5 Questions for…

Starsky Wilson, President and CEO, Children's Defense Fund
PND spoke with the recently appointed head of CDF about the intersection of faith, racial justice, and philanthropy; the rising generation of racial justice activists; and Marian Wright Edelman's legacy....

Amoretta Morris, Director, National Community Strategies, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
PND spoke with Morris about how philanthropy can help advance community health and safety during a pandemic.

Michael Nyenhuis, President and CEO, UNICEF USA
PND spoke with Nyenhuis about the organization's historic decision to allocate funding and resources to help a handful of cities in the United States become more child-friendly, what it is doing to adapt its Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign to our new COVID reality, and his advice to nonprofits trying to make their message heard in a very noisy world....

Walter Katz, Vice President, Criminal Justice, Arnold Ventures
PND recently spoke with Katz about the summer of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, what calls for "defunding" the police mean, and the role of philanthropy in driving change....

Monique W. Morris, Executive Director, Grantmakers for Girls of Color
PND spoke with Morris about her vision for G4GC, the impact of COVID-19 on the Black community, and what the reenergized movement for racial justice means for philanthropy....

Rajasvini Bhansali, Executive Director, Solidaire Network
PND spoke with Bhansali about Solidaire's activist-centered model, the meaning and implications of the reenergized movement for racial justice, and the organization's latest fund....

EunSook Lee, Director, AAPI Civic Engagement Fund
PND spoke with Lee about xenophobia and racism in the time of COVID-19, the importance of civic engagement in an election year, and her vision for fostering a greater sense of belonging among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders....

Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund
PND spoke with Dorsey about the fund's decision-making process, the moral obligations of foundations in a time of crisis, and the longer-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic....

Asha Curran, CEO, #Giving Tuesday
PND spoke with Giving Tuesday CEO Curran about her hopes and expectations for the upcoming #GivingTuesdayNow event on May 5....

Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President, Health Initiative, Rockefeller Foundation
PND spoke with Rao about how the novel coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the digital divide in the public health sphere and how philanthropy can help address the immediate impacts of COVID-19 and build a healthier global community going forward....

Justin Steele, Director, Google.org Americas
PND spoke with Steele about Google.org, its efforts to develop AI tools for nonprofits, and what it is doing to address homelessness in the Bay Area....

Bernie Michael, President and CEO, Center for Jewish History
PND spoke with Michael about the organization's mission and collections, history as story, and the reasons why he remains an optimist....

Bill Cummings, Co-Founder and President, Cummings Foundation
PND spoke with Cummings about his journey from entrepreneur to philanthropist, the evolution of the foundation's $100k for 100 program, and the impact of the Giving Pledge on his thinking about and approach to philanthropy....

Chera Reid, Director of Strategic Learning, Research and Evaluation, Kresge Foundation
PND spoke with Reid about Kresge's transition from a foundation known primarily for making capital challenge grants to one focused on using a variety of tools to help grantees build stronger communities, the challenges of equity work, and how she stays upbeat and positive in challenging times....

Kashif Shaikh, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Pillars Fund
PND asked Shaikh about the role of Muslim philanthropy in American society, the importance of supporting "culture work," and the fund's current priorities....

Tanya Coke, Director, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice, Ford Foundation
PND spoke with Coke about the foundation's efforts to reduce the U.S. prison population, decouple the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems, and protect a woman's constitutional right to an abortion....

Lori Bezahler, President, Edward W. Hazen Foundation
PND spoke with Bezahler about the foundation's decision to spend down over the next five years, how it plans to do that, and what it hopes to achieve....