Ms. Karen Leaffer
Special Council
Faegre & Benson LLP
Ms. Leaffer is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Trustee Leadership Pre-Conference on Wednesday and Thursday on the topic “Tax & Legal Issues.”
Karen Leaffer is Special Council at Faegre & Benson LLP in Denver, where she is a member of the nonprofit organizations practice group. She is one of the few lawyers in Colorado who dedicates her practice exclusively to representing nonprofit organizations. Although her practice now concentrates on the corporate and tax issues affecting nonprofits, over her 17-year career, she has accumulated extensive experience in other practice areas that directly impact nonprofit organizations. Karen is among Colorado’s leading authorities on the implications of Sarbanes-Oxley for nonprofits, and the corporate governance and charitable giving reforms currently under Congressional consideration. She regularly advises nonprofits on corporate governance matters, including the roles and responsibilities of officers and directors, conflicts of interest policies, liability and insurance, compensation practices, self-dealing and issues of transparency and document retention. Karen works closely with clients to develop governance and organizational structures that are responsive to their individual circumstances, and anticipates and proactively offers practical solutions to potential exemption issues. Karen has a special expertise in the area of grant-making, and works side-by-side with clients in developing their grant-making practices and evaluating those practices against best practices and applicable regulatory requirements.
Dr. John Lenczowski
President
Institute for World Politics
Dr. Lenczowski is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. on the topic “Graduate Education in National Security Studies.”
John Lenczowski is founder and president of the Institute of World Politics, an independent graduate school of statecraft and national security affairs in Washington, D.C. From 1981 to 1983 Dr. Lenczowski served in the State Department as Special Advisor to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. From 1983 to 1987 he was Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council. In that capacity he served as principal Soviet affairs advisor to President Reagan. He was involved in developing many of the policies that helped prompt the collapse of the Soviet empire. Dr. Lenczowski was educated at the Thacher School, earned his B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Mr. David Levin
Co-Founder
KIPP Foundation
Mr. Levin will be participating at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m.“No Shortcuts, No Excuses: A Salute to Don Fisher and the Amazing KIPP Network of Schools.”
David Levin is a native of New York City and currently serves as the Superintendent of KIPP Academy New York and as a Co-Founder of the KIPP Foundation.
After graduating from Yale University, David joined Teach For America where he taught fifth grade in Houston, Texas for three years. In 1994, David earned Teacher of the Year honors from his school in Houston and an outstanding teaching award from Teach For America. In 1994, David co-founded the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) with Mike Feinberg and won the Jefferson Award for outstanding community service for the city of Houston.
In 1995 he co-founded KIPP Academy in the South Bronx, a public middle school. KIPP has grown from a program serving 50 fifth graders in Houston to 38 public schools that now serve over 6,000 students in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
KIPP has been featured on CBS Sixty Minutes and ABC World News Tonight, as well as in the New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, New Republic, Texas Monthly, USA Today Weekend Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Philanthropy, Pennsylvania Gazette, and London Times.
In 1997 “Do Something” awarded David the Brick Award for Outstanding Community Leadership. In March of 1999, David along with 30 other ‘young leaders’ spent an evening discussing domestic policy with President Clinton at the White House, and in 2000 David and Mike introduced Laura Bush at the Republican National Convention. In September 2003, David was appointed to the New York State Commission for Education Reform. In the Spring of 2004, David received the 2004 National Citizen Activist Award sponsored by the Gleitsman Foundation. Most recently, in January of 2005, David was named an Ashoka Fellow.
Since 1997, the KIPP Academy Charter School has been the highest performing public middle school in the entire Bronx as measured by standardized test scores in reading and math, improvement in test scores, and attendance. In the spring of 1999, KIPP was named one of the twenty-five most effective schools in the nation in low-income communities. Of these twenty-five schools, David was selected as one of the seven most effective principals. In December 1999, David received the Robin Hood Foundation’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Hero Award in Education. For the past seven years, KIPP has been the highest performing public middle school in the Bronx in terms of reading scores, math scores, and attendance. KIPP now ranks in the top ten percent of all New York City Public Schools.
Additionally, David co-authored KIPP Math, a comprehensive math curriculum for students in grades 5-8 that culminates in students completing a two-year high school Algebra I course by the end of 8 th grade. Last spring, 80% of KIPP students passed New York State’s Math A Regent’s Exam, a high school exit requirement, while still enrolled in the 8 th grade.
Mr. Richard C. Liebich
CEO
Charitable Leadership Foundation
Mr. Liebich is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15– 3:30 p.m on the topic “Bolstering Math and Science Education.”
Richard C. Liebich is chief executive officer of the Charitable Leadership Foundation of Clifton Park, New York. The Foundation works in the areas of education, housing, medical research, and medical affairs. Under its auspices, he serves as CEO and chairman of the board of directors of Project Lead The Way, an organization dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of engineers and engineering technology emerging from the public education system. Mr. Liebich also serves as chairman of the board of trustees of Charitable Venture Foundation. His other board service includes Sponsor-A-Scholar of Albany, New York; Albany Medical Center; and the Ordway Research Institute. He chairs the College Council for Empire State College (SUNY).
Mr. Robert Litan
Vice President for Research and Policy
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Mr. Litan is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15 – 3:30 p.m., on the topic “Promoting Minority Enterprise.”
Robert E. Litan is vice president for research and policy at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. The Kauffman Foundation is one of the nation’s leading foundations supporting the understanding and advancement of entrepreneurship. Dr. Litan also has served in several capacities in the federal government. During 1995 and 1996, he was associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he was responsible for overseeing budgetary and other policies of six cabinet agencies. From 1993 to 1995, he was Deputy Assistant Attorney General, in charge of civil antitrust litigation and regulatory issues, at the Department of Justice. He received his B.S. in economics (summa cum laude) from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, his J.D. from Yale Law School, and his M. Phil. and Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.
