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Profiles in Philanthropy: Donors Who Make a Difference
PROFILES IN PHILANTHROPY T
he plight of refugees, the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, the quest for cancer research, support of education, a notable youth orchestra and championing of women artists are but a handful of the causes supported by generous residents of our community. This month, we chose to highlight some of the most visible donors and contributors in the region; individuals who are working tirelessly for the greater good. From Eileen Shields-West’s work at Refugees International to George and Trish Vradenburg’s personal experience with Alzheimer’s disease, the following pages offer a glimpse of what inspires people to give and why they work so hard to make an impact. The reasons range from simply feeling financially blessed and wanting to give back to their communities to having suffered their own illness and pain. No matter the motivation, their efforts are inspiration to us all. >> PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL
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eileen shields-west CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL FIRST PERSON﹕ Although there are many great nonprofit groups I like to support, I am focusing right now on Refugees International, one of the world’s leading advocacy organizations for individuals who cross borders or are internally displaced (IDPs) within their own countries. The world’s total refugees and IDPs now numbers close to 60 million people. While my educational background in international affairs and journalistic career inspired my interest in this cause, I actually came to support RI’s mission through my friends Trish and Mark Malloch Brown. I first traveled with RI to Cambodia’s faraway Mondulkiri province in 2001 to ensure that the last returning refugees from the Pol Pot era were getting the seed, rice and tools needed to restart their lives. In 2005, with RI’s then-president Ken Bacon, I found myself in the wasteland of Darfur, still under attack by government-allied JanjaWA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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weed militia. We waited until we had left the country to press the “send” button on our report of Sudan’s flagrant violations of international law. Last November, holding back tears, I watched with the RI team as Syrian families and others in overloaded, deflating dinghies, slowly reached the shores of Lesbos, Greece, headed for Germany and the dream of a better life. I still wonder where they are today. Those missions changed me, as did our visits to South Sudan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jordan, Turkey, Thailand, Kenya and Rwanda. Right now, RI operates with a portfolio of about 20 focus countries, but the need grows each year. In 2016, we added Nigeria, focusing on Boko Haram’s forsaken survivors, and we would like to add Yemen, if security permits, to examine the quiet catastrophe of approximately 2.5 million IDPs. On average, RI allocates 85 to 90 percent of its $3.2 million budget to advocacy efforts that include fielding missions to our focus countries; lobbying Capitol Hill, the United Nations and targeted countries; and providing public education on displacement issues. www. refugeesinternational.org 33
SYRIA: THE MOTHER OF ALL HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS AND WHAT GLOBAL PHILANTROPY IS DOING ABOUT IT
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hen the Syrian exodus began in 2011, the United Nations and big, established relief groups like Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders switched into gear, working from a relief template put in place decades ago to confront such emergencies – refugee camps, medical support, food and clean water supplies, Angelina Jolie touring new camps, etc. Within three years it had become clear that in Syria, the international community faced a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions; by 2015, Syria had become “the world’s single-largest driver of displacement,” according to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). “Today, there are 20 million refugees, and a fifth of them are Syrian,” says Michel Gabaudan, president of the Washington-based Refugees International, a leading humanitarian non-profit group. Actually, the current total of Syrian refugees is 4,844,111 (at deadline).“2.7 million are in Turkey, 1.3 million in Lebanon, and 700,000 in Jordan, and a smaller proportion in Europe.”The drama of a stricken humanity wandering across Europe’s borders on a scale not seen since the end of World War II gets the most attention, but the larger presence (up to 80 percent, according to the U.N.), and the larger burden, remains in
