Boston, MA.  May 11, 2010 – The Philanthropic Initiative, Inc. (TPI) has launched the Center for Global Philanthropy to catalyze the understanding, practice, and impact of philanthropy in addressing global challenges. Working with colleagues around the world, the center aims to increase philanthropy’s global impact through improved knowledge, broader engagement, and more strategic practice. Paula Doherty Johnson, a recognized expert in global philanthropy, a former research fellow at the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University, and a longtime contributor to TPI’s global philanthropy work, has joined TPI’s staff to lead the center’s efforts.

“There is tremendous untapped potential in global philanthropy,” says Johnson. “Philanthropic capital is an increasingly significant and important force for economic growth and social change around the world.  But its potential will not be fully realized – nor its influence fully understood – until the need for empirical knowledge, expanded engagement, and high impact investment strategies are addressed. TPI’s Center for Global Philanthropy will work collaboratively to address these challenges through research, community-building, and advisory services.” The center builds on TPI’s two decades of philanthropy-building efforts in the U.S., as well as its global consulting to corporations, families and foundations.