Mr. John Lock
President and CEO
Charter Growth Fund Inc.
Mr. Lock is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 8:00 -12:00 p.m. at “Ordinary Kids, Extraordinary Results: A Site Visit to Tempe Preparatory Academy.”
John Lock is CEO and president of Charter Growth Fund Inc. Throughout his career, Mr. Lock has focused on helping people and organizations realize their potential. He has extensive experience managing early-stage companies and has served as CEO, CFO, COO, and board member of companies that range from technology to insurance to financial management. In these various roles, he has led companies through start-up, expansion, turnaround, merger, acquisition, strategic re-alignment, and streamlining towards greater efficiencies. Prior to joining the Charter Growth Fund, he served as executive director and teacher at a charter high school in Southern California. Mr. Lock is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Mr. Dennis Maloney
Project Leader
Civic Justice Corps
Mr. Maloney is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9:00 – 10:15 a.m., on the topic “Re-integrating Former Prisoners into Healthy Communities.”
Dennis Maloney is president of Community Justice Associates. He is currently a professional faculty member at Oregon State University in Bend, Oregon, and associate director of the Cascades Center for Community Governance. Mr. Maloney has over 30 years’ experience in corrections. For 16 years he served as the Director of the Deschutes County Department of Community Justice. There he initiated a variety of juvenile and adult corrections programs that gained national attention. His book on probation is the most widely distributed work in the history of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Over the past decade Mr. Maloney has provided technical assistance to all 50 states. Nearly 30 states have revamped their juvenile justice system based on his writings on the “balanced approach” to juvenile justice. The U.S. Department of State has distributed his writings to over 250 countries, and his work is now being utilized worldwide as a foundation for justice system reform.
Mr. Bruno V. Manno
Senior Associate for Education
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Mr. Manno is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9:00 - 10:15 a.m, on the topic “Who Will Save Catholic Schools .”
Bruno V. Manno is senior program associate for education at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Dr. Manno has directed the Baltimore philanthropy’s investments in education since 1998. He played several key roles at the U. S. Department of Education beginning in 1986, as director of planning and acting assistant secretary of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, as assistant secretary of education for policy and planning under Secretary Lamar Alexander, and as special assistant to Secretary Alexander. As Alexander’s aide, he led the team that crafted the Bush Administration’s AMERICA 2000 education reform agenda. He left the federal government in 1993 to become senior fellow in the Education Policy Studies Program at the Hudson Institute, where he served as executive director of the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal and as associate director of Hudson’s Modern Red Schoolhouse Project. Dr. Manno served as executive director of the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education in 1997 and 1998 and is a director of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. He is co-author of Charter Schools in Action: Renewing Public Education and a frequent writer and commentator on education issues.
Mr. Steve Mariotti
President
National Foundation for Teaching Entreprenuership
Mr. Mariotti is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15– 3:30 p.m, on the topic “Promoting Minority Enterprise.”
Steve Mariotti is founder and president of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and is an expert in education for at-risk youth. For more than 20 years, he has been helping young people develop marketable skills by learning about entrepreneurship. In 1979, he founded Mason Import/Export Services in New York, eventually acting as sales representative and purchasing agent for 32 overseas firms. Then in 1982, Mariotti made a career change and became a special education/business teacher in the New York City school system, choosing to teach in notorious neighborhoods such as Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and the “Fort Apache” section of the South Bronx. It was at Jane Addams Vocational High School in the Bronx that he developed the idea to bring entrepreneurial education to low-income youth. This led to his founding NFTE in 1987. Mr. Mariotti and NFTE have received numerous awards, including the Golden Lamp Award from the Association of Educational Publishers (2002) for How to Start and Operate A Small Business. He was named America’s Top High School Business Teacher in 1988.
Mr. Shawn Arevalo McCollough
President and Founder
JM Freedom Foundation
Mr. McCollough is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:45 a.m. - noon on the topic “Can Urban School Districts Be Reformed?.”
Shawn Arevalo McCollough opened Gainesville Elementary School with the belief that all children will rise to your level of expectations, accountability, and no excuses. Since then, he has assumed the superintendent’s post for the Maricopa County Regional School District in Phoenix, Arizona, an at-risk district that may very well be the last chance for many kids who are homeless, immigrant English learners, and high school dropouts. Mr. McCollough was recently recognized in Washington, D.C., by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who called him a “warrior for our kids.”
Mr. Norman McClelland
President and CEO
Shamrock Foods Company
Mr. McClelland is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. during the "Welcome.”
Norman P. McClelland is a board member of the Goldwater Institute, which supports educational choice, constitutionally limited government, and reduced taxation. He also serves as a board member of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society. McClelland has been president of the Shamrock Farms Company since 1965 and chairman of the Shamrock Foods Company since 1993.
Mr. Adam Meyerson
President
The Philanthropy Roundtable
Mr. Meyerson is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. during the "Welcome.”
Adam Meyerson joined The Philanthropy Roundtable as president in 2001. Previously Mr. Meyerson served as vice president for educational affairs at the Heritage Foundation, where he directed Heritage’s civil society projects, its programs on the Founding Fathers, and its “No Excuses” project on high-performing, high-poverty schools. From 1983 to 1998, he was editor-in-chief of Heritage’s magazine, Policy Review. Previously, Mr. Meyerson was an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal and editor of its “Manager’s Journal” and “Asia” columns. Mr. Meyerson is co-editor of The Wall Street Journal on Management, a book published by Dow Jones-Irwin in 1985. He was also managing editor of The American Spectator magazine.