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regional neighbors, where the majority of refugees eke out a precarious existence outside their camps.“Lebanon, with a population of 4 million, faces a serious situation with 1.3 million Syrian refugees,” Gabaudan says. In addition to the refugees, there are 6.8 million displaced Syrians living inside the country. The scale and complexity of the Syrian crisis and its human impact prompted significant changes in the way the international community confronts such challenges, starting with the bewildering array of international, national and private philanthropic and relief organizations involved, and the emergence of a wide range of innovative practices including public-private sector partnerships, smart-card technology, digital atlases and integrated, conflict-sensitive approaches. One relatively new concept has been the largest-scale adoption thus far of cash assistance so that refugees can buy their own food and other requirements from local tradesmen, says Noah Gottschalk, Washington-based senior humanitarian policy adviser at Oxfam America. Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon receive books of cash vouchers “the same way they used to receive a bag of grain,” Gottschalk explains, “but this way helps preserve their dignity and it improves rela-
tions with the host population.” Oxfam America is very active inside wartorn Syria itself, where the conflict between Sunni insurgents and President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite Shi’ite regime has destroyed cities and essential services.The international organization’s large-scale relief effort focuses on water, sanitation and hygiene, working with the white-helmeted Syrian humanitarian workers Gottschalk calls “the unsung heroes of the conflict.” The war had been dragging on for four years when one published photo shocked the world. The image of 3-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi’s dead body, face down in the rocky surf on Turkey’s Bodrum peninsula (known for its beach towns and international resorts) in September 2015, went viral, triggering a global volunteer response. At the time, Migrant Offshore Station, a charity that runs boats to save refugees at sea, told The Guardian that their donations had spiked 15-fold in the 24 hours after the photo was published. Private efforts raised millions in days. Social media went berserk: in Windsor, England, young housewife Jennifer McGlachie posted an appeal on her Facebook page and collected three van-loads of donated
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CO U RT E SY P H OTO
BY ROLAND FLAMINI
relief supplies in 42 minutes. While many volunteers went to help at European border crossings, a large number converged on the Greek island of Lesbos, where Syrian refugees made – and are still making – a landfall from often ramshackle boats. There were times when the volunteer effort backfired, as when there were more volunteers on the beach than refugees, resulting in clashes with seasoned rescuers, according to some reports. A Wall Street Journal correspondent described how one American woman volunteer “waded into the sea” shouting “I’m the baby hugger! I’m the baby hugger!” New private charities sprang up almost overnight. While the Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán covered itself in infamy with an unwelcome approach to the Syrian influx, a group of young Hungarians calling themselves The Secret Kitchen was providing food and succor. In Germany, Refugees Welcome arranged housing for incoming refugees, and in Turkey, a group of volunteers founded The Small Project Istanbul “to help people displaced by the Syrian war to build their lives.” While British Prime Minister David Cameron had to be pushed and pummeled into saying Britain would take “up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years,” British groups like Refugee Action were volunteering to rehabilitate Syrians in Britain. Recent reports say arrivals of refugees on the coast of Greece and at the Turkish border have diminished this winter, but attribute this to bad weather and not the current precarious truce in Syria which, Mercy Corps in Washington spokeswoman Christy Delafield says has so far produced “no change” in conditions on the ground. What has been really striking, says Gottschalk, is the way Syrians themselves have developed their own humanitarian effort. For example, in the small town of Reyhanli on the Turkish coast near the Syrian border, there are 47 Syrian-operated relief programs in place, including schools, health clinics and vocational training. Basmeh & Zeitooneh, a highly respected Syrian volunteer group helping refugees in Lebanon, is an icon among smaller humanitarian organizations. And while many relief workers regret what they see as a groundswell of public indifference in the United States towards the Syrian crisis, a concerned Syrian-
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American community has been mobilized from the outset, with organizations like the SyrianAmerican Medical Society and the Karam Foundation raising millions for Syrian refugee relief and lobbying the administration to allow more Syrian asylum-seekers into the country. The Karam Foundation first invited questions via e-mail, then never answered them, but Matthew Chrastek, who heads the American Relief Coalition for Syria (ARCS) in Washington coordinating the efforts of the Karam foundation and 12 other Syrian humanitarian and philanthropic groups, some formed in response to the Syrian crisis, others already established in the United States, said that in 2015 alone, the organizations raised $52 million from individuals. “And these groups can make a dollar go farther than any other NGO I’ve ever known,”
