Geri Mannion

Geri Mannion is Managing Director for Strengthening U.S. Democracy and Special Opportunities Fund at Carnegie Corporation. She brings a wealth of experience about the role of philanthropy in challenging, improving and deepening the civic dialogue. She has directed the division since 1998, after staffing the Corporation's program of Special Projects for the previous ten years. The Corporation supports efforts to protect voting rights and increase nonpartisan voter engagement among those least likely to vote. It also focuses on immigrant civic integration. Active in professional organizations that work to advance and strengthen the philanthropic and nonprofit world, Mannion is a long-time member of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation and the Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. In 2019, Inside Philanthropy named Mannion “Program Director of the Year” for her work in rallying philanthropy to support democracy and immigration. In 2009, Mannion, together with her colleague Taryn Higashi, received the Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking, one of philanthropy’s highest honors, for founding the Four Freedoms Fund, a funder collaborative that focuses on immigrant rights at the state level. Mannion holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in political science, both from Fordham University.