The Council of Foundation Leaders is a standing advisory group of professional leaders, knowledgeable about the roles, responsibilities, and practices of effective governance for institutionally related foundations. They also have a deep understanding of the purpose of institutionally related foundations and the inherent dynamics of interrelatedness between foundations and the universities, systems, and colleges they serve. The Council meets quarterly.
George P. Watt
AGB Senior Consultant, Senior Fellow, and Membership Ambassador
Former Executive Vice President, Institutional Advancement
and Executive Director, College of Charleston Foundation
Former President, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and U.S. Naval Academy Foundation
Blaire Atkinson
Oklaholma State University Foundation
Trishana Bowden
George Mason University Foundation
Gretchen Buhlig
Arizona State University Foundation
Rich Bundy
University of Cincinnati Foundation
Deanna Carlson Zink
UND Alumni Association & Foundation
Endia DeCordova
Morgan State University Foundation, Inc.
Jay Dowd
The Citadel Foundation
JT Forbes
Indiana University Foundation
Rodney Grabowski
University of Central Florida Foundation
Cheryl Harrelson
Georgia State University Foundation
Brian Hastings
University of Nebraska Foundation
Abby Kelso
Evergreen State College Foundation
Matthew Lambert
William & Mary Foundation
Lynette Marshall
University of Iowa Center for Advancement
Karen McCauley
Clemson University Foundation
Jeff Mills
University of Maine Foundation
Melissa Mount
Fort Lewis College Foundation
Robert Nava
California State University San Bernardino Philanthropic Foundation
Alisa Robertson
Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association
Cynthia Roth
West Virginia University Foundation
Katherine Sawyer
Oakton College Educational Foundation
Amanda Sbriscia
Holyoke Community College Foundation
Tyson Voelkel
Texas A&M University
Matt White
Utah State University Foundation
Gretchen Wood
Monroe Community College
With thanks to AGB Mission Champion Commonfund for their support of this council.
Tim Yates
President & CEO
Commonfund OCIO
Top-of-mind priorities for foundation leaders in 2021 include the return to foundation offices; talent management and diversity, equity and inclusion; the foundation’s sustainability; tensions over the use of funds raised and managed by the foundation; and the institution-foundation partnership.
The operational uncertainty unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic creates stress for everyone in higher education, not least foundation leaders, board members, and staff.
AGB’s Council of Foundation Leaders convened in late September to discuss current and emerging issues spanning the effects of the pandemic; financial sustainability; strategic alignment; cyber risk oversight; campus activism; and justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JDE&I).
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