Mr. Jack Miller
President
JM Freedom Foundation
Mr. Miller is a luncheon emcee at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from noon - 2:00 p.m. during “How Immigrants Become Americans.”
Jack Miller, the founder and former President/CEO of Quill Corporation, is one of the Chicago area’s most prominent entrepreneurs. He has also been active with the University of Chicago Medical Center, helping to establish the Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy. He has also founded the Jack Miller Center for the Study of American Civic Literacy at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He was graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Journalism, with a focus in advertising. In 1956, Mr. Miller started his own business selling office supplies through direct calls on Chicago businesses. By the 1980s, his Quill Corporation had become the world’s largest mail-order business specializing in office supplies. It subsequently merged with the store-based office supply company Staples. After the sale of Quill he is now chairman of the board at Successories Inc., and a managing member at The Benida Group, LLC, and Millbrook Properties, LLC.
Mrs. Susan Mitchell
Director
American Education Reform Council
Mrs. Mitchell is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:45 a.m. - noon on the topic “Can Urban School Districts Be Reformed?.”
Susan Mitchell is the president and founder of School Choice Wisconsin. For the past 15 years, she has worked in Milwaukee and nationally to expand parental choice. She served as president of the American Education Reform Council and currently serves on the board of its successor organization, the Alliance for School Choice, where she chairs the policy committee. Mrs. Mitchell also served as special assistant for strategy and budget development to Dr. Howard Fuller when he was the superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools and has authored several studies and articles on education. She was a journalist at The Wall Street Journal and other newspapers. Mrs. Mitchell has also held leadership positions in government and private business, including Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Wisconsin; Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing; executive vice president of Milwaukee Mutual Insurance Company, and president of General Life Insurance Company, a Teledyne subsidiary.
Dr. Alan Mobley
Professor
San Diego State University
Dr. Mobley is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9:00 – 10:15 a.m, on the topic “Re-integrating Former Prisoners into Healthy Communities.”
Dr. Anne Morgan
Trustee
Kirkpatrick Family Foundation
Dr. Morgan is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Trustee Leadership Pre-Conference on Wednesday and Thursday on the topic “Roles & Responsibilities of an Effective Trustee” and “Integrating Your Passion Into Grantmaking.”
Dr. Anne Morgan is a nationally known consultant who has specialized in working with family foundations, trusts and not-for-profit organizations for the past two decades. She has served as Vice President for Programs of the Kerr Foundation of Oklahoma City and later as President and Trustee of the Robert S. and Grayce B. Kerr Foundation. Anne is currently a trustee of the Kirkpatrick Family Foundation, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, the Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Missouri. She is a former trustee of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. Prior to her work in philanthropy, Anne was associated with the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. She has also served as a legislative aide to a United States Senator. Anne was educated at North Texas State University (BA), Columbia University (MA) and the University of Texas (Doctor of Philosophy in American History). As a professional historian and writer, she has written and edited numerous books and articles. Anne has served as President and, later, Chairman of the Board of the Conference of Southwest Foundations. She was a 2001 recipient of their “Founder’s Spirit Award.”
Mrs. Sheila Johnston Mulcahy
Program Director
William E. Simon Foundation
Mrs. Mulcahy is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:45 a.m. - noon on the topic “Prizes for Social Entrepreneurship.”
Sheila Johnston Mulcahy is the program director of the William E. Simon Foundation in New York City. The Foundation seeks to assist those in need by providing the means through which they may help themselves. In implementing this philosophy, the Foundation makes grants to strengthen institutions that play an important role in the lives of disadvantaged youth, particularly to organizations providing family strengthening, educational opportunities, and faith-based programs. Prior to joining the Foundation, Mrs. Mulcahy served in management roles at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center and Oxford Shirtings.
Ms. Anne D. Neal
President
American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Ms. Neal is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. on the topic “Should Donors Give to University Endowments?”
Anne D. Neal is President of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, senior consultant to the Institute for Effective Governance, and editor of the quarterly newsletter, Inside Academe. She is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College where she majored in American history and literature. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1980 and was President of the Harvard Journal on Legislation. Ms. Neal has served as General Counsel of the National Endowment for the Humanities and as a First Amendment and communications lawyer with Rogers & Wells and Wiley, Rein & Fielding. She is a contributor to the Handbook of American Women’s History (Sage Publications 2000) and served as co-editor of Communications Lawyer, a publication of the American Bar Association. In June 2003, Ms. Neal’s article on the Olmsted Woods restoration appeared in Ecological Restoration, a publication of the University of Wisconsin.
Ms. Neal is a member of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee for the United States Trade Representative. She sits on numerous boards, including All Hallows Guild, Washington National Cathedral; Sabre Foundation; Garden Club of America Board of Associates; and the advisory council of the Windhover Center. She is also a member of the Founder’s Committee for Historic Mount Vernon and former member of the U.S. Fulbright Advisory Board and National Association for Olmsted Parks.
