To Solve Society’s Problems, Grant Makers Need Focus and Patience
The major social ills foundations seek to heal can’t be solved with the ephemeral efforts that mark philanthropy today, writes a former W.K. Kellogg Foundation official.
By Joel J. Orosz
Contributor
Why the New CEO of Gates Is Likely to Succeed
The announcement by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that it had chosen a Microsoft millionaire to succeed Patty Stonesifer as its chief executive was simultaneously “rounding up the usual suspects” and a radical departure from the way in which big foundations have traditionally chosen leaders.…
By Joel J. Orosz
Contributor
Good Grant Making Requires Expertise
America’s grant-making foundations grapple with our nation’s most daunting problems — persistent poverty, the failure of public schools, disease epidemics, rural isolation, urban decay — so nobody should be surprised when their best efforts sometimes fall short of the mark. What makes little sense,…
By Joel J. Orosz
Contributor
Big Funds Need a ‘Skunk Works’ to Stir Ideas
This is a humble request to each of the chief executive officers of the nation’s 100 largest private foundations: Please start a skunk works -- a small, loosely run group that promotes creativity and innovation among your organization’s brightest minds. The original “Skonk Works” was a liquor still…
By Joel J. Orosz
Contributor