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ResetAffinity Groups Colleagues
Affinity groups are organizations founded by grantmakers who have common interests. The first affinity groups were formed in the early 1980s and in the late 1980’s, the Council leadership established the Affinity Group Network. These groups provided opportunities for grantmakers with common interests to meet each other, share knowledge and encourage collaborative funding.
Some groups emphasize networking and information exchange among members, while others advocate for an issue or cause within and outside philanthropy. Some affinity groups are formed around the identity of the population served (e.g., ABFE, AAPIP). Some are formed around particular grant issue areas (e.g., Grantmakers in Education, Grantmakers in the Arts). Still others are formed around position and function (e.g., Grant Managers Network).
Generally, these groups serve the grantmaking community, although some include grantee organizations as members. The variety of these organizations provides rich resources for partnership and expertise. Many foundations that are Council members are also members of one or more affinity groups. Grantmakers and trustees seeking greater understanding and networking around a particular area of philanthropy can contact any of the affinity groups listed below.
- ABFE
The Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) was established in 1971 by forward-thinking, Black foundation executives to promote effective and responsive philanthropy in Black communities. As the first official affinity group of the Council on Foundations, ABFE is the champion of diverse leadership in philanthropy. Progress is defined by a substantial increase in the number of Blacks as leaders and emerging leaders within the philanthropic field. Today, ABFE counts among its members some of the most influential staff, trustees and donors of grantmaking organizations who are intimately involved in shaping the focus, decision-making and response of foundations toward Black communities.
Susan Taylor Batten
President
55 Exchange Place
New York, NY 10005
Phone: 646-230-0306
Fax: 212-747-9320
http://www.abfe.org- Africa Grantmakers' Affinity Group
AGAG’S mission is to encourage increased and more effective foundation funding in Africa.
Niamani Mutima
Director
Post Office Box 150
Warrenton, VA 20188-0150
Phone: 540-878-5015
Fax: 540-347-3405
http://www.africagrantmakers.org
- Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy
AAPIP is a national membership and philanthropic advocacy organization dedicated to advancing philanthropy and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Our members include foundations, staff and trustees of grantmaking institutions, and nonprofit organizations in regional chapters throughout the United States. AAPIP engages AAPI communities and philanthropy to address unmet needs; serves as a resource for and about AAPI communities; supports and facilitates giving by and to AAPI communities; and incubates new ideas and approaches for social justice philanthropy.
Peggy Saika
President/CEO
200 Pine Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: 415-273-2760
Fax: 415-273-2765
http://www.aapip.org- Association of Small Foundations
The Association of Small Foundations (ASF) is a membership organization of more than 3,000 foundations with few or no staff. ASF enhances the power of small foundation giving by providing the donors, trustees, and staff of member foundations with peer learning opportunities, targeted tools and resources, and a collective voice in and beyond the philanthropic community. Foundations with few or no staff account for half of the country's total foundation grant dollars, and provide essential financial support in communities across the country.
Timothy R. Walter
Chief Executive Officer
1720 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-580-6560
Fax: 202-580-6579
http://www.smallfoundations.org- CFLeads
CFLeads connects community foundations to their peers and other sources of knowledge as they take on crucial leadership roles to build thriving communities.
Martha K. Johnston
Associate Director
1055 Broadway , Suite 130
Kansas City, MO 64105
Phone: 800-292-6149
Fax: 816-468-1698
http://www.cfleads.org- Consortium of Foundation Libraries
Consortium of Foundation Libraries (CFL) is a vehicle for enhancing learning, sharing resources and coordinating information services among foundation libraries and archives.
Brenda L. Burk
Chairperson
c/o IUPUI University Library
755 West Michigan Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone: 317-278-2329
http://foundationlibraries.blogspot.com- Disability Funders Network
Disability Funders Network (DFN) is a national membership and philanthropic advocacy organization that seeks equality and rights for disabled individuals and communities by bridging philanthropic resources, disability and community. DFN envisions an empowered and functioning democracy with full equality under the law, equal access to services, unconditional respect for difference and the meaningful participation of all communities at tables where decisions are made.
Kim Hutchinson
Executive Director
14241 Midlothian Turnpike, #151
Midlothian, VA 23113
Phone: 703-795-9646
Fax: 804-794-7852
http://www.disabilityfunders.org- Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy
The mission of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) is to strengthen the next generation of grantmakers in order to advance effective social justice philanthropy. EPIP is a national funder network composed of grantmakers, trustees, staff at Regional Associations and Affinity Groups, and graduate students studying philanthropy. The network was organized to serve young adults, those new to the grantmaking field, and/or those in junior positions.