NGOs and philanthropic organizations are showing signs of donor fatigue... The total appeal by U.N. agencies is for $9 billion, but only a third of that total has been made available. he added. Twelve of the groups were active in Middle East areas where there were refugees and one on finding homes for refugees in America. “All would say that the U.S. needs to do more, but they don’t have the clout to push heavily for more Syrians to be admitted at a faster rate,” Chrastek said. Donald Tusk, the Polish president of the European Union Council, recently denounced criticism of Europe’s mixed reception of the Syrian influx as “sheer hypocrisy.” He said:“Those who do not want to [help refugees] at least shouldn’t hide their indifference by criticizing Europe for doing so little.” Tusk mentioned no names, but many speculated that he was referring primarily to Russia and to the Gulf States, whose intake of fellow Sunni Arab victims of the conflict has been zero. But what about the United States? “One of the things that has impeded American support is the perception that America doesn’t really care
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what happens in Syria,” Gottschalk says. President Obama’s ambivalence towards the Syrian crisis both in terms of intervention and of its humanitarian dimension was certainly not calculated to stir national concern. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s airport greeting to arriving Syrian refugees was a strong contrast to the Obama administration’s considerably more detached approach. Obama is hesitant in part because of fear of terrorist infiltrators entering the country posing as refugees – especially after it transpired that jihadis in the Paris and Brussels attacks had slipped into Europe under the guise of Syrian asylum seekers. Additionally, no love was lost between Washington and Damascus, an ally of Iran and Russia and an enemy of Israel (although The Jerusalem Post recently reported that Israel was sending humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in nearby Jordan). NGOs and philanthropic organizations are showing signs of donor fatigue. Gabaudan says, “Appeals for Syria have not been fully funded and there is less every year, so the need is very great.” The total appeal by U.N. agencies is for $9 billion, but only a third of that total has been made available. “To put that in perspective, the marijuana trade in American stands at $7.5 billion, and video games sales [in 2015] amounted to $17.5 billion,” he said. Worse, there is concern that funding from other humanitarian projects is being siphoned off to the Syrian crisis because it is seen as more pressing – and more high profile. For example, some experts said European governments are dipping into appropriations destined for development (usually an annual 0.7 percent of GDP) to meet the cost of supporting the displaced Syrians. And the UNHCR recently warned member governments and NGOs not to forget other serious humanitarian hot spots around the world. “The entire humanitarian system is unusually overstretched,” Gottschalk says. “It is hard to think of a time when there were so many humanitarian crises at the same time, and what is needed is a different approach to humanitarian relief. But the better approach, of course, would be the end to the conflict.” In May, the first ever World Humanitarian Summit, held in Istanbul, called for a complete restructuring of the entire architecture of humanitarian relief.
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roger and vicki sant CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT, RESPECTIVELY, THE SUMMIT FOUNDATION WHEN DID YOU START YOUR PHILANTHROPIC ODYSSEY? Roger Sant: Back around 1990 we realized that our start-up company [AES Corporation] might do pretty well, so we established a fund at the Community Foundation and later a family foundation [the Summit Foundation] which has now become our principal foundation.. HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO SUPPORT? Vicki Sant: If we both don’t agree on something we don’t do it — and that even includes the art that we’ve purchased over the years. I especially like to support causes relating to women and girls and Roger is interested in the environment and climate change issues. WHAT ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN LATELY? Roger Sant: I recently chaired the search committee that chose Gianandrea Noseda as the new music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and am now chairing a committee tasked with bringing the NSO to the top level of orchestras around the world. I am also doing what I can to have a carbon tax enacted globally.Vicki has taken a very special interest in helping develop a girls school in Kenya established by Kakenya Ntaiya. HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CONTINUE YOUR PHILANTHROPY? Roger Sant: We have been so impressed with our children (Shari, Michael, Lex and Ali) that we decided not to give away all of our funds during our lifetimes and let them carry on our foundation. Besides our traditional work on coral reefs