Ajamu KitwanaSenior VP/Director, Purpose & Community
As SVP/Director, Purpose & Community, Ajamu leads activities to leverage our core business assets, products and services, philanthropy, and community partnerships to help deliver on ESL’s Purpose, to help our community thrive and prosper. These include efforts to support ESL’s mission to share our financial success and reinvest in the community via the delivery of ESL’s community grants and the execution of our community impact strategic framework. ESL’s Purpose fuels our commitment to financial wellness for all, building strong neighborhoods and communities, and inclusive economic growth in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes area.
Ajamu originally joined ESL Federal Credit Union in fall 2013 as the manager of the new ESL Consumer Prosperity Program, established to enhance community solutions for financial inclusion. In January 2016, Ajamu was promoted to Executive Director of the ESL Charitable Foundation (Foundation), Vice President in 2018, and Senior Vice President in 2024.
Prior to joining ESL, Ajamu was a management consultant with FSG Social Impact Advisors and worked on a variety of collective impact, shared value, and social justice initiatives.
Ajamu received a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds both his Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. He presently serves on the WXXI Board of Trustees.
For questions about Community Impact at ESL, or to inquire about grants, please email impact@esl.org.
