philanthropy

Screenshot of TWI trustees on a video call

(Re) Centering love for people in philanthropy

By June 2, 2022

Jamie Allison is Executive Director of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund and has served on the board of trustees of The Whitman Institute since 2014. I have worked in philanthropy for two decades and have been honored to lead the Walter & Elise Haas Fund (W&EHF) for just over four years. For over eight…

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In the Face of a Pandemic, Foundations Adopt Trust-based Principles

By March 23, 2020

Last week, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, several of the nation’s top foundations pledged to ease or eliminate restrictions on grants, reduce asks of grantees, and support and uplift the voices of grantee partners. From the pledge: “By acting together to provide flexibility to our grantee partners, we believe we can help them…

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Spend-Out in Sight: What’s the Story?

By April 23, 2019

In 2012 The Whitman Institute made the decision to spend out our endowment over 10 years.  At the time, 2022 was a distant point on the horizon; now, not so much.  What felt theoretical is becoming more real with each passing month and we are feeling more strongly the hint of urgency that comes with…

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Funder Spotlight: Hill-Snowdon Foundation

By May 29, 2018

The Hill-Snowdon Foundation is a DC-based foundation committed to supporting grassroots movements for social justice by funding community organizing and leveraging dollars in support of targeted initiatives. They’ve played a leading role as part of our Defending the Dream rapid response collaboration, and have made some recent shifts to their process to further support their…

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Funder Spotlight: Latino Community Foundation

By May 8, 2018

Latino Community Foundation (LCF) is breaking the old paradigms of community foundations by investing in building power—and partnership—among Latino donors and community leaders throughout California. When Jacqueline Garcel (pictured left) took the helm as CEO two and half years ago, the foundation began to shift its practices to elevate the power and potential of California’s…

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