Meg Baesmith

December 5, 2019
As a co-founder of the Laughing Gull Foundation, Meg was honored to take the lead on launching the organization in 2013. In setting up LGF’s first grantmaking programs, operations, and strategies, Meg drew on fifteen years of leadership experience with innovative organizations including the Merck Family Fund, Resource Generation, Bolder Giving, The Food Project, The Farm School and Waltham Fields Community Farm. She was supported and inspired by Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Learning to Give with the Next Gen Giving Circle

December 5, 2019 | Next Gen Giving Circle
“I found a career in philanthropy on Craigslist,” says Carlyn Madden, a co-founder of the Next Gen Giving Circle and now a consultant to funders and nonprofits. “Does it get more Millennial than that?” An avid volunteer, Carlyn was hired right out of college by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Washington, DC region’s largest private foundation. There she Read More

Next Gen Giving Circle

December 5, 2019
Founded in 2019, the Next Gen Giving Circle’s mission is to cultivate the next generation of philanthropists in the greater Washington D.C. region. The Giving Circle is comprised of members contributing monthly donations that get pooled together for impactful grants to community causes. Members convene throughout the year to connect and engage with the local community. The Giving Circle’s funds Read More

Jan Lane

December 3, 2019
Jan Lane currently serves as Development Officer and has worked for the Community Foundation since 2013. Jan works in conjunction with the Vice President of Development and other development staff to support charitable planning for community-minded individuals, families and companies. Jan is primarily responsible for cultivating and facilitating the Community Foundation’s legacy planning program. In 2015, Jan completed a Legacy Read More

Marie D’Costa

December 2, 2019
Marie D’Costa is Chief Development & Marketing Officer at the New York Community Trust. Marie works with donors to create personalized philanthropic legacies. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Philanthropy Planning Group of Greater New York, and the Advancement Network. She has a B.A. in public relations and advertising and an M.A. in international relations, Read More

Adam Vizard

December 2, 2019
Adam Vizard is the Data Systems Manager at the Central Indiana Community Foundation. Adam joined CICF in 2019. Read More

Heather Pruess

December 2, 2019
Heather Pruess is the Donor Relations Officer at the Oregon Community Foundation. Heather works with advised fund holders to reach their charitable goals by connecting them to resources at OCF, in their communities, and beyond. She is a trained and certified 21/64 practitioner. Prior to OCF, Heather worked to recruit and train older adult volunteer mentors at Metropolitan Family Service and Read More
Blog | Network News

December 2019: News and Notes from NCFP’s Friends of the Family Network

Friends Focus highlights updates from members of our Friends of the Family network and their cutting edge work. This month features updates from The Brinson Foundation, Sobrato Philanthropies, and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Are you a current Friend or Leadership Circle member of NCFP with an update or good news about your foundation that you would like to share Read More
Blog | From NCFP

The Promise of Even Greater Possibilities

November 26, 2019 | Virginia M. Esposito
What distinguishes giving families are the dual goals they bring to their philanthropic giving: goals for charitable purpose and goals for family participation. What unites them all is a very personal passion, a commitment to the legacy of their families’ values and vision and a commitment to philanthropic excellence. As I mentioned at the recent National Forum on Family Philanthropy, Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

It’s Cool to be Kind: How to Have Civil Conversations in Today’s World

November 22, 2019 | Elaine Gast Fawcett
Civil: relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns; courteous, polite —Merriam Webster In an increasingly divisive society—where politics seem to dominate public as well as private discourse—what would it be like to hold civil conversations in our own families and communities? And how might family foundations create space for people to come together and have these conversations? These were big Read More