Mary Mountcastle

Trustee, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation | NCFP Distinguished Fellow (2018–2021)

Home
>
About Us
>
Board, Fellows, & Staff
>
Mary Mountcastle

Mary Mountcastle is a trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds and Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundations, a board member of Demos, and has served on the boards of numerous state and national organizations. She is former board chair of the National Center for Family Philanthropy, and in 2018 was named as an NCFP Distinguished Fellow. Previously, Mary was a senior manager at Self-Help, the nation’s largest nonprofit community development lender, and served in senior positions at the Center for Responsible Lending and MDC Inc, a nonprofit policy research center as well as other private and public sector organizations. Mary holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from Williams College.

Contributions

Non-family Staff Peer Network: Racial Equity Discussions with Board and Staff

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Mary Mountcastle, June Wilson, Kelly Nowlin

Join the NCFP Fellows for an interactive conversation about addressing racial equity internally. Discuss how to approach tough conversations and how to bridge the gap that oftentimes exists between board and staff on equity issues. We will open with a brief dialogue from the Fellows and move into a group discussion. Bring your topics, favorite resources, and questions for peer staff… Read More

From the NCFP Fellows

Calling Family Foundation Board Members to Join a Journey on Racial Justice

Posted on March 2, 2021 by June Wilson, Kelly Nowlin, Mary Mountcastle, Virginia M. Esposito

Mary Mountcastle, June Wilson, and Kelly Nowlin speaking at the 2019 National Forum on Family Philanthropy Learn more about the Racial Justice Learning and Action Network. In 2018, the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) announced its second class of fellows, naming Kelly Nowlin, June Wilson, and Mary Mountcastle as distinguished fellows. Each of us independently chose to focus our… Read More

Family Foundation CEO Retreat

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Tina Runyan, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Shaady Salehi, Carmen Rojas, Diana Scearce, Alexa Cortes Culwell, Crystal Hayling, Nicholas A. Tedesco, Kathleen Wiseman, James Canales

The role of a family foundation CEO is unique, often bridging generations of family members, community leaders, staff, advisors, and partners. Expectations can be challenging to meet and boundaries are sometimes vague and ever-changing. Success in this role requires a cadre of specialized leadership skills, particularly in these divisive and dynamic times. This 3-day virtual retreat, designed for both new… Read More

Voices from the Field

Bold and Generous Giving by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Mary Mountcastle

I remember my mother—long-time board member of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation board—commenting on periods of decline in the stock market: “we don’t give out an extra 10% when the markets are up, so why would we cut our grantmaking when the markets are down and our grantees need us the most?” So as it began to be clear that… Read More

Beyond 5%: Increasing Support in a Time of Crisis

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Crystal Hayling, Nicholas A. Tedesco, Aaron Dorfman, Nat Chioke Williams, Phil Buchanan, Mary Mountcastle

Chalkboard with graph that is increasing

The National Center for Family Philanthropy is dedicated to serving families who give and those that work with them. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we are offering conversations on topics of interest to all philanthropic families associated with family foundations, donor-advised funds, family offices, and other philanthropic vehicles. For questions about this series, please contact Jen Crino at jen@ncfp.org… Read More

2020 Trustee Education Institute

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Christopher Fletcher, Jennifer Davis, Robin Snidow, Laura Collins, Paul Liu, Greg Ratliff, Kathleen Simpson, Tamara Larsen, Dana Lanza, Shaady Salehi

Attendees, please visit the event website for the most up-to-date agenda and Zoom links. The website passcode was emailed to all registrants. NCFP’s Trustee Education Institute provides a comprehensive introduction to important legal, investment, ethical, grantmaking, and family dynamics issues facing family foundation board members. Featuring a faculty made up of donors, board members, and highly respected philanthropy experts, this… Read More

Why It Matters to Turn the Mirror on Ourselves

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Kelly Nowlin, Mary Mountcastle

a white woman looks in a mirror; in grayscale

Our intention is to share lessons learned that have helped us grow our skills as philanthropists who seek to be more effective in changing the status quo. Our hope is that you might push yourselves in new ways, too—or teach us what has made a difference in your own journey around racial equity… Read More

From the NCFP Fellows

Courage and Commitment: Our Personal Journeys for Racial Equity

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Mary Mountcastle, June Wilson, Kelly Nowlin

There's a blackboard with "are you ready?" written on it in white writing

As NCFP’s 2020 Class of Fellows, we’ve been sitting down and doing a lot of listening. Not the kind of listening you do at a plenary session or on a webinar. The kind of listening that requires some courage. Courage to be in spaces and conversations that are often uncharted waters and make us entirely uncomfortable. Welcome to three women’s journeys around racial equity in the field of family philanthropy… Read More

2019 National Forum on Family Philanthropy

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Marshaun Bacon, Alissandra Elizabeth Aronow, Mollie Anderson, Demetrius Amparan, Michael Aguhar, Judy Adler, Ron Harris, Leigh Adams, Marlene Corrado, Jamie Allison

NCFP’s National Forum on Family Philanthropy brings philanthropic families and leaders together for two and a half days of peer networking and thought provoking conversations led by some of the greatest thought leaders in family giving… Read More

Building Bridges: A Conversation with NCFP’s New Fellows on Racial Equity

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Mary Mountcastle, June Wilson, Doug Bitonti Stewart, Kelly Nowlin

Are you breaking or bridging? We all have been affected by structural racism. NCFP’s own 2019 Fellows have dedicated themselves to getting proximate to the people, to the issue, to our families, to the field, and to thinking about how we have been impacted by racial injustice and inequity. From our Imagining the Future cross country focus groups we have heard… Read More

Get Involved

Search Knowledge Center for Resources!

We’re here to help you on your philanthropic journey. Contact NCFP for support!