Phillip Henderson

Phillip Henderson is president of the Surdna Foundation, a New York City-based family foundation focused on fostering sustainable communities in the United States. The Surdna Foundation, founded in 1917, operates programs in sustainable environment, strong local economies, and thriving cultures. Phil has been with Surdna since 2007, and during his tenure the Foundation has focused intently on cross-programmatic work, including the launch of an institution-wide grantmaking initiative in support of public participation in New Orleans. Prior to his appointment at Surdna, Phil was vice president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization and providing strategic guidance to staff and programs.

Contributions

Voices from the Field

Good Governance: How Should Family Foundation Boards Spend Their Time?

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Phillip Henderson

Checks landing in the mailboxes of nonprofit organizations with foundation return ad-dresses have long been considered philanthropy’s most important currency. Reflecting that view, family foundations have tended to focus their operations, self-image, and their very reasons for being on getting the dollars out the door… Read More

Voices from the Field

Family-Ness: a Clunky Word That Says it All

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Phillip Henderson

At our most recent board meeting, we continued our examination of potential changes to the way we invest our endowment, we discussed some important modifications to the role of the board in our grantmaking process, and we breathed new life into a conversation between Surdna and the Andrus Family Fund, a grantmaking fund we created just over 15 years ago. … Read More

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