and empowerment of girls, they and their spouses are leading our efforts to radically change the sustainability of U.S. cities. Also, our son Lex is spearheading our impact investing, which is a fascinating journey. WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU BOTH? Vicki Sant: We both feel we have a lot of work to do, so we will continue to actively work in the fields of girls and women and the environment and climate change through our foundation and as board members of other NGO’s like Vital Voices, the Brookings Institution, the World Wildlife Fund, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the D.C. College Access Program and the World Resources Institute. We will also continue to support the National Gallery of Art, the National Symphony, the Phillips Collection, the Anacostia Waterfront Trust and the National Geographic among others. 36 www.summitfdn.org
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GEORGE AND TRISH VRADENBURG FOUNDERS, US AGAINST ALZHEIMER’S
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Alzheimer’s is a memory-destroying disease that devastates a whopping 44 million people worldwide – a statistic that might intimidate some, but not George and Trish Vradenburg.The couple, who are leading the fight to eliminate the disease by 2020, became fervently committed to the cause when Trish’s mother was diagnosed 30 years ago.Watching the “lioness” of a woman slowly decline took a toll on the whole family and her caregivers. “My mother was invincible, but she was no match for Alzheimer’s,”Trish says. After her mother’s passing, she recalled her sage advice: “You can’t go through this life without making a difference.” So in 2004, the Vradenburgs tapped Hillary Clinton to support their progressive Alzheimer’s initiative and never looked back. Years later, despite having chaired the Alzheimer’s Association gala for eight years and raising more than $10 million, the Vradenburgs were still not satisfied. They kicked their efforts into high gear and founded US Against Alzheimer’s, an organization that aims to ensure the disease no longer flies under the radar of everyday Americans and the nation’s policymakers. With their advocacy, Congress raised its level of funding from about $436 million to $991 million a year. The Vradenburgs believe that advocacy against the WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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disease has previously lacked “tenacity, voice and passion” because there are no survivors to share their personal battles. George also cites ageism as a factor, but is quick to point out new imaging technology shows the disease cropping up in 50 year olds – about 20 years before symptoms typically occur. The Vradenburgs hope this will serve as a wake up call that, if caught early, the disease could be managed with the right kind of treatment. There are now 17 drugs in late stage human testing that will hit the market in the next few years. They have also undertaken an initiative that will shorten clinical trials by at least two years and make them less expensive (currently it takes 15 years and $2 billion to get a drug released. With a house that The Washington Post once cited for having a “laugh track,” art also plays a vital role in this loving couple’s home, so it is no surprise that George is the long-serving chairman of the Phillips Collection board. But, as the fight against Alzheimer’s heats up, he plans to resign from that post to make sure he does not spread himself too thin. “We advocate for change but we want to be the change for which we advocate, so that we’ve got our hands dirty up to our elbows, up to our shoulders, the whole thing,” George says, “We’re in 110 percent.” www.usagainstalzheimers.org 37
JIM LINTOTT AND MAY liang CHAIRMAN, STERLING FOUNDATION MANAGEMENT; GENERAL COUNSEL & CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, OPENCONCEPT SYSTEMS INC. Jim Lintott is chairman and founding principal of Sterling Foundation Management, the oldest firm of its kind in the country, which provides charitable consulting services to some of the country’s largest private foundations. Lintott and Liang serve as members of numereous boards and have generously donated to each organization. He is a board member of the Children’s National Medical Center Foundation, Best Buddies and the Freer/ Sackler Galleries. She serves on the boards of the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Epilepsy Foundation and Sidwell Friends School. Together, they also run the May Liang and James Lintott Foundation. WHY IS IT SO IMPORANT TO YOU TO BE CHARITABLE? Liang: We’ve been blessed with the ability to give back. One more Chanel bag or pair of Jimmy Choo shoes isn’t going to make my life better, but a donation to a worthy charity has the ability to change the lives of many people for the better. I believe we are obligated to be good stewards and leave the world a better place than we found it. ARE THERE PARTICULAR CAUSES THAT ARE NEARER AND DEARER TO YOUR HEART THAN OTHERS? Lintott: Unable to fall asleep one night, May and I discussed what was the benefit of having extra money. We knew plenty 38