Rusty Morgen Stahl
Executive Director
666 West End Avenue, Suite 1B
New York, NY 10025
Phone: 212-497-7547
Fax: 212-472-0508
http://www.epip.org- Environmental Grantmakers Association
The mission of EGA is to help member organizations become more effective environmental grantmakers through information sharing, collaboration and networking. EGA’s vision is one of an informed, diverse, collaborative network of effective grantmakers who are supporting work toward a sustainable world. Recognizing the importance of diverse perspectives, the organization values ecological integrity, justice, environmental stewardship, inclusivity, transparency, accountability and respect, balancing pragmatism with the long view.
Dana Lanza
Executive Director
55 Exchange Place, Suite 405
New York, NY 10005-1965
Phone: 646-747-2655
Fax: 646-747-2656
http://www.ega.org- Funders' Committee for Civic Participation
FCCP's mission is to educate its membership and the larger philanthropic community about barriers to full participation, strategies for fostering democratic involvement, and the means by which effective strategies can be supported through grantmaking.
Debra Ross
Executive Director
80 Broad Street, Suite 1600
New York, NY 10048
Phone: 503-724-2922
Fax:
http://www.funderscommittee.org- Funders Concerned About AIDS
Funders Concerned About AIDS mobilizes philanthropic leadership and resources, domestically and internationally to eradicate the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to address its social and economic consequences.
Sunita S. Viswanath
Executive Director
189 Montague Street Suite 801A
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: 718-875-0251
Fax:
http://www.fcaaids.org- Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues
Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues seeks equality and rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals and communities by mobilizing philanthropic resources that advance racial, economic and gender justice.
Karen Zelermyer
Executive Director
116 East 16th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212-475-2930
Fax: 212-475-2532
http://www.lgbtfunders.org- Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
The mission of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities is to inspire, strengthen, and expand funders’ abilities to support organizations working to build more livable communities through better development decisions and growth policies.
L. Benjamin Starrett
Executive Director
1500 San Remo Avenue, Suite 249
Coral Gables, FL 33146
Phone: 305-667-6350
Fax: 305-667-6355
http://www.fundersnetwork.org- Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health & Rights
Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health & Rights is a network of grantmakers who address issues of population, reproductive health and rights, both domestically and internationally. Its members share a common goal: to ensure that all people have access to the information and services they need to manage their own fertility and protect and promote their sexual and reproductive health. The Funders Network seeks to improve communication, foster collaboration, increase resources, and enhance the overall effectiveness of grantmakers in this field.
Denise Shannon
Executive Director
1215 Veirs Mill Road
Rockville, MD 20851
Phone: 301-294-4157
Fax: 301-294-4158
http://www.fundersnet.org- Funders Together to End Homelessness
Funders Together to End Homelessness is a national network of foundations and corporations supporting strategic and effective grantmaking to end homelessness.
Jason Born
240 Newbury Street, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-236-2244
http://www.funderstogether.org- Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) seeks to move the philanthropic field to advance the contributions and address the needs of the world's growing and increasingly diverse immigrant and refugee populations. With a core focus on the United States, GCIR provides grantmakers with opportunities for learning, networking, and collaboration, as well as information resources that: 1) Enhance philanthropy’s awareness of issues affecting immigrants and refugees; 2) Deepen the field’s understanding of how these issues are integral to community building in today's dynamic social, economic, and political environment; and 3) Increase philanthropic support for both broad and immigrant/refugee-focused strategies that benefit newcomer populations and strengthen the larger society.
Daranee Petsod
Executive Director
P.O. Box 1100
Sebastopol, CA 95473
Phone: 707-824-4374
Fax:
http://www.gcir.org- Grantmakers for Children, Youth & Families
GCYF’s mission is to engage funders across all sectors to continually improve their grantmaking on behalf of children, youth and families.
Stephanie McGencey, Ph.D., MPH
Executive Director
8757 Georgia Avenue, Suite 540
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: 301-589-4293
Fax: 301-589-4289
http://www.gcyf.org- Grantmakers for Education
Grantmakers for Education is philanthropy’s knowledge source for achieving results in education. Our mission is to strengthen philanthropy's capacity to improve educational outcomes for all students.
Christine Tebben
Executive Director
720 SW Washington Street, Suite 605
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-595-2100
Fax: 503-595-2102
http://www.edfunders.org- Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations is a coalition of grantmakers committed to building strong and effective nonprofit organizations. Understanding that grantmakers are successful only to the extent that their grantees achieve meaningful results, GEO promotes strategies and practices that contribute to grantee success.
