Contributor

Sandra Swirski serves as Executive Director for the Alliance for Charitable Reform. Sandra is a co-founder of Urban Swirski & Associates, a public policy and government affairs firm in Washington, D.C. Ms. Swirski’s practice focuses on advising Fortune 500 executives and leaders of nonprofit organizations about public policy and government affairs issues. On Capitol Hill, Ms. Swirski served as a senior… Read More

Ruth Purcell-Jones is the Director of Philanthropic Services at the Central Indiana Community Foundation. As Director of Philanthropic Services, Ruthie works to ensure that CICF is doing its utmost to help the individuals, families, and organizations that partner with the organization. In short, her charge is to help them make the biggest difference possible with their philanthropic dollars. For families… Read More

Ryan Schlegel is the Director of Research at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before joining NCRP in April of 2014, Ryan worked at Cultural Tourism DC, where he nurtured a love for all things in the District, and at the University of Maryland’s student affairs division. At NCRP Ryan has produced research on family foundation grantmaking, nonprofit leadership… Read More

A vision for California: The S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation envisions a productive, vibrant, and sustainable California that is a model of success and a source of innovation. A commitment to now: California faces many critical challenges, which require resources and imaginative solutions. In response to this reality, the Board of Directors decided to invest all the Foundation’s assets by… Read More

Sahar Afrakhan is a third-year undergraduate at UC Berkeley studying Economics and Buddhism. Insatiably curious, she questions if “everything” can be her passion. She has been involved in family philanthropy since she was a fourth-grader on a junior board and was also part of the conception of Youth Philanthropy Connect (YPC). Since she’s been away from home, she’s continued to… Read More

Ronald A. Heifetz is the co-founder of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and co-founder of Cambridge Leadership Associates… Read More

Ronelle P. Swagerty is Chief Executive Officer of New Beginnings Family Academy. Prior to taking the helm in August 2013, Mrs. Swagerty managed the school’s non-profit support organization, Friends of NBFA, Inc., for nearly a decade. A native New Yorker, Mrs. Swagerty earned an undergraduate degree from Emerson College and holds a MBA from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business… Read More