Mrs. Rebeca Nieves-Huffman
President
Hispanic CREO
Mrs. Nieves-Huffman is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m on the topic “School Choice: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”
Mrs. Huffman received her degree in Marketing and Public Relations from Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois. She came to Hispanic CREO after having served as the Associate Director of Recruitment and Selection for the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), an organization dedicated to providing historically underserved students with the knowledge, skills, and character needed to succeed in top-quality high schools, colleges, and the competitive world beyond. At KIPP, Rebeca worked to identify and select outstanding educators who would then participate in the KIPP School Leadership Program, a year-long fellowship which trains them in starting and running their own KIPP-like schools. Rebeca also served several years as a corps member and Project Leader at City Year, an AmeriCorps program that brings young adults who commit to full-time community service. Along with her team, Rebeca worked with 3rd grade students who were repeating that grade for the first or second time. It was then that her eyes were opened to the social injustices within the public educational system. Since then, Rebeca has worked to provide educational opportunities for children through choice. She currently sits on the National Board of Trustees for both City Year and the Charter School Leadership Council. Rebeca is an Advisory Board Member to the National Boys and Girls Club of America and the proud recipient of the 2004 Hewlett Packard Leadership Award.
Dr. Pat Nolan
President
Justice Fellowship
Dr. Nolan is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9:00 – 10:15 a.m, on the topic “Re-integrating Former Prisoners into Healthy Communities.”
Pat Nolan is the President of Justice Fellowship, the criminal justice reform arm of Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship Ministries. Justice Fellowship works to reform the criminal justice system based on the principles of restorative justice found in the Bible. They work with government officials to find practical ways to apply restorative justice to help victims, reform the hearts of offenders and restore a sense of community to neighborhoods long plagued by crime. A major focus of Justice Fellowship’s efforts is on insuring that offenders are better prepared to live healthy, productive, law abiding lives on their release.
Pat brings a unique background to Justice Fellowship. He served for 15 years in the California State Assembly, four of those as the Assembly Republican Leader. He was a leader on crime issues, particularly on behalf of victims' rights. Pat was one of the original sponsors of the Victims' Bill of Rights (Proposition 15) and was awarded the "Victims Advocate Award" by Parents of Murdered Children. He was named Legislator of the Year by many groups including the Amvets for his work on behalf of Vietnam veterans.
Pat was targeted for prosecution for a campaign contribution he received. The contribution turned out to be part of an FBI sting. He pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering. He served 25 months in a federal prison and four months in a halfway house.
Before entering prison a friend of Pat’s told him that “for centuries Christians have left their day-to-day world, humbled themselves, done menial labor, prayed and studied their faith. We call that a monastery. View this time as your monastic experience.” Pat credits this friend with helping him enter prison in a frame of mind which allowed him to put the time to good use. Pat says he drew great comfort from the story of Joseph in Genesis. “Man intended it for evil, but God intended it for good.”
Pat is the author of When Prisoners Return, which describes the important role the Church can play in helping prisoners get back on their feet after they are released. His opinion pieces have appeared in numerous periodicals including the Los Angeles Times, the National Law Journal and the Washington Times. He has coauthored articles for the Notre Dame Law School Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy and the Regent Law School Law Review. He is a frequent guest on talk shows, including Hannity and Colmes, Fox Network News, Michael Reagan and Ollie North.
Pat is a much sought after speaker on issues of justice and faith. He was selected by Governor Geringer of Wyoming to be the speaker at his annual prayer breakfast in 2002, and has testified on several occasions before Congressional committees on prison work programs, juvenile justice and religious freedom. He has also lectured at judicial conferences and legal conventions.
Pat serves on the nine-member U.S. Prison Rape Elimination Commission, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert. Justice Fellowship worked very hard to pass the legislation which established the commission. Pat also serves on the National Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons, co-chaired by former Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and former Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, John Gibbons.
Pat is the sixth of nine children, and was born and raised in Southern California. He earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and his Juris Doctorate at the University of Southern California. He also rode as Tommy Trojan, USC’s mascot in the 1974 Rose Parade. Pat and his wife, Gail, have three children: Courtney, 16; Katie, 15 and Jamie, 11. The Nolans live in Leesburg, Virginia and are members of the St. John the Apostle Parish.
Mr. William Oberndorf
Managing Director
SPO Partners
Mr. Oberndorf is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m on the topic “School Choice: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”
William E. Oberndorf is a managing director of SPO Partners & Co., an investment firm that specializes in the acquisition of public and private equity positions with a value orientation. Mr. Oberndorf received a B.A. from Williams College in 1975, and joined SPO Partners’ predecessor company, San Francisco Partners, upon earning an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1978. He is a director of the ProQuest Company, Hotel Equity Funds, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, and director emeritus of Plum Creek Timber Co. Mr. Oberndorf is board chair of the Alliance and Advocates for School Choice. He also serves as a trustee of the Thacher School in Ojai, California, University School in Cleveland, Ohio, the University of California San Francisco Foundation, and Williams College.
Ms. Darcy Olsen
President and CEO
Goldwater Institute
Ms. Olsen is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. during the "Welcome.”
Darcy Olsen is president of the Goldwater Institute, Arizona’s most frequently cited research organization working on behalf of citizens to expand school choice, restore economic liberty, and restrain the growth of local and state government. Before heading Goldwater, Ms. Olsen served as director of education policy at the Washington D.C.-based Cato Institute. An authority on early childhood education, primary and secondary education reforms, and the marketplace for educational services, she has been a guest on local and national media programs such as National Public Radio, the O’Reilly Factor, and the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour. Her research findings have been widely published in such outlets as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and USA Today, and she has testified before Congress. Before joining Cato, she served as a transitional house manager for the D.C. Coalition for the Homeless while earning a bachelor’s degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Her master’s degree is in international education from New York University.
Dr. Carol G. Peck
President and CEO
Rodel Charitable Foundation - Arizona
Dr. Peck is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15– 3:30 p.m on the topic “Bolstering Math and Science Education.”
