Reflections from the Council on Foundations About the Passing of Rick Cohen
Sherry Magill PhD, Chair of the Board of Directors
I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Rick Cohen. He and I first met in the mid 1990s when he served at national LISC and we were attempting to develop a local LISC chapter in northeast Florida. Over the years, we met annually at the Council's conference, sometimes sharing a drink or coffee and a conversation, sometimes stopping casually in a common area as we did recently in San Francisco.
Although Rick's writings could criticize our field, he was ever the gentleman, always kind, fair and respectful. He believed deeply in philanthropy's promise, and never abandoned his fight for just communities. The field has lost a thoughtful and important voice.
My heart goes out to his colleagues, friends, and family.
I will miss him.
Sherry Magill is President of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund
Vikki Spruill, President & CEO
When I first started with the Council, Rick warmly welcomed me to the position. He cared deeply about the power and promise of philanthropy, and he was supportive of building a stronger more purpose-driven Council. Of course, he was supportive in a uniquely "Rick Cohen" way, which usually involved a bit of provocation.
He never settled for the status quo because he believed that philanthropy and its institutions had a tremendous ability to make a positive impact. Always thoughtful and fair, he consistently pushed us to be our best selves.
He will be missed.
Jesse Salazar, Vice President of Communications
Rick didn't pull punches when talking about the Council. He always wanted us to take a larger role in advancing his views of social justice. He sometimes wrote blistering articles pushing for us to take his position.
He used to ask if I was upset about those pieces.
He knew that his writing would sometimes cause stress for me as spokesperson for the Council. I didn't always agree with his take or share his views. But I was so grateful that he took the time to scrutinize the work of the field.
On a personal level, we got along well. We laughed a lot about some of the personalities and programs that add so much color to our field, and we shared a passion for rural communities.
The reality is that I LOVED seeing Rick in sessions at our conference. It made me feel like we had done a good job in putting the session together. His mere presence felt like affirmation of the discussion's importance.
I never was mad with him about his writing. I understood that he had an important role to play as an advocate for his beliefs and as one of the few journalists covering the sector who really knew it well.
Rick would have resisted attempts to lionize him, but the truth is that the outpouring of grief and loss in response to his death feels appropriate for a man that really did make us better.
Katherine LaBeau, Policy Director and Counsel
I have followed Rick's reporting on the charitable sector since my time as a graduate student in nonprofit management. Over the years, I found him to be a, reliable, and thorough source of in-depth coverage on the issues that mattered most to nonprofits—including many issues that other journalists would not touch. He was the only journalist consistently representing the perspective of charitable organizations in policy developments like the passage of a new federal budget or the re-authorization of a higher education bill. He delved into policy matters very deeply, and I often relied on his keen and comprehensive analysis of policy developments to understand the impact on charitable organizations. The depth of his analysis of these issues and how they would affect the sector was unparalleled.
Rick would also regularly tackle difficult issues that other reporters would hesitate to touch because they lacked an exciting headline. For example, when the Council sought to elevate the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force's impact on global anti-terrorism regulations that affect cross-border grantmaking, Rick was already well-versed in this intricate and obscure regulatory infrastructure and very willing to address it head-on in his reporting. Through a deep commitment to taking on the issues most important to the sector—even when they weren't the most compelling on paper—Rick performed an invaluable and irreplaceable service to charitable organizations world-wide. The loss will be felt throughout the sector.
