote higher education and the values embodied in the life and legacy of sports and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson.
Ms. Britton has led the 47-year old Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) for 17 years and is credited with its exponential growth, transforming JRF’s celebrated scholarship program into what the New York Times has dubbed “one of the best educational efforts [of its kind]”. Britton greatly expanded and diversified JRF’s funding base and program offerings, grew its endowment, relocated its New York City headquarters, established a research arm, and spearheaded an unprecedented, substantial partnership with Major League Baseball. Also, under Ms. Britton’s leadership, the Foundation has undertaken a $42 million National Legacy Campaign to build the Jackie Robinson Museum, slated to open in New York City in 2022.
An entertainment sector lawyer and executive for most of her career, before heading JRF, Ms. Britton served as assistant general attorney for the American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., and as president of Hillside Broadcasting, LLC, and AJM Records, LLC. At ABC, Inc., Britton’s team represented the 15 ABC-owned and operated television and radio stations group, advising on contracts, state and federal regulatory compliance and litigation. At Hillside Broadcasting in the late 1980s, she managed a group of two major market television and three major market radio stations and realized a 400% return after four years when the station group was sold. Britton went on to lead AJM Record’s expansion into the pop music genre, supplementing the label’s prior concentration on jazz artists, producing both sustained earnings and a Grammy win for the label (“Ashanti”).
Ms. Britton served on the board of directors of Legendary Entertainment, LLC and, always active in community service, she was a member of the New York Times Institutional Task Force on Race Relations, convened by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger in the 1990s, and a director of many non-profit organizations, including Inwood House (NYC), the Dance Theatre of Harlem (NYC), the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Wash, D.C.), the Washington Ballet (Wash, D.C.) and the Dwight-Englewood School (Englewood, NJ).
Ms. Britton is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School. She has received numerous honors, most recently a Recognition of Leadership tribute (2013) from Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State; a Certificate of Appreciation (2012) from the United States Central Intelligence Agency, under Director David H. Petraeus; and a Commendation for Distinguished Leadership (2008) from William C. Thompson, Jr., former Comptroller of the City of New York (2008).
