Back to School: New People, Roles, & Partners

There are few times of the year as exhilarating for our team as the start of a new school year. This September, we’re starting with more momentum and energy than ever before. I’m pleased to announce the following:

New people

Peter Frumkin, Faculty Director

Peter Frumkin has joined the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy & Practice as a professor of social policy, director of the nonprofit leadership masters program, and as the first faculty director for the Center for High Impact Philanthropy. Prior to coming to Penn, Peter was professor of public affairs and director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service  at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. Peter brings a research and teaching background in philanthropy, nonprofit management, and social entrepreneurship. He’s the author of multiple books on topics such as strategic giving, nonprofit management, and community service. I’m thrilled to welcome him as a partner in our ongoing efforts to ensure that philanthropic capital makes the greatest social impact. In particular, he and I will be working closely to expand both the issue-specific analyses for which our Center has become known, as well as develop decision-making tools to support all donors seeking high impact, no matter what issue or cause they target.

New roles

Katherina Rosqueta, Executive Director

Carol McLaughlin, Research Director

My fellow founding team member, Carol McLaughlin, joined the center to lead our global public health work. Carol has now assumed the role of center research director, reflecting the leadership she has demonstrated across all of our major efforts and sector analyses. In addition to Carol’s role as research director and my continued role as the Center’s founding executive director, both Carol and I have been appointed adjunct faculty in the School of Social Policy & Practice. Carol will continue as an instructor in the Perelman School of Medicine, teaching the Global Health Policy & Delivery and Issues in Global Health courses. I will continue to lecture in Wharton’s Social Impact & Responsibility, as well as teach the core nonprofit management and strategy course in the masters in nonprofit leadership program within the School of Social Policy & Practice.

New partners

We have been fortunate to have recently partnered with the Ford Foundation for our work on high impact philanthropy to improve teaching quality and the Annie E. Casey Foundation for our work addressing the needs of vulnerable children and families (see our inaugural donor seminar as well as our joint Foundation Review article).

To these partners, we’re excited to add:

• The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation for general operating support
• The Trustees’ Philanthropy Fund of Fidelity Charitable for capacity building investments
• The Claneil Foundation & the Campbell Soup Company for developing an opportunity map for food funders

Hewlett and Fidelity are two of the few national, institutional funders investing in strengthening the philanthropic sector overall. Their support represents both recognition of and an important investment in the role our Center plays in translating knowledge so that individual donors and their advisors can make a bigger difference in the lives of others. In 2011, individual donors made up approximately 73% of all charitable donations within the U.S.

Thanks to the support of the Claneil Foundation, Campbell Soup Company, and our partnership with the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, our team will be developing an online opportunity map to help donors identify the most high impact paths to achieving food-related social impacts. Obesity, hunger, and sustainable agriculture are just some of the issues that food funders seek to address.

Old, new partner

Kathleen Noonan, PolicyLab

And before I sign off, a quick welcome back to Kathleen Noonan, our Center’s former associate director, who has returned from serving as a clinical associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Kathleen now serves as co-director to PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a fellow contributor of evidence-based solutions that are the cornerstone to higher impact philanthropy.