Dear friend and champion of every issue of importance in the 20th and start of the 21st century, you will be so missed by so many.  The world knows you as the unmatched “Lion of the US Senate”: you are ONE in a lifetime and your loss is irreplaceable.  Those privileged to call you friend, know your passion and dedication to the great social justice issues of our time was mirrored by your intense passion for and utter loyalty to your friends and family. We are grieving and sharing our heartfelt condolences with your family who we know were more important to you than anything. We were profoundly honored to be on vigil during the final hour Ted’s casket was at the Kennedy Library before... more

Women and girls are the key to sustainable development and have the capacity to resolve myriad crisis that plague our world.  I applaud the many insightful articles in today’s The New York Times Magazine with the cover “Why Women’s Rights Are the Cause of Our Time” (emphasis my own).  I have been an advocate of the perspective highlighted in these pieces and I encourage you to read all of them.  As Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn wrote in their 21st century manifesto, there is growing recognition among leaders from all sectors – public and private – that supporting women and girls throughout the world is the solution for many of the world’s problems.  As Mark Landler wrote in his piece... more

Akash Kapur’s New York Times article describes through his personal experiential lens, “creative destruction,” a concept Joseph Alois Schumpeter popularized in his 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy.  Kapur describes how innovative entrepreneurial development that can sustain long-term economic growth bringing wealth to some in previously impoverished areas, simultaneously often destroys the values of a culture, fabric of a community and the natural beauty of an environment.  The July 2009 issue of the Chicago Journals Economic Development and Cultural Change’s articles address this phenomenon from different perspectives in various countries’ initiatives.  Since I’ve long supported sustainable development initiatives in the US and throughout the world, I continue to explore with all types of leaders – from local communities to national governments... more

I looked around the table at the dinner Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza, South Africa’s High Commissioner to the UK, had hosted in honor of my husband and me on Mandela’s birthday in tribute to our long history of support for South Africa’s freedom. While I simply had invited friends who I knew in London, I saw that among the 11 present we hailed from India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Ghana, the UK, South Africa and the US; had family roots in Ireland, Germany, Russia and Poland; had done work in the Philippines, Uganda, Colombia, Cambodia, DRC and other places throughout the world where people had experienced profound trauma. Then the one guest Lindiwe had invited who I’d never met before, Tessa Uys, one of... more

The speakers at 10 Downing Street included our host Sarah Brown, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Anne Aslett of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Dillon Woods of the Donald Woods Foundation (DWF) who each explained why they support the comprehensive services provided by DWF, all created with shared ownership by the residents in the Mbashe area of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. They believe as I do that only through an engaged, empowered multi-faceted approach do local communities achieve self-sustainability. I have learned over decades of work that whether you are a business, an NGO or a government when you follow the guidance of local leadership, help strengthen local capacity and collaboratively address problems from multiple angles, you can create sustainable success. DWF does exactly this... more

My husband Jerry Dunfey and I are going to 10 Downing Street tonight for an event Sarah Brown is hosting for the Donald Woods Foundation, a philanthropic development organization. Woods was a very close friend of ours and had to escape from apartheid South Africa after he broke the story of Steve Biko’s murder. Jerry is a Founding Patron of the foundation with Wendy Woods and Ntsiki Biko, respectively the widows of Donald Woods and Steve Biko. Desmond Tutu, who married us, will be the other special guest at 10 Downing St. To get into the spirit of the connections between the British anti-apartheid movement and the struggle within South Africa, we stopped at the statue of Nelson Mandela that was... more

I attended the preview screening for “Black in America 2, Soledad O’Brien Reports”, a CNN four-hour documentary that premieres on July 22 with “Tomorrow’s Leaders” and July 23 with “Today’s Pioneers.”  I encourage you to watch this two-part series as it features extraordinary programs that serve as highly successful and replicable models. While I was inspired by all six, I was particularly touched by an initiative Malaak Compton-Rock started at the Bushwick Brooklyn Salvation Army Community Center called Journey for Change. Thirty children were chosen to participate.  First they served their own community and then had a two-week service trip to a South African township. Read the Journey for Change blog to see what these kids have learned and what they... more

I am not surprised by today’s story in The New York Times about Russians not clamoring to see President Obama as people have in other countries.  While even the U.S. still has to grapple with zenophobia, closed nations with state-controlled media are even more distrustful of “the other.”  My Bubby and Zayde (grandmother and grandfather in Yiddish) escaped the Tsarist pogroms with my then-young uncle Mersh.  More recently, we’ve seen how Chenchens, and Ossetians and Abkhazians have been treated by Russia.  We have a long way to go in our own country, but at least we have the advantages of an open society where we freely can voice dissent.  But I believe whether here or in other nations, ethnic violence is based... more

We will assess how various types of potential grantors from different sectors look at potential grantees and analyze critical determinants. We explore these perspectives with guest panelists Westina Matthews-Shatteen, Managing Director Merrill Lynch; Jacob Lief, President & co-Founder Ubuntu Education Fund; Elizabeth Sackler, President & CEO Arthur M. Sackler Foundation in the NYU graduate course I created and teach annually.  Watch two- to three-minute video clips of each and if you have interest in seeing more of the discussion contact us. Also, post your comments on the philanthropic perspectives of corporations, foundations, individuals or others.