Remembering David Hunter: Risk Taker, Visionary, Activist

By PABLO EISENBERG

When David Hunter, former executive director of the Stern Fund and the Ottinger Foundation, died at age 84 two months ago, he left both an impressive legacy and a vacuum that none of today’s foundation leaders seems willing or able to fill.

Mr. Hunter was the embodiment of a social progressive, visionary, intellectual, risk taker, mentor, and activist, all rolled into one. An influential leader in his field, he displayed a humility and quiet forcefulness that only added to his luster.

The power of Mr. Hunter’s voice was in its courage and conviction. Twenty-six years ago, in a speech to the Council on Foundations — a speech that remains relevant today — Mr. Hunter challenged his colleagues “to be more yeasty, to make more ferment, to produce more action for social change, not to be so far above the battle, to get into the fray more.”

He wanted foundations to pay more attention to civil rights and democratic ideals, and to do more to help improve economic opportunities for all Americans. Likewise, he had a vision of philanthropy as more thoughtful, energetic, concerned about its performance, full of ideas, innovative, and inclined to action than study.

His was a lonely voice then, and his message is still a lonely one today.

While many in the foundation establishment regrettably turned a deaf ear to Mr. Hunter, that was not the case with the long trail of wealthy young philanthropists who were inspired by his idealism and sense of social and economic justice. He cultivated a network of promising young givers as a gardener carefully nurtures his flowers.

Trustee of the French American Charitable Trust Diane Feeney recalls his influence as she began her philanthropic career. “His guidance and friendship during my first couple of years was an indispensable education, enabling me to see possibilities I otherwise would never have considered and avoid many of the pitfalls that face inexperienced grant makers,” said Ms. Feeney, who is 32. “And he stayed with me until the end.”

Indeed, Mr. Hunter’s mentorship was not a one-time gift. He continually kept in touch with his charges, sending them memos, news items, and important reports and articles. He made certain they met other key philanthropists and innovative nonprofit executives. He relished opportunities to meet with them, and over time they became part of his extended family. But most important of all, he challenged his youthful colleagues to keep open minds, question existing assumptions, and take risks.

As in the case of his literary counterpart, Mr. Chips, his legions grew as the years passed. It was not surprising that more than 200 donors and leaders of nonprofit organizations came to New York from all over the country in 1996 for a daylong celebration of his 80th birthday.

Mr. Hunter had an inimitable style that made him a fine teacher, one who could lead by both his example and his intellect. He dressed in a suit and tie, maintaining a dignity and demeanor that, despite his unorthodox ideas, gave him an entrée into the rarefied world of conventional philanthropy. And unlike so many of the current crop of foundation leaders, he would never impose an idea or program on any of his grantees or followers.

“He would listen to you, analyze the problem, and suggest some options, but he felt that it was totally inappropriate for a foundation to be preaching or pushing,” recalled David Stern, 41, chair of the Stern Family Fund and another young protégé of Mr. Hunter. “He really respected the integrity of his donees as well as other people’s views. He taught me to take risks, betting on hot people with powerful ideas.”

Mr. Hunter served his apprenticeship by working in Europe with refugees for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and then with Unicef in Mexico for nine years. He began his philanthropic career at the Ford Foundation, where, from 1959 to 1963, he helped to shape some inner-city antipoverty programs that became an important part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty.

For the next 22 years he was the executive director of the Stern Fund, a progressive foundation that supported many outstanding organizations, coalitions, and program initiatives. His grants and support were instrumental in seeding voter-registration programs that led to motor-voter legislation. In addition, Mr. Hunter’s support helped the Center for Law and Social Policy, the South Shore Bank, a neighborhood bank in Chicago, the Woman’s Action Alliance — forerunner of the Ms. Foundation for Women — Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, several progressive regional foundations and self-help programs in Appalachia and elsewhere, plus the Funding Exchange.

He stretched a little money a long way. His calm and reassuring manner convinced many mainstream foundations to join his efforts.

Just as important as Mr. Hunter’s grant making was his moral fervor and outspoken views about the obligations and responsibilities of foundations. He believed that they hold a public trust and thus should deal with the most critical public needs.

In his 1975 speech to the Council on Foundations’ annual meeting, he asserted that “not enough foundations are close enough to critical and fundamental issues of our society, not aggressively active enough on them, too distant from the controversies that pervade our public discourse, not political enough, if you will.” He added that “too many foundations support only people and projects that unquestioningly accept orthodox assumptions about the nature and consequences of the institutions that mold our society.”

He went on to chide his colleagues for failing to actively support the constitutional right of citizens to organize to protect their rights. “Foundations ought to be interested in helping to keep this tradition alive and healthy,” he said. “Words speak louder than actions in this arena. Where minority people have organized to move closer to equality, they have had precious little help.”

Foundations, he added, had to do a better job in dealing with such issues as the distributions of wealth and power, the role of government, the effects of poverty and poor housing, matters of privacy, and the empowerment of women. They should do so with a critical eye, he said, and where they found problems that produced inequality, privilege, and injustice, they should support corrective public-policy efforts.

It is a speech that, if given at the next Council on Foundations meeting, would probably annoy as many people as it did in 1975.

In promoting more activism, greater public policy and advocacy support, additional focus on cross-cutting issues and coalitions, and long-term financing of efforts to improve foundation management, Mr. Hunter was an outsider to the mainstream philanthropic world. And the problems he strove to correct continue today: Grant makers persist in their reluctance to pay for programs that organize poor people and mobilize effective coalitions. They still avoid taking risks. And they still sidestep many of the critical public needs of this new century.

Still, David Hunter’s voice was a hopeful one. He was always an optimist, believing that the world of philanthropy could change, that others would develop a vision, and that a golden age of more responsive philanthropy was just ahead. We don’t know whether the latter is around the corner, but we can be comforted by the fact that a number of his young protégés share his broad vision.

Mr. Hunter was fond of citing a quotation from George Bernard Shaw: “Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

Mr. Hunter’s torch illuminated the world of philanthropy for many years. Its memory still glows, but there is a need to rekindle the fire. Are there any who are ready and willing to pick up and carry his torch for the next 20 years?

Pablo Eisenberg is senior fellow at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute and vice chair of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. He is a regular contributor to these pages.