of wealthy people who were not happy. It did occur to us that having money meant that you always knew your children could get quality healthcare if they got sick. If that was the case, we decided it would be good for us to give in an area that could provide that same feeling for other parents. That began the involvement with Children’s National. I ended up leading the foundation board for four years and the parent board for four and a half years. Providing world class healthcare for atrisk children in the D.C. area means everything to me. Best Buddies has also been very important to us because of how they too protect some of the most vulnerable members of society. Anthony Shriver has created an organization that helps intellectually disadvantaged young people find friends, find jobs and find a successful place in society, and I am proud of our involvement since 1994. HOW DO YOUR CHARITABLE INTERESTS DIFFER FROM ONE ANOTHER? Liang: I tend to focus on smaller and more local charities. I feel like I can make a bigger difference on the board of a smaller organization than on a larger one. It’s important for me to be involved in charities that resonate with me in some way. There are a lot of worthy charitable organizations out there, and it’s impossible to get involved with all of them. I’ve learned over the years that if you don’t feel passionate about the organization, you’re doing a disservice to yourself and the organization. www. sterlingfoundations.com WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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hilda ochoa-brillembOUrg FOUNDING CHAIRMAN, YOA ORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICAS FIRST PERSON: I am an immigrant, born and raised in Venezuela, who came to the United States for graduate school and moved to Washington to work at The World Bank. The U.S. gave me a great education, an enviable family and community life, and the opportunity to create Strategic Investment Group, a thriving investment management company. I am proud to be an immigrant, but I am also indebted to my Latino roots. I felt fulfilled in helping to create an organization that identifies prodigious young musicians across the Americas, offers them an exceptional training platform beyond what they could otherwise access, connects them with extraordinarily gifted musicians and coaches in a support network for life, and motivates them to become transformational agents in their communities. This is a uniquely valuable way to give back to both the U.S. and Latin America, uniting them — along with Canada — through the highest level of excellence and inspired social engagement. For 15 years,YOA Orchestra of the Americas has planted powerful seeds among talented musical leaders who will pursue professional excellence while giving back to their communities, and be all the greater for it. On our 15th anniversary we celebrate an orchestra that has performed 300 concerts in the Americas, Europe and Asia led by our 1,000 graduates (from more than 15,000 applicants) who have launched over 50 social initiatives globally. WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO LAUNCH A SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA COMPOSED OF YOUNG MUSICIANS FROM ALL ACROSS THE AMERICAS INSTEAD OF ANOTHER CAUSE? We wanted to focus on identifying exceptional achievers throughout the Americas who could reach world class with our additional help and serve as inspiring role models in their communities. Classical musicians at their level met those qualifications. HOW HAVE YOU SUCCEEDED IN GETTING OTHER BENEFACTORS TO SUPPORT ITS MISSION? The YOA mission is a powerful one among those of us who want to make a better world. The dollar for dollar rate of return on every dollar from our programs is about six times what you invest. There are very few, if any, investments that can exceed that rate of return. When potential donors realize how their donations are managed and invested and how well it sits with their legacy dreams for our countries, it makes sense to give to YOA. YOA HAS ALREADY PERFORMED IN 27 COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD IN ITS 15 YEARS OF EXISTENCE. WHAT COMES NEXT? Increased web- and social media-based branding efforts so the demand for our training, performances and sustainable revenue base increases; and the further development of the YOA Leaders Program and our Leaders Academy. This year our YOA Leaders Program, certified by Oxford University and McGill University, is being offered to young musicians outside the YOA. www.yoa.org WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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Living Classrooms Working to disrupt the cycle of poverty and help young people reach their true potential. BY DERYL MCKISSACK
