Smart Assets: The Philanthropy New York Blog

By Ilene Mack

I have spent more than three decades in the world of philanthropy, as a program officer at a major national private foundation. I entered with little or no knowledge about my new profession, but what I knew for sure was that it was worlds away from the for-profit, corporate sector that I had known for the prior ten years. I believed it was a sector that existed on a higher plain, which did its work with honor, respect, and integrity. There was no bottom line to be concerned with; we were in the business of doing good—of caring, and being compassionate—and good we did. We were idealistic, believing that with enough people of good will working together and as a community, positive social change could be achieved. Poverty would be alleviated, if not eradicated; education would be reformed; healthcare would become equitable; and discourse would be civil. We were in a partnership with our grantees. There would be accountability and transparency, leading to effectiveness and efficiency. The playing field would be leveled. We didn’t need a bulldozer—fairness, and the notion that we were all in this together, would do the job. I was, in short, part of a field that intended to be a “foundation” for change and betterment.

I treated my grantees as I treated my friends, relatives, business associates, and colleagues—with respect and humility. Just because I worked for an institution that gave out money did not make me superior to my grantees. Now that I am retired, my perspective, often from the other side of the desk, has altered. I am afraid that much of the field and some of my colleagues have forgotten the meaning of their positions at the foundations they work for and the roles that they play.
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