Carol G. Peck is the president and CEO of the Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona. Her vision is the improvement of Arizona’s education system so that it is widely recognized as one of the best in the country by 2020. As the former Alhambra School District Superintendent for 16 years, Dr. Peck created, developed, and implemented a variety of programs that significantly raised student achievement in a large urban district. Her business partnership program brought in $1.3 million each year for programs to help ensure the success of Alhambra students. As a business leader, Dr. Peck collaborates with key government, business, and education officials to support systemic educational changes statewide. Additionally, Dr. Peck has authored many journal articles and presented on “Raising Student Achievement by Raising Expectations” throughout the United States, China, Australia, and South Africa. Dr. Peck received her doctoral degree in education administration from Arizona State University.
Mr. Daniel S. Peters
President
Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation
Mr. Peters is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Trustee Leadership Seminar Pre-Conference during dinner on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Daniel S. Peters is president of the Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation. The foundation's emphasis is on improving the quality of K-12 education. Mr. Peters previously spent 17 years at the Procter & Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he held a variety of executive positions in advertising, purchasing, and research and development. Mr. Peters is chairman of the board of The Philanthropy Roundtable and is also chairman of the board of the Buckeye Institute, an Ohio think tank.
Mr. James Piereson
President
John M. Olin Foundation
Mr. Piereson is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. on the topic “Should Donors Give to University Endowments?”
James Piereson is executive director and trustee of the John M. Olin Foundation in New York City. Before joining the foundation in 1981, Mr. Piereson was a member of the political science faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as a member of the board of The Philanthropy Roundtable and is a member of the board of overseers of the Hoover Institution.
Mr. Reed Porter
President
Trend Homes
Mr. Porter is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 8:00 -12:00 p.m. at “Ordinary Kids, Extraordinary Results: A Site Visit to Tempe Preparatory Academy.”
Mr. Luther Propst
Executive Director
Sonoran Institute
Mr. Propst is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9:00 -10:15 a.m. on the topic “Environmental Challenges in the Desert.”
Luther Propst co-founded and is the executive director of the Sonoran Institute, a nonprofit organization established in 1990. The Institute promotes healthy landscapes, vibrant economies, and livable communities in western North America. Dr. Propst frequently speaks and writes on conservation, growth management, economic development, and state trust lands. Dr. Propst is also an adjunct professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources at the University of Arizona and serves on the school’s advisory council. He received his law degree and master’s of regional planning degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before starting the Sonoran Institute, Dr. Propst practiced law with Robinson & Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, where he practiced land use law and real estate entitlement and finance, representing private-sector and municipal clients. He also worked for the World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Daniel Rose
Chairman
Rose Associates, Inc.
Mr. Rose is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9:00 -10:15 p.m. on the topic “Real Estate Investments.”
Daniel Rose is founder and president of the highly acclaimed Harlem Educational Activities Fund, whose junior high school chess teams have ranked first in the nation and whose inner-city students are flowing into the nation’s leading high schools and colleges. Mr. Rose is also chairman of Rose Associates, Inc., a New York-based real estate organization. He has developed such properties as the award-winning Pentagon City complex in Arlington, Virginia, and the One Financial Center office tower in Boston. Mr. Rose has served as “Expert Advisor” to the Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and as “Expert/Consultant” to the Commissioner of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Mr. Michael Rubin
Research Fellow
American Enterprise Institute
Mr. Rubin is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:45 a.m. - noon on the topic “Strengthening Democratic Values in the Islamic World.”
Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and editor of The Middle East Quarterly. Between 2002 and 2004, Rubin worked as a staff advisor for Iran and Iraq in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, in which capacity he was seconded to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
A native of Philadelphia, he received a B.S. degree in biology from Yale University in 1994, and received a Ph.D. in history from the same institution in 1999. His dissertation, The Making of Modern Iran, 1858-1909: Communications, Telegraph and Society won Yale's top John Addison Porter Prize. He has received numerous policy and academic awards and fellowships, including prestigious fellowships from the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He has previously worked as a lecturer in history at Yale University, Hebrew University, and at three different universities in northern Iraq.
Rubin is the author of Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (2001), in addition to numerous scholarly and policy articles. He has published his opinion articles and analyses widely in such forums as The Washington Post, The New York Times , Wall Street Journal, TheNew Republic, National Review , and Commentary. He has appeared on CNN, Fox, BBC, MSNBC, C-Span’s Washington Journal, and ABC’s Nightline. He serves on the editorial board of Middle East Intelligence Bulletin and is the youngest member of the Committee on the Present Danger. He lectures widely in the United States, Europe, Australia and the Middle East to military and civilian audiences. He has traveled widely in Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Arab World, and Israel.
Mr. William A. Schambra
Senior Fellow and Director
Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal
Mr. Schambra is participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9 – 10:15 AM on the topic “Defining and Measuring Philanthropic Effectiveness.”
William A. Schambra is the director of the Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal. Prior to joining the Hudson Institute, Mr. Schambra was director of programs at the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee. Previously he served as a senior advisor and chief speechwriter for Attorney General Edwin Meese III, Director of the Office of Personnel Management Constance Horner, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis Sullivan. Dr. Schambra was also director of Social Policy Programs for the American Enterprise Institute and co-director of AEI’s “A Decade of Study of the Constitution.” He was appointed by President Reagan to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and by President George W. Bush to the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Mr. Stephen M. Schuck
Chairman
The Schuck Foundation
Mr. Schuck is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 9:00 -10:15 p.m. on the topic “Real Estate Investments.”
