How should philanthropy adapt to fault lines deepened by Brexit and the election of Donald Trump? Nonprofits say they’ll have more work than ever: filling in where government services wane, protecting vulnerable populations, and resisting the rise of hate speech against women and minorities. Are funders mobilizing resources to tackle these new challenges or redoubling their efforts in targeted ways? Will philanthropy pay closer attention to the tectonic shifts caused by our modern globalized trade regime, and expand or direct their efforts to areas like rural communities?
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Government of The Netherlands
In 1983, while still at university, Lilianne Ploumen became a community outreach worker in the Crooswijk area of Rotterdam. Two years later she joined the Institute of Psychological Market Research (IPM), working in the statistics department and as a research project leader. IPM focuses on research-based consultancy.
From 1990 to 1992 she was a marketing and research manager for Foster Parents Plan in Amsterdam. Ms Ploumen then moved to PLAN, the London-based umbrella organisation, in 1993.
In 1995 she founded Ploumen Projecten, an organisation specialising in market research and innovation for commercial and non-profit clients. In the same year she also began working as a fundraising coordinator for Mama Cash, an international fund supporting women’s initiatives, going on to become director of the organisation from 1996 to 2001.
From 2001 to 2007 Ms Ploumen worked for the development organisation Cordaid, first as head of quality and strategy and later as director of international programmes.
She was Chair of the Labour Party (PvdA) from October 2007 to January 2012.
On 5 November 2012 Lilianne Ploumen was appointed Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the Rutte-Asscher government.
Lilianne Ploumen previously held the position of Vice Chair of the Evert Vermeer Foundation, and was a member of the Labour Party’s South-North Committee (advising on international cooperation).
She has also been a board member of feminist organisation Opzij and Women Inc. and member of the Stop Aids Now! supervisory board.
Pia Infante is Trustee and Co-Executive Director of The Whitman Institute (TWI), an independent foundation that leverages trust based philanthropy for social, political and economic equity. Ms. Infante draws on decades of multi-sector experience as an educator, facilitator, organizational consultant, executive coach, non-profit manager, business owner, writer and speaker to steward TWI's mission and spend out, slated for 2022.
Ms. Infante has spoken on trust based philanthropy and values based leadership at Harvard Kennedy School: Center for Public Leadership, Ashoka Future Forum, International Human Rights Funders Group, The Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA’s Luskin School, Skoll World Forum, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Fast Forward, Net Impact, Foundation Center, Latino Community Foundation, Council on Foundations, Opportunity Collaboration, Northern California Grantmakers, the University of Vermont, and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.
Ms. Infante serves as the Board Chair for the Center for Media Justice. She is an I.C.F. certified executive leadership coach, holds a M.A. in Education from the New School for Social Research, and a B.A. in Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley.
Darren Walker is President of the Ford Foundation, the nation’s second largest philanthropy, and for two decades has been a leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. He led the philanthropy committee that helped bring a resolution to the city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy and chairs the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance. Prior to joining Ford, he was Vice President at the Rockefeller Foundation where he managed the rebuild New Orleans initiative after Hurricane Katrina. In the 1990s, as COO of Harlem’s largest community development organization, the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Darren oversaw a comprehensive revitalization program of central Harlem, including over 1,000 new units of housing. He had a decade long career in international law and finance at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and UBS. He is a member of the Commission on the Future of Riker’s Island and serves on the boards of Carnegie Hall, New York City Ballet, the High Line, the Arcus Foundation and PepsiCo. Educated exclusively in public schools, Darren received the “Distinguished Alumnus Award,” the highest honor given by his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. In 2016, TIME magazine named him to its annual list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of ten honorary degrees and university awards.
Acting Deputy Director, U.S. Programs, Open Society Foundations
LALEH ISPAHANI
Open Society Foundations, U.S. Programs (2008-present)
Acting Deputy Director & Democracy Director
Laleh Ispahani is a lawyer and advocate specializing in U.S. democracy and human rights issues. At OSF, she supports the Executive Director of U.S. Programs with administration of the 70-person program. She also leads a team that develops strategies aimed at ensuring a more inclusive and accountable democracy. We support organizations that seek to protect and expand voting rights; ensure fair, independent and diverse courts; reduce the undue influence of money on politics; produce high-quality enterprise journalism; and ensure that the internet remains an open and secure platform for free expression and civic participation. In related grantmaking, we fund organizations seeking to ensure that national security policies respect human rights. Most recently, she has been responsible for launching and operationalizing OSF’s U.S.-focused anti-hate initiative. Externally, Laleh has led the U.S.-based Funders’ Committee on Civic Participation and served on the Steering Committee of a democracy funders collaborative.
Before joining OSF, Ms. Ispahani spent six years as senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union working on racial justice and human rights, where she sought to reverse felony disenfranchisement policies, and worked with allies on a national campaign that used public education and advocacy, litigation, and federal and state executive and legislative reform. As part of that work, she produced a documentary film, Democracy’s Ghosts, and published in academic and popular journals. Prior to joining the ACLU, Ms. Ispahani litigated campaign finance reform issues at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Laleh received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Marc Gunther covered business and sustainability for many years. He now writes about foundations and nonprofits on his blog, Nonprofit Chronicles, and is a frequent contributor to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Marc was a senior writer at FORTUNE magazine from 1996 through 2008. He wrote cover stories for FORTUNE on Walmart and sustainability, Warren Buffett’s electric car company, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Rupert Murdoch and Steve Case. He founded and chaired Brainstorm Green, FORTUNE’s conference about business and the environment.
Marc is the author or co-author of four books, including Faith and Fortune: How Compassionate Capitalism is Transforming American Business (Crown 2004). He has contributed stories to The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian, among other publications.
Marc is a graduate of Yale, a husband and father, a marathon runner, a lover of the outdoors and a former member of the board of nonprofit Net Impact. He lives in Bethesda, MD.
