Philanthropy
Career Panel: Philanthropy and Community Affairs
Facilitator: David Liebschutz, Assistant Dean for Career & Alumni
Programs
University at Albany, SUNY, Rockefeller College
Blue Garnet Associates LLC/NetImpact
Way-Ting Chen, Partner & Co-Founder/LA Chapter President
Getty Foundation
Laura Cogburn, Grants Management Database Specialist
Sempra Energy Community Affairs
Valerie Lertyaovarit, Manager, Community Relations
Southern California Grantmakers
Judy Spiegel, Interim President
Judy Spiegel





When you work with foundations -people love you or not.
Lots of challenges and opportunities.
Grant making world – grant makers come in different forms. How they are
organized is important.
Corporate grant makers and public foundations.
Vast array of backgrounds of people who work in foundations. No cookie cutter
mold or single entry point.
5 broad areas
1. Private foundations
 Money comes from a single source- the Gates foundation is the largest.
2. Family foundations
 The largest growing philanthropic section. Foundations that represent the values
of the families that contributed to them.
 Most foundations do not have staff, decisions made by a board. No proposals that
come in.
 Family members think about what they want to do and go out and find
organizations they want to donate to. Rockefeller is an example.
3. Corporate
 A corporation creates separate organization, separate board.
4. Public foundations
 Includes community foundations. Money comes from many donors. Include
Board of directors. They have staff that operate grant making process. United
Way is an example.
5. Financial Institutions are creating foundations such as Merrill Lynch.
LA Times wants to run an article about small businesses that give to the community. We
don’t have any information yet. Corporate giving is not reported the way foundations
report.
Way-Ting Chen
4 different areas.
1. Founding partners for LA Ventures partner. Individuals give the most in the social
sector. One way to give is to write an individual check. Another is to pool with
other individuals and give one check. This way it makes a bigger impact.
Venture partners – getting involved with the organization. Also provide money.
For example focusing on charter schools, help develop marketing strategy so they
can reach a broader audience. Most chapters only have a few staff.
2. Big issue we have is nonprofit is fragmented. Over 1 million nonprofit
organizations. Only 20% file forms with the IRS. If you solicit more than 25K
you need to file forms with IRS. We will need talent in nonprofit sector.
Nonprofit run like small businesses. It can be frustrating.
3. Founder of consulting firm – we try to pair business with social change. Try to
consult around strategic management. Consulting is also fragmented. It is
flexible, but you are the entire staff – if you are trying to do individual consulting.
4. Chapter Lead for LA chapter of netimpact – trying to change things through
business. Resource for students interested in getting into this field. We have
chapters in most MBA programs. Once students graduate, we form professional
chapters. 25 chapters in major international cities – to help likeminded people get
together. www.netimpact.org
Laura Cogburn


Pure foundation – we review proposals, give out money.
Works for Getty foundation. We are part of a community that includes the Getty
museum, library. They are all related to the visual arts and preservation. We are
not required to give away money. Give out 15/16 million a year to museums,
universities, conservation of art.


We have programs for internships for undergraduates and graduates. The
internship is for 9-12 months. Some are administrative positions. Students from
PhD. programs, public policy etc.
Nobody starts off saying I want to work with philanthropy as a career path. She
was the first graduate intern at the Getty and became a grant writer. It is difficult
to ask for money. Learning to do it and then going to the other side is a benefit.
Getty is a specialized foundation. She is an administrator. Grant management is
a growing field, understanding how you give away money. There are
opportunities, if you are willing to be underpaid for a little while.
David – let us talk about the corporate side.
Valerie Lertyaovarit


Sempra energy is a corporate foundation. We have guidelines. No particular
pathway to get in. I got in. I have an Engineering degree from UCLA, earned an
MPA. Wanted to get into environmental work. A lot of classes were taken in
business area.
In business school they talked about corporate social responsibility. At first
SEMPRA did environmental work. Stumbled upon this job, networking. People
in this kind of position tend to be chatty, and wear different hats.
Q – Is this a B school program (Netimpact)?
Way-Ting Chen –




Netimpact is so business-focused because it started out of business school.
We see more people without MBAs at the professional chapters.
No rules that prevent a non MBA school from starting a chapter.
No effort to exclude, but we do focus on the business field.
Q – How do I get a job in a foundation for students? Can you talk about grants?
Laura Cogburn



Usually program officers, program associates – depending on size of organization.
These are jobs work closely with applicants/clients (grant seekers). It is exciting
and frustrating.
Ability to communicate well, and firmly scope and parameters. People are
persistent on asking for money. You talk to someone about a project, read their
proposal. Depending on levels of staff, the program manager might recommend it
or not, and move it forward or not.
You have to be a facilitator. More opportunities in smaller foundations
(community foundation).
Judy Spiegel




One foundation looks like another. Having some experience in the field helps.
32 regional associates of grant makers. Look at local regional associations.
I am biased towards community foundations. They are community oriented.
You say no more times than you say yes.
Laura Cogburn

NY, Washington, San Francisco are the best places to look for work.
Judy Spiegel





CA association of nonprofits. www.canonprofits.org
TCC groups are resources for jobs. www.tccgrp.com
Southern California Grantmakers is an example of one of the many Regional
Associations of Grantmakers (RAG). In Washington, DC they are called Wash
RAGS www.washingtongrantmakers.org
EPIP Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy www.epip.org is another place.
Another is the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. www.allianceonline.org
Wang - CSR is a field that is moving quickly.
SEMPRA – We are regulated, slowly moving towards CSR work. We don’t have a
consumer product, so it is not easy.
Maciek Kolodziejczak

For your peers in community affairs, do you see any particular trends? How do
you meet your peers?
Valerie Lertyaovarit

It is all about relationship building.