I was wavering between two photos for the cover of this issue of Alliance – both beautiful pictures, both of an Indian woman surrounded by other women. ‘She looks as if she could run the World Bank herself. She certainly doesn’t look as if she’s in need of aid,’ said my father-in-law of one. I had been veering towards the other one, but this remark, intended to have the opposite effect, made the decision for me. ‘Thanks for that,’ I said. ‘That’s the one I’ll use.’ I then had to explain why. I’d just finished reading Michael Edwards’ Future Positive, …

Do foundations matter? In this time of unparallelled growth of endowments, organizations and grants, this question seems to be redundant. But the increasing amount of money awarded by grantmakers every year does not necessarily correspond with an ever more significant impact of their endeavours. Thanks to the extraordinary growth of global capital markets and the often-cited and ill-studied intergenerational transfer of wealth to the next generation, the prospects for a further growth of organized philanthropy are very promising. These new resources will inevitably entail new fields of activity and a new definition of the functions of foundation work. In short, …