Tiffany Cooper Gueye, Ph.D., Chair
Tiffany recently served as the Chief Operating Officer at Blue Meridian Partners, Inc., a pioneering philanthropic model for finding and funding scalable solutions to the problems that limit economic mobility for America’s families living in poverty. As COO, Tiffany provided strategic leadership for the operating systems and shared services necessary to support Blue Meridian’s growth, performance and value proposition to investee organizations and investors. Prior to that she managed a portfolio of Blue Meridian investments and the Impact Partner group of investors.
From 2008 to 2017, Tiffany was the Chief Executive Officer of BellXcel, a national youth-serving organization. Tiffany started her career there in 1998 and served in a variety of roles. She was a driving force in creating a data-driven culture of continuous improvement, leading the organization’s growth to tens of thousands of beneficiaries nationwide, and spearheading shifts in the organization’s strategy and economic model. BellXcel’s programs, partnership model, and evidence base have become nationally recognized in the expanded learning industry.
Tiffany earned a BA in Psychology and a PhD in Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation both from Boston College, which has honored her with a Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award and an honorary Doctor of Science in Education degree.
Paul Beaudet
Paul Beaudet is Executive Director of Wilburforce Foundation, which assures that native wildlife thrive throughout networks of connected lands and waters in Western North America. Paul leads the foundation’s program teams that invest in science, conservation policy, and community engagement. He also manages the foundation’s capacity building program, investing in grantee organizations and leaders to better plan, manage and sustain their work.
Paul originally joined Wilburforce in 1999 as Program Officer for Evaluation, and was promoted to Associate Director in 2002. Prior to that, he was Associate Director of the Pride Foundation, strengthening the LGBT community in the Pacific Northwest. He has also worked at a variety of nonprofit organizations in fundraising and programmatic roles, including the League of Conservation Voters, the Music Center of Los Angeles, Pacific Science Center, and the University of Washington.
Paul earned a Masters in Nonprofit Leadership from Seattle University in 1996, and later served on the program’s Visiting Committee and as adjunct faculty. He also recently completed seven years as Chair of the Program Strategies Committee and Vice Chair of the Board of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.
He, his husband, and a beloved mutt split their time between Seattle and Guemes Island.
Phil Buchanan, Ex Officio
Phil Buchanan, president of CEP, is a passionate advocate for the importance of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector and deeply committed to the cause of helping foundations and individual donors to maximize their impact. Hired in 2001 as the organization’s first chief executive, Phil has led the growth of CEP into the leading provider of data and insight on philanthropic effectiveness. CEP has been widely credited with bringing the voices of stakeholders to funders and with contributing to an increased emphasis on key elements of effectiveness.
Phil is author of Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count, published in the spring of 2019 by PublicAffairs. He is co-author of many CEP research reports, a frequent contributor to The Chronicle of Philanthropy (after serving as a columnist there from 2013 to 2019), a frequent blogger for the CEP Blog, author of op eds that have appeared in publications such as The Financial Times and The Boston Globe, and a frequent commentator on philanthropy in the media. Phil is also co-founder of YouthTruth, an initiative of CEP’s designed to harness student perceptions to help educators and funders accelerate improvements in K–12 schools and classrooms. In 2016, he was named the Nonprofit Times “influencer of the year.” Phil serves on the boards of directors of Philanthropy Massachusetts and the National Council on Aging.
Phil lives in Concord, Massachusetts with his wife and their two daughters.
Sampriti Ganguli
Sampriti Ganguli is a Senior Advisor at Arabella Advisors’, where she served for seven years as the firm’s chief executive officer. In that role, she oversaw all aspects of the firm’s performance, including revenue, operations, strategic growth, marketing, and client services. She was responsible for enhancing systems and policies that enable Arabella to deliver on its mission—to help foundations, philanthropists, and investors who are serious about impact achieve the greatest good with their resources. She also serves on the board of Foundant Technologies, TierOne Performance as well as B Lab USA/Canada.
