Carrie Avery

Executive Committee Chair, Trust-Based Philanthropy Project; Former President, Durfee Foundation | NCFP Distinguished Fellow (2025–2027)

Carrie Avery is a 2025 to 2027 distinguished fellow with the National Center for Family Philanthropy. She is the former president of the Los-Angeles-based Durfee Foundation, which focuses on leadership by providing fellowships, support to new organizations, and sabbaticals to long-time nonprofit leaders.

Carrie received her BA from Stanford University, her JD from the University of California at Berkeley, and was a Georgetown University women’s law and public policy fellow. She currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. She served as board chair of the National Center for Family Philanthropy and Northern California Grantmakers, where she founded and for several years chaired the Family Philanthropy Exchange. Additional past board service includes Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. She is an active volunteer at Dandelion Kitchen, which creates delicious meals for people in need from recovered produce.

Contributions

2023 Family Philanthropy Leadership Retreat

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Susan Stamerjohn, Michelle Tremillo, Alejandro Foung, Dr. Jason Franklin, Jonathan Brack, Sandra Fluke, Tonya Allen, Diego Zegarra, Sue Banerjee, Catherine Maddox Walton

Save the Date 2023 Family Philanthropy Leadership Retreat
The 2025 Family Philanthropy Leadership Retreat will take place in La Jolla, San Diego from October 27 to October 29, 2025. Learn more here.   Thank you so much for your interest in the Leadership Retreat. The event is sold out, and we are no longer accepting names for the waitlist, due to the unlikelihood of accommodating everyone on it… Read More

Trust-Based Philanthropy Learning and Action Lab Application

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Shaady Salehi, Dimple Abichandani, Carrie Avery

Peer Learning for Family Philanthropy Leaders The National Center for Family Philanthropy, The Philanthropy Workshop, and the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project are pleased to announce a six-part Learning and Action Lab for family foundations and individual donors interested in leveraging their philanthropy toward a more just and equitable nonprofit sector. At its core, trust-based philanthropy is about addressing power imbalances and… Read More
Voices from the Field

Showing Up and Sharing Power: How One Foundation Board Deepened Relationships with its Nonprofit Partners Through Trust-Based Conversations

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Carrie Avery, Aurea Montes-Rodriguez

This article was originally published by Trust-Based Philanthropy Project and is re-posted here with permission. Leadership at the Durfee Foundation wanted to break down the traditional barriers between foundation trustees and nonprofit partners. Why do you do what you do? What led you to create a community-based startup organization? Has there been a huge surprise along the way so far—good,… Read More

2021 Trustee Education Institute

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Isabel Nogueira, Alyson Wise, Jumi Falusi, Milton Speid, Emily Kaiser, Adrian Ruiz, Lisa Jackson, Priscilla Enriquez, Dorothy Gardner, Regan Pritzker

NCFP’s Trustee Education Institute provides a comprehensive overview of the important legal, investment, ethical, grantmaking, and family dynamics issues facing family foundation board members and CEOs. Featuring the perspectives of innovative donors and a faculty made up of donors, board members, and highly respected philanthropy experts, this virtual seminar covers: Translating values and goals into action Connecting family legacy and… Read More
Effective Family Philanthropy in Action

Family Philanthropy Speaks: A Conversation with Carrie Avery

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Carrie Avery, Nicholas A. Tedesco

Carrie Avery, chair of the Durfee Foundation board and former chair of the NCFP board, never imagined she would be leading her family’s philanthropy. As a member of the Steering Committee at the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, she also couldn’t have imagined how important the group’s work would become during the recent pandemic and movement for racial justice. In this Family… Read More
Voices from the Field

The Secret to Making Decisions in Times of Crisis

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Carrie Avery

Courtesy of Anton on Unsplash This article was originally published by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project and is re-posted here with permission. The global pandemic has placed enormous burdens on our communities. As funders, it our responsibility to be responsive to our nonprofit partners’ needs—and in times of crisis it is imperative that we act quickly. But what does it really… Read More

Planning a Family Retreat

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Shira Saperstein, Wynn Rosser, Angie Schlater, Carrie Avery, Jennie Zioncheck

Getting your family together for a retreat is a great way to spend quality time together, as well as focus on your family’s giving with the foundation. Families use a variety of resources to build community and discuss important topics in their philanthropy. In this webinar, you will hear how foundations have designed their retreats and meeting agendas, activities for… Read More

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