The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy seeks to advance the understanding of the vital connections between philanthropy and policy. To this end, it is convening a series of interviews with leaders who can help illuminate how philanthropy can inform and influence key areas of policy that affect human well-being, and how policy shapes the strategies available to philanthropy as it pursues the public good. The purpose of these conversations is to inform a research agenda that will advance understanding of how philanthropy can engage policy usefully, and also what kinds of policy architectures are most conducive to the kinds of philanthropy that foster a vibrant civil society.

Participants can attend virtually or in person, and there is no fee to attend! Contact Paige Smith and Lisa Susemichel with any questions.

Speakers

Diane Kaplan (former president of the Rasmuson Foundation) currently serves as a senior fellow at the school and will moderate the discussion with Melissa Berman.

Melissa Berman, Adjunct Professor, Columbia University’s Business School

From 2002 to 2024, Melissa was the founding president and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc. (RPA), an innovative nonprofit philanthropy service launched by the Rockefeller family. RPA’ mission is to accelerate philanthropy in pursuit of a just world.  Melissa built RPA into one of the world’s leading philanthropic advisory, grantmaking research and project management services, facilitating more than $500 million per year across dozen of countries in all major issue areas.  Under her leadership, RPA developed the “Philanthropy Roadmap” series of donor guides with support from the Gates Foundation.  She also developed “The Theory of the Foundation” research program and is the author of multiple reports in that initiative.

 

A frequent speaker, Melissa has been a guest lecturer at universities across the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia.  As a widely recognized expert in philanthropy, Melissa has been profiled and interviewed in major media. An adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Business School, Melissa is also a director/trustee of Candid, Equality Now and the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation. She serves on the advisory board of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia University. In 2023, She was a Bellagio Center fellow. Melissa holds a bachelors from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.