January 15, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Be the Change
by Lisa Endlich
For this book, Lisa Endlich, an author and former management consultant and political fund raiser, interviewed 15 highly involved and generous philanthropists about what motivates them to give their money and time to a particular cause, what strategies they use, and what mistakes they’ve made along the way.
“The word ‘engaged’ does not truly reflect the passion that many of those interviewed bring to their causes,” she writes. “Philanthropy was the love affair they did not expect.”
In one chapter, Ms. Endlich questions Melinda Gates about how she and her husband, Bill Gates, decided to start their own foundation after being inundated with charity requests.
“We began by saying ‘What are these life-saving technologies that we have access to here in the developed world, like biotechnologies and amazing vaccines’ and then ‘why do they not have them in the developing world?’” says Ms. Gates.
In another chapter, Ms. Endlich speaks with Connie Duckworth, the first female sales and trading partner at Goldman Sachs, who now runs a rug business called Arzu in Afghanistan that provides jobs for women and education opportunities for them and their children.
Ms. Endlich also interviewed a couple who chose not to give their names. They donated money to build three large AIDS clinics in South Africa, and they discuss the benefits and challenges of giving anonymously.
“We really don’t want to call attention to ourselves, but we do want to call attention to the underlying issue and the urgency of addressing that issue. That’s the tension that surrounds us,” he says.
Publisher: HarperCollins, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10022; http://www.harpercollins.com; 304 pages; $29.95; ISBN 0061287687.
