Wells Fargo & Company announced Otis Rolley is joining the company as head of Social Impact, leading community engagement and enterprise philanthropy, including the Wells Fargo Foundation. Rolley will report to Bill Daley, Vice Chairman of Public Affairs, effective Aug. 1.
Rolley was most recently a member of the senior leadership team and head of U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, one of the oldest and most distinguished global philanthropic organizations. In this role, Rolley managed grant-making and investments focused on economic stability, mobility, and innovation for low-wage workers and communities, with a focus on serving Black and Latino individuals, people of color, and women. Prior to his current role at Rockefeller, he led the North American portfolio of cities for 100 Resilient Cities (now the Resilient Cities Network), a global Rockefeller initiative to advance systemic change through strategic human and financial investment in municipal government and community leadership. Rolley led a team that connected cities’ municipal, civic, philanthropic, and community leadership with tools, technical assistance, and resources to fund, implement, track, and evaluate urban economic and environmental resilience strategy initiatives.
“Otis brings decades of expertise in creating social impact and advancing racial equity, as well as operational knowledge in running a large-scale philanthropic foundation,” said Daley. “With our strategic focus on housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a sustainable future, we are excited to have Otis lead a dedicated team on these critical societal issues.”
Prior to joining The Rockefeller Foundation, Rolley was the President and CEO of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation (now Invest Newark), the economic development corporation for New Jersey’s largest city, responsible for driving wealth creation through small business expansion, commercial real estate, and entrepreneurship. In addition, Rolley has held leadership roles in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors spanning human services, transportation, urban planning, city government, and housing. In particular, he spent nearly 10 years advancing housing affordability and community and economic development policy with the City of Baltimore, including as deputy commissioner for the Department of Housing and Community Development, first deputy commissioner of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, and director of the Baltimore Planning Department.
Rolley holds a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.