Sampriti joined Arabella after 14 years at Corporate Executive Board (CEB). As executive director of CEB’s legal, risk, and compliance practice, she focused on operations, strategy, marketing, and new business development, and managed the firm’s subscription-based research programs for internal auditors, general counsel, chief risk officers, and chief compliance officers. She also spent three years as managing director of CEB’s government practice and, before that, eight years as managing director of the company’s finance practice. She has authored more than 25 major papers on topics ranging from risk and talent management to collaboration, benchmarking, and technology adoption.
Sampriti received a BA with distinction in economics and political science from Swarthmore College. She was awarded a full-tuition Freeman Fellowship to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she earned an MA with distinction in international affairs. She then received her MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
A mother of two, Sampriti speaks five languages and enjoys Latin dancing, Zumba, historical fiction, and Asian cooking.
Jesús Gerena
Jesús Gerena is CEO of UpTogether (previously Family Independence Initiative), a national organization with a bold mission of changing policies, systems, and underlying beliefs so that all people in the United States are seen and invested in for their strengths and are able to build power, reinforce their autonomy, and drive their own economic and social mobility.
Under Jesús’ leadership, UpTogether has developed a model for systemic change through philanthropic and government partnerships to support the broad adoption of UpTogether’s strength based approach of centering community, cash and choice. Over the past three years, UpTogether has grown its work and organizational capacity to expand its reach to all 50 states and Puerto Rico, distributing $190 million dollars in support of its mission.
A native of Puerto Rico, Jesús moved with his mother and siblings to Amherst, Massachusetts at just nine years old. This community was full of resources that were able to lift up opportunities for his family to achieve their goals. Despite struggling in deep poverty, Jesús learned firsthand at a young age the benefits of a support network and community. This life experience has shaped Jesús, fueling his desire to eliminate place, race, or economic position as the marker for individual and collective success through UpTogether.
Taryn Higashi
Taryn Higashi is the executive director of Unbound Philanthropy, which she joined as the first member of staff in 2008. Taryn has helped Unbound grow into a significant actor contributing to pluralistic, just, and equitable societies in the U.S. and the U.K. that recognize the rights and contributions of immigrants and refugees. In 2020, Taryn and Unbound were awarded United We Dream’s first-ever Believer Award and under her leadership Unbound was awarded the Mover and Shaker Award for Bold Peer Organizing from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy in 2019 and NAKASEC’s People Power Award in 2021.
Prior to Unbound, Taryn managed the migrant and refugee rights portfolio and was deputy director of the human rights unit at the Ford Foundation, where in 2003 she co-founded the Four Freedoms Fund, a collaborative that has re-granted more than $180 million to state and local immigrant organizations. For co-founding the Four Freedoms Fund, Taryn and Geri Mannion of the Carnegie Corporation received the 2008 Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking from the Council on Foundations.
Taryn also serves as the Chair of the Board of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and formerly chaired the advisory board of the International Migration Initiative at Open Society Foundations and co-chaired the board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. Taryn is the granddaughter of immigrants from Japan.
Stephanie Hull
Stephanie is president and CEO of Girls Inc., a national organization that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. Girls Inc. delivers life-changing programs and experiences to more than 132,000 girls through a network of 80 local organizations across the U.S. and Canada, and also advocates for policy and culture change to strengthen opportunities for girls and improve the conditions in which all girls are growing up.
Stephanie has had a long career as a leader in education and as a women’s advocate. She previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (recently renamed The Institute for Citizens and Scholars). Before that, she was Head of the Brearley School, an all-girls school located in New York City. Stephanie was also a member of the faculty and administration at Mount Holyoke College and Dartmouth College.
Stephanie is a board member of the Professional Children’s School; Code Nation, which equips students in under-resourced high schools with the skills needed for careers in technology; and Humanity in Action, an international nonprofit organization that educates and connects young people who seek to become leaders on issues related to human and minority rights.
