The people in the philanthropy sector are its most important assets – operations staff, programme staff and leaders. Do we think enough about what sort of people the sector needs? And do we do enough to attract and retain them? This special feature lays out some of the latest thinking on ‘talent management’ within philanthropy. Guest editors are Samantha Gilbert of the Rockefeller Foundation, independent global philanthropy professional John Harvey, and Wangsheng Li of the Ze Shan Foundation (China).
The special feature includes an article by Pier Mario Vello considering what the private sector can teach us about people as an institutional asset; an article looking at the kind of people foundations need – generalists or specialists? permanent staff or consultants? people from outside the sector or from within? – based on email interviews with philanthropy leaders and experts from around the world; the EFC’s Andrea Salvadori on the role of philanthropic support organizations in promoting foundation staff development; Chris Grygo and Rose Maruru exploring some of the challenges facing employee engagement at foundations today and what foundation leaders can do to help address them; Michael Liffman on the state of professional development within philanthropy; Oksana Oracheva on the foundation profession and salaries in Russia; and an interview with Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin, talking about her experience in moving from a large academic institution into philanthropy, how this has affected her attitude to hiring staff, and her mentoring of Rockefeller staff.
The September issue of Alliance also includes Epaminondas Farmakis on the challenges facing philanthropy in Greece; Jo Andrews on the unacknowledged dangers of transparency; and Diana Leat on why foundations sometimes create new organizations.