Steve Schuck is the co-creator (with his wife) of Parents Challenge, which currently provides scholarships and grants to 250 disadvantaged children in both public and private schools. Mr. Schuck’s focuses on improving public policy, both in Colorado and nationally, so that all parents, regardless of their circumstances, are empowered to choose the education they think is best for their children. In early 2003, his efforts contributed to the passage of Colorado’s HB 1160, the country’s strongest school choice legislation. Mr. Schuck is also the founder of The Schuck Corporation, a major developer of commercial, residential, industrial, and mixed-use projects.
Dr. Daniel Scoggin
Chief Executive Officer
Great Hearts Preparatory Academies
Dr. Scoggin is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 8:00 -12:00 p.m. at “Ordinary Kids, Extraordinary Results: A Site Visit to Tempe Preparatory Academy.”
Dr. Daniel Scoggin earned his BA from Santa Clara University and studied at the University of Durham (U.K.). While completing his Ph.D. in English Literature at the Claremont Graduate University, Dr. Scoggin taught at Harvey Mudd College, The Phoenix Institute at the University of Notre Dame, Mesa Community College, and coached basketball at Pomona College. In 1998, he returned to his hometown to teach humanities and coach at Tempe Preparatory Academy. In 1999, he was promoted from teacher to head of school of Tempe Prep and is now in his sixth year of school and business leadership. He has overseen the growth of Tempe Prep from 180 students to 330, all six graduating classes, and the purchase and development of the school’s new campus. He also was a key figure in writing the Veritas Prep charter and identifying and training its head of school, Andrew Ellison. Dan Scoggin has been widely quoted on the topic of education by the local media. He has also recently published articles in national journals in his academic field of literature and the craft of teaching.
Mr. James H. Shelton III
Program Director
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Mr. Shelton is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:45 a.m. - noon on the topic “Can Urban School Districts Be Reformed?.”
James Shelton is the program director of the Education Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in which capacity he manages all grants in the eastern United States, new school creation and replications, and college access. Prior to joining the foundation, he was a partner and the East Coast lead for the NewSchools Venture Fund. Earlier, he co-founded LearnNow, a school management company that later merged with Edison Schools. Mr. Shelton also spent over four years as a senior management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Atlanta’s Morehouse College, as well as master’s degrees in business administration and education from Stanford University.
Mr. W. Fred Smith
President
The Fourth Partner Foundation
Mr. Smith is a dinner emcee at The Philant hropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 7:00 – 9:30 PM during the topic “Philanthropy and The Purpose Driven Life.”
Fred Smith is the president of The Fourth Partner Foundation, which focuses on Christian philanthropy and community development within the East Texas area. He is also president of The Gathering, an international association of individuals, families, and foundations giving to Christian ministries. Mr. Smith spent several years as teacher and administrator at Charlotte Christian School and The Stony Brook School before joining Leadership Network, where he served as president for 12 years. He is a graduate of Denver University and Harvard Divinity School.
Mr. Marin J. Strmecki
Senior Vice President and Director of Programs
Smith Richardson Foundation
Mr. Strmecki is a participating plenary speaker at The Philant hropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 10 from 2:00 – 3:15 PM on the topic “Philanthropy and Foreign Policy .”
Marin Strmecki is the Senior Vice President and Director of Programs of the Smith Richardson Foundation in Westport, Connecticut. The Foundation, which has approximately $500 million in assets, provides $15 million in grants annually to support public policy research and writing and operates one of the country’s largest grant programs on national security and foreign policy issues. Before joining the Foundation in 1994, he served as a professional staff member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1990-91), a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the Department of Defense (1992), and a legislative assistant to Senator Orrin Hatch (1993-94). He also worked as a Research Associate and Fellow in International Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. (1985-90), where he followed U.S.-Soviet issues and served as an assistant to Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski. In addition, Strmecki served for sixteen years (1978-1994) as a foreign policy assistant or consultant to Richard Nixon, assisting the former president with the research and writing of seven books on foreign policy and politics and other projects. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University, M.A. in International Affairs from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University, and J.D. from Yale Law School.
Ms. Sandra Swirski
Principal
Venn Strategies, LLC
Ms. Swirski is a participating speaker at the Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM on the topic "Protecting Philanthropic Freedom on Capitol Hill: What's Next?"
Sandra Swirski joined Venn Strategies, LLC as a principal after more than ten years of public policy and government relations experience in the private sector and on Capitol Hill. Ms. Swirski has worked for a national political consulting firm, a multinational Fortune 15 company, two senior U.S. senators, and a leading professional services firm. In November of 2003, Ms. Swirski was named as one of Washington's Top 10 Tax Lobbyists by Tax Analysts along with colleague, Anne Urban. In choosing the top ten, the publication surveyed congressional Members and staff, other tax lobbyists and Washington political insiders on whom they believe are the best tax lobbyists.
Ms. Swirski’s areas of expertise include tax, retirement and Social Security policy matters. Before joining Venn Strategies, Ms. Swirski was a managing director in the Washington, D.C. office of Clark & Weinstock. While at Clark & Weinstock, Ms. Swirski advised clients on a wide range of strategic challenges -- from mergers and acquisitions to public policy to corporate crises. In addition, she advised clients on enhancing their political positioning with those institutions, individuals, and audiences able to influence the outcome of their business objectives.
Prior to joining Clark & Weinstock, Ms. Swirski directed the Washington government relations office of Mobil Corporation. In that capacity, she was a member of the elite executive team that developed Mobil's global and domestic policy positions on issues including global climate change, unilateral economic sanctions, and domestic foreign tax issues. While at Mobil, Ms. Swirski led a successful coalition effort to turn back efforts to increase federal taxes on multinational oil companies.