She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and B.A. from Wellesley College.
Richard Ober
Dick Ober leads the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the largest private provider of nonprofit grants and student aid in northern New England. The Foundation manages more than $1 billion in charitable funds donated by hundreds of families and individuals, and awards some 7,000 grants and scholarships exceeding $60 million annually.
Dick has 30 years of experience in nonprofit management and civic affairs. Before coming to the Foundation, he held senior staff positions at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and the Monadnock Conservancy. He has served on numerous nonprofit boards and public commissions, including several Gubernatorial appointments.
Dick currently serves as a board member of the Center for Effective Philanthropy and Community Foundations Leading Change (CF Leads) organization. He is also the founder and chair of the Community Foundation Opportunity Network (CFON).
Dick has written and lectured widely on community philanthropy, civic life, and the connections between people and the places they live. His work has been published in books, book chapters, magazines, and journals. He has been recognized with awards from the Environmental Protection Agency, the State of New Hampshire, and Plymouth State University, and has repeatedly been named as one of the state’s most influential people by leading NH business publications.
Dick lives with his wife and daughter in Dublin, New Hampshire.
Hilary Pennington
Hilary Pennington serves as Executive Vice President for Program at the Ford Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, she worked as an independent consultant on postsecondary education, transitions from high school, and intergenerational change.
Her projects included the Next American University project of the New America Foundation and leadership of The Generations Initiative, a project funded by national foundations to develop effective responses to the challenges and opportunities of the dramatic demographic shifts occurring in the U.S.
From 2006-2012, she served as Director of Education, Postsecondary Success & Special Initiatives, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she led the foundation’s postsecondary education initiative as well as one-time opportunities to respond to unique challenges and unanticipated events in the United States.
Before joining the Gates foundation, Pennington served as a Senior Fellow at the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress and as President and CEO of Jobs for the Future (JFF), a research and policy development organization she co-founded. In her twenty-two years as President and CEO of JFF, Pennington helped the organization become one of the most influential in the country on issues of education, youth transitions, workforce development, and future work requirements. She also served on President Clinton’s transition team and as co-chair of President Clinton’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Technology.
Pennington is a graduate of the Yale School of Management and Yale College. She holds a graduate degree in Social Anthropology from Oxford University and a Masters of Theological Studies from the Episcopal Divinity School. She was a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2000.
Anthony Richardson
Anthony Richardson became president of The George Gund Foundation in 2022. Prior to joining the Foundation, he served as executive director of The Nord Family Foundation in Amherst, OH, where he previously served as an associate director and program officer. Before working in philanthropy, Anthony held positions in the private sector, K-12 education, higher education, and government.
In 2011, he was elected as a councilmember-at-large in the City of Lorain, becoming one of the youngest people elected to a citywide seat. During his second term, Anthony served as chair of the police, fire, and legislative standing committee, and sponsored legislation to increase hiring goal percentages for racial minorities and women on city projects. In 2012, he served as the civic and political chair for the Lorain City Schools Levy Committee, which helped the school district pass its first new levy for operating dollars since 1992. Later that year, Anthony was invited by the Obama Administration to attend a “Working Meeting on Fiscal Cliff” at the White House.
In 2017, Anthony was appointed by Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction to serve as chair of the Lorain Academic Distress Commission, a joint local and state committee established to turnaround the Lorain City School District. He is a recipient of Philanthropy Ohio’s 2017 Emerging Philanthropist Award, and his work has been featured in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and The Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Anthony serves as a board member for Funders Together to End Homelessness, National Center for Family Philanthropy, Philanthropy Ohio, The Center for Effective Philanthropy, and The Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a juris doctorate from The Ohio State University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law.
