Jason Born is the Senior Director of Knowledge at the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP), a role he has held since 2010. Jason helps track trends and leading-edge practices to inform NCFP’s development of suggested practices for effective family philanthropy; supports the President and CIO on strategies and partnerships; and serves as the head of NCFP’s internal team for responding to requests for information and assistance.

This is Jason’s is second stint at NCFP, and he previously served as NCFP’s Program Director from 1997 until 2005. Between his tenures, he helped launched the affinity group Funders Together to End Homelessness, an initiative of the Melville Charitable Trust. Prior, Jason was a program coordinator at the Council on Foundations.

Jason earned his master in economics from Tulane University and his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. Originally from rural Maine, he now lives outside of Boston with his wife and two sons where you can often find him on the baseball field or listening to his younger son’s rock band.

Contributions

Uncategorized, Case Studies

The Ansara Family Fund: Partnering Beyond Borders for Long-term Impact

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Jason Born

When Karen and Jim Ansara contacted the Boston Foundation on January 14, 2010 to talk about how their family’s donor advised fund could best respond to the earthquakes in Haiti – which had happened less than 48 hours before – they were continuing both a longstanding commitment to international philanthropy, as well as a more recent commitment to Haiti in… Read More
Uncategorized, Case Studies

Finding and Fighting the Causes of Homelessness: The Melville Charitable Trust

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Jason Born

In 1990, a family trust in Connecticut decided to pursue an audacious goal: to end homelessness in America. The board thoroughly studied the issue, and eventually committed themselves to an equally bold strategy – creating a national movement. The Melville Charitable Trust’s considerable impact since then was recognized recently when its long-time executive director, Robert Hohler, received the Council on… Read More

Foundation investing: Roadblocks and bumps in the road

Posted on October 29, 2002 by Jason Born

Family foundation boards may experience challenging situations while overseeing the investments of the foundation. This sidebar describes several of these circumstances, including family members as paid investment managers; over-management of the endowment; time lags between meetings; and disparity of interests and abilities among family members… Read More

Discretionary Grants: Encouraging Participation… or Dividing Families?

Posted on August 5, 2001 by Jason Born

The practice of discretionary grantmaking brings out a wide variety of responses. This Passages Issue Brief looks at the common reasons that families use or opt not to use discretionary grants, and the typical process that is used to make these types of grants. The paper also examines how different approaches to discretionary grants can support or hinder the work… Read More

Board Compensation: Reasonable and Necessary?

Posted on April 5, 2001 by Jason Born

Deciding whether to compensate or reimburse family foundation board members can be a difficult and complex decision. This Passages Issue Brief provides guidance on the legal regulations regarding compensation, suggestions for how to initiate a conversation among your board members about whether or not compensation is appropriate, and suggestions for how to develop a written policy based on this conversation… Read More