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or ten years, I have served on the board of directors for Living Classrooms, an organization I was initially drawn to because of its dynamic “learning by doing” programs that emphasize applied learning in math, science, social studies, language arts and social skills, particularly for African American and other minority students. In 2001, Living Classrooms began serving the National Capital Region with programs that meet the educational and workforce development needs in the Washington, D.C. area, all with the goal of disrupting the cycle of poverty and helping young people reach their potential. Since then, Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region has served over 118,000 children and young adults, with a focus on Washington’s most underserved areas, mainly Wards 6, 7 and 8. Living Classrooms has developed a distinctive competency in experiential learning — literally learning by direct experience — or what they call “learning by doing.” They apply their approach through hands-on education and workforce development. Their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Mentoring program has an overall goal to positively impact the social development and academic achievement of high-risk youth ages 6-9. Through group mentoring sessions and STEM enrichment activities, youth are exposed to inspiring scientists and engineers who represent a variety of careers and education pathways. By providing consistent, high quality STEM mentoring, the program encourages a reduction in high-risk behaviors and improvement of academic success indicators. Living Classrooms also educates students
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Deryl McKissack (Courtesy of Living Classrooms)
aboard their fleet of historic ships. Leadership and teamwork are key objectives as students work together to raise and lower sails, trawl for marine life, perform scientific tests and explore the commerce, history, natural resources and ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. In 2014, Living Classrooms launched the Queen Beez program, working with middle school-aged girls from Ward 7. The girls learn about strong female role models, leadership skills, and STEM topics and careers through a lively curriculum that uses hip-hop music to engage students in learning and inspire their creativity. I have become a mentor and guest speaker for Queen Beez. It is unique in that it couples STEM education, which is especially important
for minority girls, with female leadership and empowerment. From a young age, they are equipped with the tools they need to succeed in the modern workforce. Fresh Start is a 40-week program that provides vocational, academic, and life skills to out-of-school males ages 16-19, many of whom are referred by the Juvenile Justice system. It is designed to mirror the workplace by giving participants an opportunity to learn job skills and attitudes that will help them in their careers. Students who participate see literacy and numeracy skill gains of 1.5 grade levels; 88 percent of students who complete the program are not re-convicted of a crime, and 76 percent retain employment for at least 90 days. One “living classroom” managed by the organization is Kingman Island located on the Anacostia River. This environmental refuge, open to the public, is a site for hands-on environmental education serving thousands of youth. They also manage Camp Fraser in Great Falls, Va., where they are serving middle school youth from the District a two-night, three-day meaningful watershed experience focusing on earth sciences and environmental stewardship. These are just a few examples of the many programs provided by Living Classrooms. For more information visit livingclassrooms.org. Deryl McKissack is Chairwoman of McKissack & McKissack, which she founded in 1990 as an outgrowth of the nation’s oldest minority-owned architecture and engineering firm, founded during the Civil War. Today her firm manages major projects that include the new MGM National Harbor. Her dedication to community service includes serving on the Board of Directors of the DC Building Industries Association, the Miami Art Museum and Living Classrooms.
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lauren peterson EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PETERSON FAMILY FOUNDATION
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Lauren’s parents, Milt and Carolyn Peterson,whose company is behind National Harbor, the redevelopment of downtown Silver Spring and the Tysons McLean Office Park, established the Peterson Family Foundation in 1997. It quietely raises millions of dollars annually for local organizations including Northern Virginia Family Service, Life with Cancer and George Mason University. Last year, the family gave $10 million to Inova to fund cancer research and another $10 million to George Mason University to contruct a state-of-the-art health sciences building. Peterson not only helms the foundation but says she likes “to get down in the weeds” and help get results for causes she’s passionate about, and thus serves on the boards of Inova Health System, Teach for America and Venture Philanthropy Partners, among others. HOW DID YOU COME TO BE SO PHILANTHROPICALLY INVOLVED? We all learned from my dad. He has always been huge in saying that we need to give back. We’ve WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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all been very blessed and love the communities that have supported us in doing that, so we really, really do believe in engaging and giving back in the communities in which we live. WHY IS YOUR PHILANTHROPIC WORK SO IMPORTANT TO