As CEP undertakes a three-year, three-part study of the impact of MacKenzie Scott’s gifts on the nonprofits that have received her gifts as well as their influence on other funders, we are grateful to the individuals listed here for their advice and counsel. This research project will run from 2022-2024; you can now read the first report in the study, Giving Big: The Impact of Large, Unrestricted Gifts on Nonprofits, and the second report, Emerging Impacts: The Effects of MacKenzie Scott’s Large, Unrestricted Gifts.

Big Gifts Study Advisory Group 

  • Ava Willis-Barksdale
    Vice President of Advancement
    and Development
    Oakwood University

  • Ramsey Alwin
    President & CEO
    National Council on Aging
  • Yvonne Belanger
    Director of Learning & Evaluation
    Barr Foundation
  • Brita Blesi
    Director, Learning and Evaluation
    Houston Endowment
  • Peter Brach
    Founder
    Propel Philanthropy
    Manager, Funders 2025 Donor Advised Fund
  • Elizabeth Christopherson
    President & CEO
    Rita Allen Foundation
  • Matthew Forti
    Managing Director
    One Acre Fund USA
  • Pam Foster
    Chief Operating Officer
    Co-Impact
  • Sampriti Ganguli
    Senior Advisor
    Arabella Advisors
  • Shivani Garg Patel
    Chief Strategy Officer
    Skoll Foundation
  • Tim Garvin
    President & CEO
    United Way of Central Massachusetts
  • Stephanie Gillis
    Director, Impact-Driven Philanthropy Initiative
    Raikes Foundation
  • Kathara Green
    Chief of Staff and Managing Director
    Skoll Foundation
  • Bob Hughes
    Former CEO
    Missouri Foundation for Health
  • Carol Karutu
    Vice President of Programs
    END Fund
  • Shaheen Kassim-Lakha
    Senior Director
    Strategic Partnerships
    Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
  • Ruth Levine
    Vice President
    Just Societies and Chief Learning Officer
    David & Lucile Packard Foundation
  • Vanessa McDowell-Atlas 
    CEO
    YWCA Madison
  • Suzanne Raether
    Development Director
    Alternate ROOTS
  • Lysa Ratliff
    CEO
    KABOOM!
  • Kathy Reich
    Director
    Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD)
    Ford Foundation
  • Billy Shore
    Executive Chair
    Share Our Strength
  • Maria Stecker
    Senior Program Officer
    Grantmaking
    Longwood Foundation
  • Jehan Velji
    Director
    Effective Philanthropy Group
    The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
  • Marcus Walton
    President & CEO
    Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
  • Melanie Willingham-Jaggers
    Executive Director
    GLSEN

Funders