Before joining Mobil Corporation, Ms. Swirski worked for two senior members of the Finance Committee -- first for Sen. Jack Danforth (R-MO) and then for Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY). Ms. Swirski advised both centrist-minded Senators on tax/finance/retirement and other policy matters. As counsel for Sen. Danforth, she focused on complex pension legislation. Ms. Swirski also served as chief counsel for the Senate Social Security Subcommittee under Sen. Simpson. While chief counsel, she successfully positioned Sen. Simpson as a leader on Social Security Reform.
Prior to her service in the Senate, Ms. Swirski advised multinational clients on mergers and acquisitions and complex corporate transactions as a tax lawyer with Ernst & Young.
Ms. Swirski received a B.A. from Emory University, a J.D. from George Washington University and a LL.M. in taxation from Georgetown University.
Mr. Jim Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
Community Capital Development
Mr. Thomas is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. on the topic “Promoting Minority Enterprise.”
Jim Thomas is chief executive officer of Community Capital Development (CCD), a Community Development Financial Institution established to serve distressed communities primarily in Seattle and western Washington State. Mr. Thomas’s professional background spans 18 years as a commercial banker, during which time he discovered how powerful small businesses can be, not only in revitalizing local economies but also in providing opportunities and jobs to low- to moderate-income Americans. In 1993, Mr. Thomas and a business partner formed Parker & Thomas, Inc., a financial management and consulting firm that managed loan funds for municipalities. This experience served as the foundation for CCD, which Mr. Thomas established in August 1997. Mr. Thomas earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Mr. Gary Tobin
President
Institute for Jewish & Community Research
Mr. Tobin is a participating plenary speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 10:30 a.m. - noon on the topic “A Conversation with Lester Crown"
Dr. Gary A. Tobin is the president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research in San Francisco. He is also director of the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Program in Jewish Policy Research at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. He earned his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He was the director for fourteen years of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. Prior to joining Brandeis, Dr. Tobin spent eleven years on faculty at Washington University, St. Louis.
Gary Tobin is the author of numerous books, articles, and planning reports on a broad range of subjects. He has published widely in the areas of organizational planning, foundations, and philanthropy. His books include Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, Rabbis Talk About Intermarriage and Opening The Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize The Jewish Community. Dr. Tobin is now completing a book entitled, Anti-Israelism & Anti-Semitism in America’s Educational Systems. Dr. Tobin has been a consultant with hundreds of non-profits.
Ms. Susan Tucker
President and CEO
Open Society Institute
Ms. Tucker is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday November 11, 2005 from 2:15- 3:30 PM on the topic "Re-integrating Former Prisoners into Healthy Communities ."
Susan B. Tucker is the director of the After Prison Initiative, a program of the U.S. Justice Fund of the Open Society Institute, a not-for-profit operating and grantmaking foundation established by international financier George Soros to promote civil society. The After Prison Initiative was created to decrease the number and racial disproportionality of people going back to prison and to assure community safety and well-being by promoting policies and practices that facilitate responsible, lawful citizenship after prison. Before joining the Open Society Institute, Ms. Tucker was director of policy and research for Victim Services (now Safe Horizon) in New York City, where she wrote and lectured on victim activism, the inter-generational cycle of domestic violence, intimate violence as a workplace issue, and re-visioning ESOL to include anti-racism curricula. Previously she worked as associate professor at the NYU School of Law, director of alumni affairs at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and as a trial and appellate lawyer in New York City.
Mr. Ozgur Unluhisarcikli
Project Manager
ARI Movement
Mr. Unluhisarcikli is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:30 a.m. - noon on the topic “Strengthening Democratic Values in the Islamic World.”
Özgür Ünlühisarcikli is the director of the ARI Movement in Turkey. ARI works to promote the “New Social Understanding,” which envisages that politics should not be restricted to political parties but should also be formulated by civil-political entities, civil society organizations, and institutes. Mr. Ünlühisarcikli has worked as a consultant on E.U. affairs in AB Consultancy and Business Services. He was also the manager of the Human Rights for All Project, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Social Participation and Development Foundation. He has a graduate degree from Marmara University’s Department of Business Administration and an MBA degree from Koç University.
Mr. Benjamin Valore-Caplan
Certified Investment Management Analyst
UBS Financial Services Inc.
Mr. Valore-Caplan is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Trustee Leadership Pre-Conference on Wednesday and Thursday on the topic “Investment and Fiduciary Responsibilities .”
Benjamin Valore-Caplan , a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA), founded and leads the BVC Foundations Group of UBS Financial Services Inc. His team is one of a h andful of advisors nationwide designated by UBS to serve as institutional consultants, and in that capacity, Ben advises a nationwide clientele of foundations, nonprofit, and charitable families. Mr. Valore-Caplan has devoted many years to establishing and directing numerous nonprofit initiatives, primarily focused on creating educational opportunity for low-income youth. He serves as an instructor for the Society of Certified Public Accountants, graduated from Brown University, and earned his MBA at the University of Denver and his CIMA designation through the Wharton School of Business. He is the author of the award-winning business book, Leadership Magic: Practical Tools for Creating Extraordinary Organizations. Ben also serves on the Editorial Board of The Monitor, an industry publication of the Investment Management Consultants Association.
Mr. John Von Kannon
Vice President and Treasurer
The Heritage Foundation
Mr. Von Kannon is speaking at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:45 a.m. to noon. His topic is “Things Foundations Do That Drive Nonprofits Crazy.”
