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This project unfolded in several stages, going back to initial discussion that began in the late 1990s. Our main partners were Tom Reis, a program director within the Philanthropy and Volunteerism unit at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Barbara Kibbe, who for most of the project led the philanthropy program at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. We cannot thank them enough for their insights, their willingness to work together and with us in unusual ways, and their sustained commitment through the many iterations of this work.
We are also deeply grateful to their colleagues—the leaders and staff members at their foundations—who provided many kinds of aid at various junctures, both to them and to us: William Richardson, Robert Long, Dan Moore and Christine Kwak at the Kellogg Foundation, and Carol Larson, Richard Schlosberg, Stephanie McAuliffe and Chris DeCardy at the Packard Foundation.
This project would not have been initiated or sustained without the funding support provided by these two foundations. The Monitor Group also provided various assets in support of this work, including the donation of time from many people.
Of those who contributed so generously, we owe special thanks to three people. Eamonn Kelly, president of Global Business Network, was an early supporter of this work and a frequent, wise contributor throughout the project. As a Packard Foundation program officer, Gabriel Kasper was our teacher and thought partner. When he later joined our team in the final stages to help with research, writing, production, and dissemination, his patience, insight, and good humor were even more invaluable. And Stephanie Clohesy, an independent consultant with deep experience in philanthropy, worked closely with us—attending many project meetings and generously sharing both her knowledge and her critical intelligence at every phase.
Many of our GBN and Monitor colleagues provided support at various stages. Former GBN Practitioner Diana Scearce was a core member of our nonprofits and philanthropy team before leaving to go back to school, and made too many contributions to name. GBN Practitioner Erik Smith did weeks and weeks of research on the pending intergenerational transfer of wealth, creating a paper and helping us conceptualize key ideas, especially early in the project. Monitor’s Chief Knowledge Officer Alan Kantrow gave us essential editorial feedback, and as is his way, even when he was telling us what we didn’t want to hear, he did so with a logic and a grace too compelling to ignore. Lori Shouldice provided coordination and administrative support throughout, cheerfully tackling each new project that came her way. So many others at GBN and Monitor generously pitched in that we can only name them and thank them, not call out their specific contributions. They are: Mark Fuller, Peter Schwartz, Steve Weber, Stewart Brand, Jim Cutler, Tina Estes, Doug Randall, Chris Ertel, Gerald Harris, Lynn Carruthers, Kelly Kaufman, Michael Mulcahy, Jenny Collins, Chris Coldewey, Joe McCrossen, Amita Govindaswamy, and Jessica Freireich.
The special advisors and partners we are particularly grateful to also include: Kathleen Enright of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, for consistent help and for providing a platform at two GEO conferences at critical junctures; many staff members and stakeholders of the Council on Foundations, who gave us eight opportunities to speak to or work with various Council constituencies, including the board; Liz Bremner and Eleanor Clement Glass of the Foundation Incubator, in Palo Alto, for four chances to work out our ideas in intensive workshops with their members; Ed Skloot, president of the Surdna Foundation, for being straightforward about what he didn’t like early on, and then being ready at every stage since to help us keep learning and improving; Kimberly Otis of Women & Philanthropy, for six sessions that helped us learn how to apply our ideas to specific issues within philanthropy; Vanessa Kirsch and Kim Syman of New Profit, Inc., the close partner of the Monitor Group, for consistently grounding our ideas in the reality of those trying to change philanthropy; Mark Valentine of Reframe It Consulting, for improving our thinking at several key moments, and in particular for pitching in on the scenario creation process; Jill Blair and Beth Brown of BTW Consultants, who evaluated the first two years of our initiative and helped us sharpen our strategy; Andy Goodman, for pushing us to think more deeply about our audiences’ needs, and then reminding us that people learn through stories; Bob Tobin and his colleagues at the Williams Group, for wise counsel in general and help on communications strategies in particular; Mario Morino, Victoria Vrana and Cheryl Collins of the Morino Institute and Venture Philanthropy Partners, for advice and specific ideas about dissemination; and Lucy Bernholz of Blueprint Research & Design, Inc., who helped at several key stages and who knows as much and thinks as well about the structure and future of philanthropy as anyone we know.
Much of this project developed in response to the more than two dozen other philanthropic organizations who requested us to appear in person to speak or do work with them in confidence; we also reached out and interviewed dozens of people. These groups and individuals are too numerous to name, but we thank them all for providing the best philanthropic education imaginable.
We did initiate several gatherings specifically to provide us with feedback, and we asked many people to review our work in its various iterations. Among those to whom we are very grateful for helping us shape our ideas in these ways are: Mary Mountcastle, Peter Karoff, Henry Ramos, Rachel Newton Bellow, Sterling Speirn, Alexa Cortes Culwell, Iqbal Paroo, Sally Osberg, Steve Toben, Vince Stehle, Jim Canales, Katherine Pease, Ricardo Millet, Lisa Gansky, James Allen Smith, Susan Bell, Elan Garonzik, Gavin Clabaugh, Paul Shoemaker, Nan Stone, Peter Warshall, Jim Hannon, Ralph Hamilton, Rick Green, Steven LaFrance, Jay Hughes, Brigette Rouson, Glen MacDonald, Kim Syman, Colleen Willoughby, Jan Jaffe, Melissa Berman, Tom David, Claire Costello, Natasha Terk, Meredith Emmett, and North Carolina’s Discovery Alliance.
Our editorial, design, and website teams did superb work. Kudos to Lily Rappoli, Julie Sherman, and Julia Frenkle of the Design Studio at Monitor; Nancy Murphy and Jenny Johnston, GBN’s editors; and Pete Giorgio, Erika Kruger, Kaitlyn Wong and Ajay Apte from Monitor Software, who designed and built this website.
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