I am pleased to introduce CEP’s next guest blogger, Crystal Hayling. Crystal is the Former President and CEO of the Blue Shield of California Foundation and a member of the CEP Board of Directors. She is a 20-plus year veteran of the world of philanthropy who is currently living in Singapore and taking some time to write about – and reflect upon – philanthropy, social innovation, and international development.
Crystal is a visionary about the role of philanthropy in these challenging times, someone who sees hope and possibility in new technologies and new ways of engaging and motivating citizens for social change. I blogged in April about her inspiring and wise talk at the Association of Black Foundation Executives’ James A. Joseph Lecture, calling it one of the best talks about philanthropy I have ever heard.
As a CEP Board member, she has been invaluable: pushing us to think boldly and creatively about how to translate what we know from our comparative data sets into insights that will lead to meaningful change in foundation practice. She has also been a mentor and advisor to me, someone who I have turned to for advice on the thorniest decisions I have needed to make in my role at CEP. Every time I reach out to her in this way, I am glad I did.
I am delighted that she’ll be sharing her perspectives on the CEP blog in the coming weeks.
Phil Buchanan is President of CEP.