John Von Kannon is vice president and treasurer of The Heritage Foundation, where he oversees its fundraising programs. He has worked with foundations—as well as individual and corporate donors—for 33 years, primarily at Heritage, but also at TheAmerican Spectator, Pacific Legal Foundation, and as a consultant for a variety of nonprofits. He also serves on the boards of two small private foundations as well as the Donors Capital Fund, the free-market donor-advised fund affiliated with Donors Trust. Through his activities on both the grantseeking and grantmaking sides, Von Kannon has gained a deep appreciation for the role that thoughtful philanthropy plays in America, and he is a strong advocate of donor intent, which he sees as a job for foundations and charities alike.
Mr. Rick Warren
Author
The Purpose Driven Life
Mr. Warren is a participating dinner speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Thursday November 10, 2005 on the topic "Philanthropy and the Purpose Driven Life."
Rick Warren is an author and pastor. Time named him one of “15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004.” Dr. Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA, one of America’s largest and best-known churches. He also founded the Purpose Driven movement, a global network of over 100,000 churches in 160 countries, and has trained over 350,000 pastors, ministers, and priests worldwide. According to Publishers Weekly, Rick’s book The Purpose Driven Life has been the bestselling book in the world for both 2003 and 2004, and is the bestselling hardback non-fiction book in American history. It has been on The New York Times bestseller list for a record 110 weeks and has been translated into over 50 languages. Rick’s previous book, The Purpose Driven Church, also an international bestseller, won the prestigious Gold Medallion Award in 1996 and was voted one of the “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20 th Century.” Forbes called it “the best book on entrepreneurship, business, and leadership.” Rick and Kay Warren give away 90 percent of the profits of the book to charitable causes, including their global P.E.A.C.E. plan, and Acts of Mercy, which serves those infected and affected by AIDS.
Mr. Donn Weinberg
Vice President
Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Mr. Weinberg is a participating moderator at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. on the topic “The Future of Cities ”
Donn Weinberg is vice president and a trustee of the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland. The foundation pays out some $95 million a year in grants, supporting a number of organizations that in turn help the poor elevate themselves. Among the many organizations supported by the foundation are the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Operation HOPE, the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, STRIVE, and The Philanthropy Roundtable.
Mr. Darryl Williams
Director in Research and Policy
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Mr. Williams is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. on the topic"Promoting Minority Enterprise "
Daryl Williams is the director of Minority Entrepreneurship Programs at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Previously, he was financial director for the Graduate Student Professional Association, research assistant for the K.U. Affiliated Program, and research assistant with the Gerontology Center. Mr. Williams has also been an instructor at Highland Community College and was co-owner of G.W. Media Group from 1991 to 1995. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology from the University of Kansas, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in sociology. He belongs to the American Sociological Association, the Midwest Sociological Association, and the Association of Black Sociologists.
Mr. Charles Wolf
Senior Economic Adviser and Corporate Fellow in International Economics
RAND
Mr. Wolf is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Environmental Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11 from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. on the topic “Graduate Education in National Security Studies.”
Charles Wolf, Jr. is senior economic adviser and corporate fellow in international economics at RAND and Professor of Public Policy in the RAND Graduate School. He received his B.S. and Ph.D degrees in economics from Harvard. From 1967 until June 1981, he was head of RAND’s Economics Department, and thereafter was director of RAND research in international economics. He was the founding dean of the RAND Graduate School, and served in that capacity from 1970 to 1997.
Dr. Wolf is a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a director of Capital Income Builder Fund, Inc. and Capital World Growth and Income Fund, Inc. Dr. Wolf has served with the Department of State, and has taught at Cornell, the University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, and Nuffield College, Oxford. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for International Business and Economic Research at UCLA’s Anderson School. He is the author of more than 250 journal articles and the author or coauthor of two-dozen books including Markets or Governments: Choosing Between Imperfect Alternatives (1993) MIT Press, The Economic Pivot in a Political Context (1997), Asian Economic Trends and Their Security Implications (2000), Straddling Economics and Politics: Cross-Cutting Issues in Asia, the United States, and the Global Economy (2002), Fault Lines in China’s Economic Terrain (2003), and North Korean Paradoxes: Circumstances, Costs, and Consequences of Korean Unification (2005). He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and The Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Wolf’s main research and policy interests are the international economy, international security, and the relations between them.
For further information, see Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the West, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business.
Ms. Karen Woods
Director
Acton Institute
Ms. Woods is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 10:30 a.m. - noon on the topic “Prizes for Social Entreprenuership.”
Karen Woods was executive director of The Empowerment Network, based in Muskegon, Michigan, a national research and training organization for community groups and lawmakers before joining the Acton Institute. She was also previously a research analyst with the State of Michigan’s Family Independence Agency. She is an expert on welfare reform policy and has trained numerous community and charitable groups on funding and management issues. Ms. Woods is Director of the Center for Effective Compassion, the unit within the institute that promotes models of private, voluntary charitable service aimed at helping the needy. She also directs the Samaritan Awards, an annual recognition of the best charitable organizations in the United States that operate predominately with private funds.
Mr. Robert L. Woodson
President
National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
Mr. Woodson is a participating speaker at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on Friday November 11, 2005 from 2:15- 3:30 PM on the topic “Re-integrating Former Prisoners into Healthy Communities.”
Robert L. Woodson Sr. is founder and president of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (NCNE), a research and demonstration organization created in 1981 to support grassroots initiatives addressing such societal problems as family dissolution, youth violence, and substance abuse, and engendering social and economic revitalization in their communities. A strong proponent of strategies of self-help and empowerment, Woodson is frequently featured as a social commentator in the print and on-air media. Among the many awards he has received is the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship.
