Wayne White

Wayne White joined CFT as president and CEO in July 2023.

Wayne is a seasoned executive leader with more than 30 years of corporate and nonprofit leadership experience. His relationships with and ability to work across philanthropic, business and government institutions – as well as an understanding of community challenges and opportunities – make him uniquely suited to lead CFT.

Wayne has a strong organizational management skillset, having led teams of varying sizes across multiple disciplines, cultures and geographies. He also has a successful fundraising track record and is passionate about building and implementing new strategies to help grow the charitable resources CFT will be able to put into the community.

Wayne started his career as a member of GE’s Management Development Program with multiple cross-functional assignments in their consumer businesses. He subsequently held positions of increasing responsibility at prominent corporations including: AT&T Ameritech (general manager), Verizon Wireless (region president), Motorola (corporate vice president), Kobo (executive vice president), and Alcatel (vice president, North America). In these roles, he managed billion-dollar global business units and honed his reputation as an innovator and skilled relationship manager.

Most recently, Wayne spent five years as a senior executive at the American Cancer Society where he led the North Central Region and National Partnerships. During his tenure, he significantly accelerated growth in philanthropic giving and introduced a collaborative incentive plan that was adopted nationally.

Wayne was born in Jamaica, raised in Philadelphia, and has lived and worked in Chicago, Louisville, Cleveland, Southern California and Toronto, Canada. Wayne holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master of science degree in telecommunications from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA in marketing from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP / BOARD SERVICE

Wayne is a past recipient of Crain’s Detroit 40 Under 40 Award. He has served on the Boards of Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, HAVEN Domestic Violence, and the National Kidney Foundation of Southeast Michigan. He has a passion for helping others and has served for a number of years as a big brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister program of Chicago and as a junior achievement mentor.