YOU? I have the ability to get stuff done and anything I do I commit to 100 percent. I’m quite passionate about it. I do feel, when I’m on boards, I can make a difference, and I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of that. But also for the family, I like to be the out front-and-center person for the Petersons, so people know that we’re there and know it’s an important part of our family values. So yes, I try to be very visible and very hardworking. I’m on lots of boards where people give money and that’s great, but I believe if you’re going to do it, you really need to be in the trenches. I’m very blessed and my family’s very blessed, so we need to give back. My grandmother would be very upset in her grave if we didn’t. Plus, we all enjoy it and have the gift to be able to do it. Money’s great, but time is better. I know my brothers [Jon and Steven] feel the same way. www. petersoncos.com 41
Barbara Harman FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, CATALOGUE FOR PHILANTHROPY & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HARMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION “I really wanted to give money away, but I didn’t know where to give it,” is a statement Barbara Harman has heard from wealthy individuals more times than she can count. In her first year acting as executive director for the Harman Family Foundation, founded by her father Sidney Harman, she was disappointed to find a dearth of resources for philanthropists in the Washington area. In an effort to change the course of giving around town, Harman created a catalogue providing information about small nonprofits and grassroots organizations covering a wide range of missions. She calls her creation a “piece of philanthropic infrastructure” that has shined a light on small local charities lacking the funds to get their causes out on the frontlines. Before moving to Washington in 2000 to run the family foundation, Harman was a professor of English at Wellesley College in Massachusetts for 25 years. Considering her background, the writing aspect of the catalogue was an essential element. As “writer and chief ” Harman made sure to “write from the heart in a really down-to-earth language that ordinary donors would understand.” The Catalogue for Philanthropy, or as Harman refers to it, her “labor of love,” has since grown into its own independent charity with a multitude of resources that extend beyond the print catalogue itself. Before being published and distributed to 30,000 high-networth individuals in the area, each charity included in the catalogue undergoes a highly thorough screening process (including a 120-person review board, site visit and financial assessment) to ensure its contributions to the community are legitimate. Harman says although it might be “crazy,” the catalogue follows a “purity principle” and does not charge for any of the services offered to charities – free application, free membership that includes a four-year partnership and no fee attached to online donations.
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The portfolio Harman manages at the family foundation includes recognizable organizations like the Shakespeare Theatre, Aspen Institute and the Washington Ballet, to name a few. Smaller grants focused on education and arts for at-risk youth are sourced from the best resource in town – the Catalogue for Philanthropy itself. Day to day, Harman often confronts enormous wealth disparity in the Washington region and hopes her work at the Catalogue and family foundation will help tighten the gap. “All of us want a city in which there is equal access to opportunity and for me, that’s what philanthropy ought to be about.” www.cfp-dc.org 42
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CLAIRE AND ALbert DWOSKIN DWOSKIN FAMILY FOUNDATION WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO BE CHARITABLE? We have been very fortunate to have had the success we have had in this region and believe that sharing with our community where needs exist can help create needed facilities that serve the community and individuals. We both grew up with the mindset to strive to improve our community, reduce suffering and help others. ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR CAUSES NEARER AND DEARER TO YOUR HEART THAN OTHERS? We support a wide variety of community activities in Virginia, D.C. and Jamaica. We have focused on education, supporting libraries, historic preservation, and community services to those in need. In addition, during the past ten years we have funded a number of health research projects with a variety of institutions. ARE THERE ANY BIG PROJECTS YOU ARE WORKING ON CURRENTLY? We have funded the largest study of its kind to measure the aluminum content of brains donated by individuals who died with familial Alzheimer’s disease, a long-suspected neurotoxin implicated in the development of the disease. We are seeking additional funding for a clinical trial to test the aluminum/AD hypothesis in newly diagnosed AD individuals to demonstrate whether chelating or removing aluminum with silica-rich mineral water significantly reduces the impact or severity of the disease, or even possibly prevents or cures the disease.
