Contributor

Sarah Stranahan has more than 30 years of experience in family philanthropy, mission-related investing and community organizing. Sarah is a board member of the Stranahan Foundation and a member of Council on Foundation’s Finance Committee. As a long time Board member of the Needmor Fund (1976-2010) she helped design and oversee its grant program insupport of community organizing and its… Read More

In her time with Foundant (since 2011), Sammie Holzwarth has taken on many roles in her path to becoming the Product Manager of Grants & Scholarships. Her breadth of knowledge and extensive experience working with a plethora of clients and in varying roles at Foundant fuels her passion and excitement to continually improve GLM/SLM, and herself which she now brings… Read More

Sandra Hughes is a foundation governance expert who served as executive consultant for BoardSource. She has held various management positions at the United States Rowing Association, American Bar Association, George Williams College, Levi Strauss & Company, the Levi Strauss Foundation, the University of Tennessee, and The Christian Science Monitor… Read More

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