Century Foundation’s Li to Chair Philanthropy New York Board

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Century Foundation’s Li to Chair Philanthropy New York Board

As PNY Prepares for Move to New Philanthropy Center at 1500 Broadway, Five Foundation Leaders Also Join PNY Board

New York City – At its 36th Annual Meeting yesterday, Philanthropy New York, the regional association of grantmakers with global impact, elected five new members to its Board of Directors and announced the new leadership of its Executive Committee. Philip Li, Chief Administrative Officer of The Century Foundation will become the Chair and serve a two-year term.

“At a time when Philanthropy New York is moving into an exciting new era with the creation of the new Philanthropy Center at 1500 Broadway, informed and deeply engaged leadership for our organization is more important than ever,” Philanthropy New York President Ronna Brown said. “Phil Li and the rest our committed Board Members are absolutely crucial to advancing our ambitious vision for the next decade and beyond.”

Li has served for the past three years as Philanthropy New York’s Treasurer and has been on the Board since 2010. Prior to joining The Century Foundation in 2011, Li was the Chief Operating Officer for Brooklyn Community Foundation, another Philanthropy New York member. He has worked with nonprofit organizations and foundations as a philanthropic services consultant at Changing Our World. He also served as the executive director of the Coro New York Leadership Center, which trains and develops new generations of civic leaders.

Li is joined on the Philanthropy New York Executive Committee by:

Vice Chair:           Jay Beckner, President of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation

Vice Chair:           Elizabeth Sak, Executive Director of The Cricket Island Foundation

Secretary:           Jane O’Connell, President of Altman Foundation

Treasurer:           James Knickman, President and CEO of the New York State Health Foundation.

The foundation leaders newly elected to the Philanthropy New York Board of Directors are:

Eric Eckholdt, Executive Director, Credit Suisse Americas Foundation

Jeanne Haws, Chief Operating Officer, Wellspring Advisors LLC

Kavitha Mediratta, Head, Racial Equity Programmes, The Atlantic Philanthropies

Ana Oliveira, President and CEO, The New York Women’s Foundation

Patricia Swann, Senior Program Officer, Community, Development and Environment, The New York Community Trust

Each new board member is elected to a three-year term and will be eligible for a second three-year term in 2018.

 

The Philanthropy Center at 1500 Broadway

Later this month, Philanthropy New York will move from its offices near Union Square to its new home at 1500 Broadway in the heart of Times Square.  The new Philanthropy Center will provide expanded, technologically sophisticated conference facilities for use by Philanthropy New York members and foundations leaders from around the world to convene leaders of the philanthropic, business, government and nonprofit sectors.

The Philanthropy Center at 1500 Broadway is made possible by contributions and pledges to the Fund for 2025.  Created to invest in PNY members’ expansive vision for increasing the capacity of the region’s entire philanthropic sector, the Fund for 2025 is also making possible the creation of a Public Policy Fellowship program, expanded programming, larger investments in technology and communications resources, and long-term sustainability planning.

About Philanthropy New York

Created as a nonprofit organization in 1979 by New York City-based foundations, Philanthropy New York’s primary mission is to support its members’ work to serve the public good. Philanthropy New York began as the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (NYRAG). Philanthropy New York is the principal professional community of approximately 285 private, corporate, family and public grantmaking organizations based in the New York City region, and provides a broad range of services to over 3,500 individual philanthropic professionals and trustees of those organizations. Taken together, our members provide support totaling over $7 billion each year to thousands of nonprofit organizations located in New York and around the world, which in turn focus on an almost endless range of issues and concerns.

PNY fosters educational conversations between grantmakers and public officials, and this in turn helps inform policymakers about the important role the philanthropic community plays in our region and beyond. PNY offers policy-focused programs and convenings so members can exchange information about policy engagement and develop public/private partnerships with policymakers designed to achieve common goals. PNY is also the publisher of the New York PhilanthroPost, a source for original content and aggregated news on the New York region’s philanthropic and nonprofit sectors launched in June 2014.