Philanthropic Advisory Services
Independent counsel for purposeful philanthropy.
Significant philanthropic resources create opportunities to do meaningful work. They also bring consequential decisions about where to focus, which relationships to develop, how to deploy resources, and what it will take to achieve lasting results.
I advise individuals, families, and foundations as they navigate those decisions and put their philanthropic ambitions into practice.
My work brings together strategic judgment, practical experience, and a deep understanding of the institutions, relationships, and systems through which philanthropy creates change. I work with clients to clarify direction, recognize opportunities, connect with people and organizations doing important work, and navigate the decisions involved in moving ambitious ideas forward.
The aim is not simply to develop a plan, but to bring experienced judgment, relevant knowledge, and the right relationships to the work as it unfolds.
Ongoing Philanthropic Counsel
Experienced perspective and practical engagement as your philanthropy evolves.
Philanthropic decisions rarely occur in isolation. A promising opportunity may raise questions about existing commitments. New relationships may reveal possibilities that were not previously visible. Changes in a community, institution, or family may call for a different approach.
Ongoing counsel provides continuity across those decisions.
I work closely with donors, families, and foundations to assess opportunities, refine priorities, engage partners, and advance philanthropic initiatives. This may include research and analysis, facilitating conversations, connecting people and institutions, advising on significant grants or investments, and helping navigate questions of governance, accountability, and implementation.
Some relationships center on direct counsel to an individual or family. Others involve working alongside foundation leadership, family office professionals, financial and legal advisors, and philanthropic partners.
The value of an ongoing advisory relationship lies not only in the decisions made, but in the continuity of knowledge, relationships, and judgment brought to each new opportunity. The scope reflects the ambitions, circumstances, and capacity of each client.
Philanthropic Strategy
Connecting purpose, resources, and possibilities.
A meaningful philanthropic strategy begins with a clear understanding of what a donor wants their resources to make possible. It also requires an informed view of the systems, institutions, people, and conditions that shape the work.
I advise clients as they establish or reconsider their philanthropic direction, examine potential areas of investment, and determine how their resources can be most useful.
This work may involve exploring values and priorities, understanding a philanthropic landscape, evaluating approaches, identifying potential partners, and developing the decision-making structures needed to support the work.
The result is a coherent direction for philanthropic action, grounded in purpose and informed by the realities of the environment in which the donor hopes to make a difference.
Strategy Labs
Focused working sessions for consequential philanthropic questions.
Not every important decision requires a comprehensive planning process.
Strategy Labs are facilitated half-day or full-day engagements designed to bring focused attention to a significant question, emerging opportunity, or complex decision.
A Lab might examine a new philanthropic ambition, competing priorities, a major funding opportunity, the direction of a foundation, or the relationships and capabilities needed to advance an initiative.
Each session is designed around the circumstances and people involved, drawing on strategic inquiry, relevant research, and participatory approaches.
The purpose is to develop greater clarity, examine possibilities, surface important considerations, and establish a sound basis for decisions and next steps.
Foundation & Philanthropic Transformation
Aligning institutional capacity with philanthropic ambition.
As foundations and philanthropic initiatives evolve, their governance, operating practices, relationships, and decision-making structures may need to evolve as well.
I work with foundation boards, family leaders, and philanthropic executives to examine how their institutions function and what may be needed to support their next chapter.
Engagements may address strategic direction, governance and decision-making, leadership transitions, organizational capacity, grantmaking practices, collaboration, or the alignment of multiple philanthropic initiatives.
The work considers both the institution and the broader environment in which it operates, recognizing that effective philanthropy depends on more than internal processes.
Specialized Expertise in Educational Philanthropy
Understanding education as a system, and philanthropy as a means of expanding what is possible.
Educational philanthropy is a particular area of specialization within my practice, informed by extensive experience across public education, nonprofit and philanthropic leadership, community-based initiatives, and cross-sector collaboration.
I bring that perspective to donors and foundations interested in strengthening educational opportunities, supporting innovation, and investing in the conditions that allow young people and communities to thrive.
Effective educational philanthropy requires understanding not only promising ideas, but also the institutions, relationships, public systems, and implementation conditions that determine what is possible.
Working Together
I work independently and collaboratively, bringing additional expertise and relationships into engagements when the work calls for them.
Clients may engage me for a focused strategic assignment, a significant initiative, or an ongoing advisory relationship. I also work alongside family offices, attorneys, wealth advisors, and other professionals whose clients would benefit from specialized philanthropic counsel.
The starting point is a conversation about your philanthropic ambitions, the decisions before you, and where experienced counsel could be most valuable.