SCG Annual Conference and Members' Meeting
November 9, 2009

Breakout (CEO/Trustee Session)
Leading Boldly: A Conversation with Mark Kramer

Presenter: Mark Kramer
Co-Founder and Managing Director, FSG Social Impact Advisors

Wringing the greatest possible impact from every philanthropic dollar has become a priority locally and nationally, yet the solution often proposed--improving nonprofit management--may only bring about incremental progress within a patchwork of institutions.

If foundations are to achieve significant social impact, they must do so by leading others, not by acting alone. Yet the need to exercise leadership without misusing authority is a constant source of concern for foundations.

A presentation and facilitated discussion explored adaptive leadership, an approach that challenges traditional foundation practices and assumptions, and which also creates a new paradigm of leadership for social change that emphasizes the value of foundations' expertise, political access and media skills.

The session examined how foundations can move past traditional approaches to create social change through bold, imaginative and controversial leadership.

Presentation by Mark Kramer

Article: Catalytic Philanthropy

Article: Leading Boldly: Foundations Can Lead Through Imaginative and Even Controversial Leadership

About the Presenter

Mark Kramer,
Co-founder and Managing Director, FSG Social Impact Advisors
Mark Kramer directs FSG Social Impact Advisors, a sixty-person nonprofit consulting firm focused on phianthropic strategy, evaluation and corporate social responsibility, with offices in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Geneva. Kramer is also the founder of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, and a senior fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Kramer has published widely on social sector strategy and evaluation, and is co-author of three influential Harvard Business Review articles on philanthropy and corporate responsibility.

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