Editor's Note: The Council thanks our 2018 summer interns for their hard work over the past few months. The summer interns were: Ashul Agrawal, Michael Kelly, Reilly Tifft, Caroline Healey, Chris Tian, Ashley Morrison, and Randall Williams. As the summer is coming to a close, so is our time with…

Editor's note: This post is one in a series highlighting sessions for the upcoming Endowments and Finance Summit, held in Washington, DC, on September 6-7. The Summit is where foundation leaders – such as CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, Senior Investment Officers and board and investment committee members –…

Editor's Note: The following is an edited version of a Mott Perspectives piece written by Ridgway White, president of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The original was published on the Foundation’s website on July 16, 2018, and is being republished as a part of our series on the winners of the…

Editor's note: This post is one in a series highlighting sessions for the upcoming Endowments and Finance Summit, held in Washington, DC, on September 6-7. The Summit is where foundation leaders – such as CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, Senior Investment Officers and board and investment committee members –…

Editor's Note: This is part of our series focusing on the winners of the 2018 Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships.  In 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a nationwide smoke-free policy for all public housing locations…

Editor's Note: This is part of our series focusing on the winners of the 2018 Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships.  The Creekview Plaza housing development in Anchorage, Alaska For a decade Rasmuson Foundation has worked alongside…

In 2003, when I was a co-recipient of the Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking, the theme of the Council on Foundations’ conference was collaboration. Instead of giving a speech, one of the co-recipients, Luz Vega-Marquis,* demonstrated the spirit of collaboration when she asked all…

Last Wednesday, the Council on Foundations interns took a trip to the Public Welfare Foundation (PWF), where we were hosted by three people. Candace C. Jones, president and CEO, Sarah Joy Albrecht, program analyst, and Alyssa Piccirilli, director of administration. Each of our hosts gave a…

Editor's Note: This is part of our series focusing on the winners of the 2018 Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships.  A few years ago, Barry and Gilda Boyer, two members of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa community,  were having a conversation about economic…

Editor's Note: This is part of our series focusing on the winners of the 2018 Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships.  When I learned Polk Bros. Foundation and Michael Reese Health Trust would be presented with the 2018 HUD Secretary's Award for Public-Philanthropic…

Editor's Note: This is part one of a series focusing on the winners of the 2018 Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships.  The great Michael Jordan once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” For 75 years, The Spartanburg County…

The inaugural cohort of innovators waiting for the grand prize announcement. It was the 1980’s and Robert Scrivner was leading the way to expose the destructive realities of nuclear war and the inevitable “nuclear winter” that would destroy most life on the planet…

The word ”philanthropy” means the love of humanity. It manifests itself as generosity by individuals and organizations for the public good. We’ve seen extraordinary transformations in the Paso de Norte region brought about by the generous spirit of philanthropists – large and small – whose love for…

In June 2018, we saw concerning new developments related to the use of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) in targeting U.S. non-profits that also work internationally. The House Committee on Natural Resources sent a letter to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as part of an…

I have been eager to intern at the Council on Foundations since I received my acceptance letter. While coming into this experience, I did not know what exactly the Council was, I am excited to learn more about the sector and help achieve the organization’s goals. I am 1 of 7 interns here at CoF for…

As we enter summer, it’s the time of year when many in the community foundation world may be experiencing what I used to call “the scholarship slump.” When I ran a community foundation, this is a term of endearment I used for when your team has survived the first round of scholarship activities—…