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WHAT IS THE CHILDREN’S MEDICAL SAFETY RESEARCH INSTITUTE? CMSRI is a public charity we founded to provide funding for research into the causal factors underlying the rise in a wide variety of chronic conditions, including autism. We gather scientists from around the world to present findings at international congresses to help educate academic and clinical communities as well as the general public on new research findings. FAVORITE PHILANTHROPIC EVENT OF THE YEAR? Anything at the Kennedy Center is always great fun and supports a key institution that gathers, inspires and unites our community. www.dwoskinfamilyfoundation.com
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The Heart of Giving in the Washington Area How the expertise and commitment of community foundations offers smarter giving. BY BRUCE MCNAMER
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here are real challenges facing our community. In my work as President and CEO of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, I also know the great opportunity we have as a community to address them – because every day we work alongside hundreds of generous neighbors who are doing just that. For donors, community foundations offer charitable giving options that provide tax benefits and strategic advice from knowledgeable and well-connected staff. People like Silvana Straw, who has worked at our region’s Community Foundation for 25 years and guides donors in D.C., Maryland and Virginia on such pressing issues as the affordable housing crisis and family homelessness. Donors are attracted to community foundations because they can pool their philanthropic resources with other respected individuals and have a greater impact than they would have alone. By joining together with committed neighbors, donors’ gifts go further and accomplish more. Community foundations are an especially smart and convenient tool for charitable giving. While the options are quite flexible, the basic idea is that individuals create personalized funds from which to make charitable donations. Beyond significant financial advantages (for instance, gifts of appreciated stock or land generally receive a full tax deduction and avoid capital gains taxes), the expertise and commitment of community foundations offers smarter giving. Donors can begin by writing a single check (or by depositing stock or even property – one community foundation actually received a cruise ship!).
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To make grants, they can call a responsive staff member with a request or can operate entirely online. Donors can attend events to learn about meeting important community needs, or can investigate their priorities independently. Based on donor requests, the community foundation writes the checks, sends the acknowledgments, and handles the tax paperwork. It is easy to achieve the advantages of a private foundation without the cost or administrative headaches. Donors like the ability to be thanked publicly – or to remain anonymous. They like the ability to receive thoughtful advice about the community’s needs or make their choices independently.
They like to give within their own communities or to give nationally or even internationally. They like to make their donations at once or spread them out over time. However they choose to give, they like to know their giving through community foundations is thoughtful, aligned with leaders in the community and ultimately inspired by the good fortune they have enjoyed. Founded more than 40 years ago by Katharine Graham, Robert Linowes and Hank Strong, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region is the heart of giving in the Washington area. Our list of board members and donors over four decades reads like a who’s who of the region: from Mario Morino to Eleanor Holmes Norton, Charito Kruvant to Jane Lang, from Vicki and Roger Sant to Joe and Lynne Horning. In the words of donor Cliff White, “The beauty of community foundations is they allow donors to join with others to strengthen the region in measurable and sustainable ways for the benefit of all of our residents.” Bruce McNamer is the President and CEO of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. www.thecommunityfoundation.org. Community Foundation donors give grants across a wide range of issue areas in the community, including education and youth development, human services, arts and culture, health, community development, religion and environment.
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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cindy jones PRESIDENT, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS BOARD Not only is Cindy Jones the incoming president of the board of this iconic women’s art museum, she also serves on the Foundation Board of Children’s National Medical Center, the Women’s Board of the American Heart Association and the Associate Board of the Washington Ballet. Over the years, she has served on the boards of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, the Washington Ballet, Dreamland Theater in Nantucket, Mass., Child Health Center Board of Children’s National Medical Center and the Associate Board of National Rehabilitation Hospital. Jones has chaired or co-chaired more than 25 successful galas and events in the region, raising millions of dollars.
P H OTO CAPT I O N H E RE
TELL US ABOUT YOUR INVOLVMENT WITH THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS. I am very honored and thrilled to be named the next president of the National Museum of Women in the Arts board as the museum moves into its 30th anniversary. I have been involved with the museum for a long time, and joined the board after co-chairing its 20th anniversary gala 10 years ago. I have always had tremendous respect for the founder, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, and for the mission of the museum. Women remain so underrepresented in all art forms and the mission of NMWA is as relevant today as when it was founded. Even today, most museums and galleries have as little as 10 to 20 percent art WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
by women. NMWA is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to the achievements of women in the arts. We collect, exhibit, preserve, research and educate the public on all forms of art by women of all nationalities throughout time. Our extensive library and research are available online and respected and used throughout the world. WHAT OTHER CAUSES ARE PARTICULARLY DEAR TO YOUR HEART? My husband, Evan, and I have both felt a strong desire to give back to the community, particularly in the areas of science, education, the arts and, more recently, the environment. I am an engineer by training and Evan is a scientist, so we have focused much of our philanthropy on science in educational institutions and research. www.nmwa.org
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