The Olympics are famous for the publicity they attract: companies fight to sponsor the games, cities compete to host them, and every media outlet focuses exclusively on Olympics coverage for weeks. Millions in revenue end up in the pockets of everyone involved, including the athletes. Some of these athletes have found a way to turn […]
Over the last decade, Katherine Farley has been an invaluable figure on the arts scene in New York City. She’s been involved with the New York Philharmonic and the Lincoln Center for years, and she is currently the chair of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. Farley and her husband have been referred to as […]
To say that John Arnold “retired” this May is misleading. John Arnold stopped his work at the hedge fund he managed in order to focus all of his attention on the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, a foundation he and his wife created “to produce substantial, widespread and lasting reforms that will maximize opportunities and […]
After his work as the director of the Museum of Modern Art, one would think that Glenn Lowry would be fed up with working for the arts. Nevertheless, Lowry uses his spare time outside of the MoMA to support the arts through groups like the Judd Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving and spreading the […]
Bruce Cohen has created magic onscreen as the producer of critically lauded films such as Big Fish, American Beauty, and Milk. Away from the cameras, however, he tries to create something else: change. As the president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), Cohen works for equal rights for Americans. AFER is currently focused on marriage equality, […]
As a young researcher at an immunology lab, Pam Omidyar spent hours examining cancer cells in her lab. In order to relax after work, she would play video games, and she began to wonder if video games could also act as therapy for children struggling with cancer. And thus began HopeLab, a nonprofit that conducts […]
For a long time, causes and capitalism ran on parallel yet separate tracks: philanthropists and entrepreneurs alike worked endlessly in order to gain attention and support from the public. Companies sought profit while charities sought aid. Today more consumers are seeking products, services, and retailers that use their influence and their means to support a […]
It’s a common problem. You want to volunteer someplace, but don’t know where to get started. How do you find a place to volunteer? Are you just supposed to hit the internet and Google things like “soup kitchen,” or “build houses” in your area? Are you supposed to look up charities you’ve vaguely heard of, […]
Sometimes to change things in politics you need to have access to an insider, someone who believes in your cause and who knows how to get things done. In order to cover all aspects of philanthropy more effectively we are profiling prominent individuals in philanthropy. Ken Mehlman understands politics. So when the New York state legislature […]
There aren’t that many who can take a terrible personal loss and turn it into a quest for good. In our quest to cover prominent individuals in philanthropy we are profiling prominent individuals in the field. People like Joseph O’Donnell. In 1986 Joseph O’Donnell, a well-known Boston business executive , lost his son Joey to cystic […]