Leadership Development

Editor's Note: Stephen Heintz received the 2018 Distinguished Service Award at an awards ceremony on November 28. Below are his remarks on the state of philanthropy from the event.  Thank you. It's customary at a moment like this to profess humility and to note all those who have made…

Members, View the Recording Community Foundations around the country recognize that they must deploy capital beyond financial assets to improve their regions. At the same time, our community leadership has grown frustrated by the pace of change. Most of these leaders have come to understand that…

As the 2018 Career Pathways cohort approaches their final learning session in November, the Council on Foundations is eagerly preparing for the 2019 program.  We are anticipating a transformative year with a new group of powerful, dynamic, and talented leaders that are ready to hone their…

Editor's note: This is part of our blog series featuring current participants in the Career Pathways program. Applications for the 2019 cohort open in September. I believe that it is pretty well understood in the sector that we have an imperative in foundation offices and board rooms to ensure our…

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…

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…

Anyone who has had the responsibility of putting together a team has wrestled with the challenge of determining who will be the best match for the positions that need to be filled. At the recently completed NFL draft, teams approached these decisions from one…

“You get nothing done if you don’t listen to each other.” -Barbara Bush   Listening to the remembrances of the late First Lady Barbara Bush this week, I was struck by her sense of humor, and by her uncanny talent for cutting to the heart of the matter. Mrs. Bush may not have been the…

As we consider the road ahead for the Council on Foundations, “leadership” is a word that comes up over and over again. The question is how the Council can continue to serve the broader philanthropic field while also helping to define issues and bring our members together around solutions and…

It's a Wrap! Leading Together 2019 was a gathering of leaders in philanthropy and other influencers in business, government, and academia. For three days, the field came together to connect, learn, and share with one another.  We also used Leading Together 2019 as an opportunity to…

On December 20, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the first recipient of our 100&Change competition’s $100 million grant: an early childhood intervention for children in the Syrian refugee region co-developed by Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee.…

Today, the Council on Foundations released the following statement from Javier Alberto Soto, President of the Miami Foundation and Chair of the Board of Directors for the Council on Foundations: “On behalf of the Board and staff of the Council on Foundations, we congratulate Vikki Spruill on her…

I hope your New Year is off to a great start! This year, my resolution was simply to not make any resolutions. That way I don't feel bad about breaking them later. But, I am not here to shame you on your resolutions. No judgement here. I simply want to invite you to join me on Wednesday, January…

The Council on Foundations is proud to announce the 24 members of its 2018 Career Pathways cohort, representing the fifth class of the program. Career Pathways equips mid-career professionals at grantmaking organizations and other non-profit institutions to lead high-performing organizations and…

As the NFL season has officially kicked off, I am reminded of the positive ways that so many athletes are effecting change off the field. Indeed, the area of sports philanthropy is becoming increasingly common. At the Council on Foundations’ recent Leading Together conference, the growing trend…