Jane Wales
Vice President of Philanthropy and Society and Executive Director, Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation, The Aspen Institute; Founder, Global Philanthropy Forum; Co-Chair, Generosity Commission
Jane Wales is Vice President of the Aspen Institute and Executive Director of its Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. She is the founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum and its regional affiliates in Africa and Brazil, and the former host of the nationally syndicated National Public Radio interview show WorldAffairs. Previously, Jane served in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of the National Security Council. She simultaneously served as Associate Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In the Carter Administration, Jane served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. In the philanthropic sector, Jane chaired international security programs at the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the W. Alton Jones Foundation, and she directed the Project on World Security at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. From 2007 to 2008, she served as acting CEO of The Elders. Jane is a member of the board of directors for the Center for a New American Security. She is Co-Chair of the Generosity Commission.
Previously
Philosophical and religious teachings regarding wealth can feel both archaic and strangely relevant to our age of economic upheaval. How can we reconcile these ideas about wea...
Rates of depression, disconnection, and suicide among today’s youth are alarming. Hear how leaders from the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions and a group of community partne...
Foundations and individual philanthropists are often criticized for the positions they take on politically fraught, hot-button issues. As policy and cultural issues become inc...
This roundtable starts with the assumption that our society and polity will face cascading crises at a time when we seem to be forfeiting our capacity to solve. But there is g...
Philanthropy has long played a critical role in America, filling in where government has left gaps. But by nature, philanthropy has often served the status quo, rather than ad...
Worried about the health of our democracy? There’s a bright light. Nation-wide the social sector is expanding to include NGOs led by a new generation, entrepreneurs building c...
Trust is democracy’s most valuable asset; we simply can’t work together to solve large problems without it. Yet, trust is at an all-time low. Polling reveals that a majority o...
You seek lasting change. But is your foundation built for that purpose? Is the traditional grantmaking model up to the task? Some foundation leaders think not. Increasingly, t...
Strategic, highly focused philanthropy—combining head and heart—has attracted a growing number of individuals and families and those who advise them. Donors merge passion, dri...