Lee Alexander Risby
Lee Risby leads the Effective Philanthropy team at the Laudes Foundation in Switzerland. Risby steers the organisation in measuring, evaluating, and learning from results and long-term impact. In his role, he also leads the foundation’s efforts to build partners capacities and integrate gender, equity and inclusion across the programmes. Lee serves on the Global Advisory Group of The Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Previously, Lee led EP and Impact & Communications teams at C&A Foundation. Prior to that, he worked in various evaluation positions at The World Bank Group, African Development Bank Group and led his own evaluation consulting company.
LaTida Smith
LaTida Smith is the president of the Winston-Salem Foundation, a 102-year-old community foundation. LaTida took the reins at the Foundation, which serves Forsyth County, North Carolina, in September 2021.
Prior to her appointment at the Winston-Salem Foundation, LaTida served as the first permanent president of the Moses Taylor Foundation, where she had the opportunity to build the $90-million health legacy foundation’s grantmaking strategy and define its role in improving the health of a largely rural 11-county region in northeast Pennsylvania. Her work in philanthropy also includes experience shaping strategies in urban communities, with 12 years at Saint Luke’s Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio and three years directing federal grants for the Cleveland Department of Public Health.
Smith holds a Master of Arts in English and Women’s Studies from The Ohio State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Women’s Studies from Ohio Wesleyan University. She has also served on the Advisory Board of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, the board of Highlights Foundation, the national board of Playworks, and has chaired the boards of Funders Concerned About AIDS and GEO.
Kelvin Taketa
Kelvin Taketa served as the President and CEO of the Hawai’i Community Foundation from 1998 to 2017. During his tenure as President and CEO, the foundation became the leader in facilitating charitable investments in Hawai’i and earned distinction as a trusted community resource on charitable trends and best practices in the state. Under his leadership, the foundation became Hawai’i’s largest foundation, more than tripling the amount of funds it distributed in the state, launched several major initiatives with a coalition of local and national funders and government agencies, and developed grant programs that had proven results and led to national recognition for the foundation. A national leader and commentator about philanthropy and nonprofit organizations, Kelvin was recognized by The Nonprofit Times as one of the “50 most powerful and influential people” in the sector.
A native of Hawai’i, Taketa spent his entire career in the nonprofit sector including senior leadership positions with the Nature Conservancy in Hawai’i, at its headquarters in Virginia, and founding its work in the Asia Pacific Region. He has also served on a number of nonprofit boards, including those of Encore, Sustainable Conservation, Independent Sector, Stupski Foundation, and Feeding America, as well as serving in private sector capacities as the founder of a private equity company and on the board of Hawaiian Electrical Industries. He is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a J.D. from the University of California’s Hastings College of Law.
Fay Twersky
Fay Twersky is president and director of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. She joined the Foundation in February 2021 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where she served as the vice president, working closely with the foundation’s president, Larry Kramer, and managing special initiatives to improve the foundation’s grantmaking and discrete projects that fall outside its traditional programs. Fay also led the foundation’s Effective Philanthropy Group. The team, which she shaped and launched in 2012, guides strategy, evaluation and organization learning within the Hewlett Foundation, and also leads grantmaking in support of organizational effectiveness and a strong philanthropic sector.
Fay spent 2010 to 2011 working in Jerusalem, advising Yad Hanadiv (The Rothschild Family Foundation) on issues of strategy and organization. She served for four years as director and member of the leadership team of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, designing and developing the impact planning & improvement division. She was also a founding principal of BTW – Informing Change, a strategic consulting firm.
Fay is a frequent author and commentator on trends in philanthropy. Her publications include a Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) article, “Time for a Three-Legged Measurement Stool,” about balancing monitoring and evaluation with feedback from ultimate beneficiaries; “The Artful Juggler,” on what it takes to be a successful foundation CEO; Listening to Those Who Matter Most, the Beneficiaries; and A Guide to Actionable Measurement. She serves on the boards of The Center for Effective Philanthropy and the UBS Optimus Foundation. She is also the founding co-chair for the Fund for Shared Insight. Fay holds two bachelor’s degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Rhetoric, with high honors, from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