Kathleen P. Enright
Executive Director
1725 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-898-1840
Fax: 202-898-0318
http://www.geofunders.org- Grantmakers in Aging
Grantmakers in Aging works to promote and strengthen grantmaking for an aging society. GIA is an educational organization for staff and trustees of foundations and corporate foundations/giving programs that enables its members to network with other funders in aging, gain tools to make excellent aging grants, acquire information about the needs of the elderly as well as the resources they bring to their communities, receive updates about trends and policy changes affecting older adults, learn about current and upcoming funding initiatives in aging, and link to other sources of information in the field of aging.
Carol Farquhar
Executive Director
7333 Paragon Road, Suite 220
Dayton, OH 45459-4157
Phone: 937-435-3156
Fax: 937-435-3733
http://www.giaging.org- Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media
Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM) is an association of grantmakers committed to advancing the field of media arts and public interest media funding. GFEM serves as a resource for grantmakers who fund media content, infrastructure, and policy, those who employ media to further their program goals as well as a collaborative network for funders who wish to learn more about media. GFEM members have a broad range of interests and approaches, but share the view that electronic media is a vital form of human expression, communication and creativity, and plays a key role in building public will and shaping civil society.
Alyce R. Myatt
Executive Director
2406 E. Fairmount Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21224-1042
Phone: 410-675-4024
Fax:
http://www.gfem.org- Grantmakers In Health
Grantmakers In Health is a nonprofit, educational organization serving trustees and staff of foundations and corporate giving programs.Its mission is to help grantmakers improve the nation's health by strengthening grantmakers' knowledge, skills, effectiveness, and fostering communication and collaboration among grantmakers and with others.
Mary Backley
Vice President for Finance and Administration
1100 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. 12th Floor
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-452-8331
Fax: 202-452-8340
http://www.gih.org- Grantmakers in the Arts
The mission of Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) is to provide leadership and service to advance the use of philanthropic resources on behalf of arts and culture.
Janet Brown
Executive Director
4055 21st Avenue West, Suite 100
Seattle, WA 98199-1247
Phone: 206-624-2312
Fax: 206-624-5568
http://www.giarts.org- Grants Managers Network
The Grants Managers Network (GMN) is committed to improving philanthropy by leading the field of grants management to achieve efficient and effective grantmaking. As the nation’s only nonprofit membership organization devoted to serving grants management professionals, GMN connects its more than 1,300 members to best practices and the collective knowledge of the field, innovative learning experiences, and peer-to-peer collaborations.
Michelle Greanias
Executive Director
1101 14th St. NW, Suite 420
Washington, DC 20003
Phone: 202-329-7670
Fax: 504-837-4274
http://www.gmnetwork.org- Grassroots Grantmakers
Grassroots Grantmakers serves as a locus for learning for place-based funders who are supporting civic engagement at the block level—active citizenship—with the goal of advancing change agendas that have been identified and shaped by community residents. Grassroots Grantmakers serves as an advocate for place-based philanthropy that works from a resident-centered perspective, a connector that facilitates information sharing and peer learning among funders who are engaged in this work, and as generator of tools and resources that advance the practice of effective grassroots grantmaking. The theory of change that forms the basis for this work is that the most desirable change is that which is fueled by the preferences, energies, and commitments of the broadest array of community residents, and that the way to ensure that this kind of change is possible is to build capacity from the ground up to enable every community resident to participate, make a contribution, and be heard, without being hindered by obstacles that result from disenfranchisement, lack of power, or lack of resources.
Janis Foster
Executive Director
Post Office Box G
Hallettsville, TX 77964-2324
Phone: 361-798-1808
Fax:
http://www.grassrootsgrantmakers.org- Hispanics in Philanthropy
Hispanics in Philanthropy is committed to strengthening Latino communities by increasing resources for the Latino and Latin American civil sector and by increasing Latino participation and leadership throughout the field of philanthropy.
Diana Campoamor
President
200 Pine Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: 415-837-0427
Fax: 415-837-1074
http://www.hiponline.org- International Funders for Indigenous People
IFIP's mission is to convene and educate donors to build capacity and enhance funding partnerships that improve the lives of Indigenous Peoples around the world.
Evelyn Arce-White
Executive Director
Post Office Box 1040
Akwesasne, NY 13655
Phone: 518-358-9500
Fax: 518-358-9544
http://www.internationalfunders.org- International Human Rights Funders Group
International Human Rights Funders Group is an association of grantmakers devoted to supporting efforts to achieve the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the treaties it has generated so that all people may enjoy a truly and fully human existence.
Michael J. Hirschhorn
Director
c/o Wellspring Advisors LLC
1410 Broadway, Floor 23
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-609-2631
Fax: 212-609-2633
http://www.ihrfg.org- Jewish Funders Network
Jewish Funders Network is an organization of individual and institutional grantmakers committed to broadening the base and scope of Jewish philanthropy and advancing its effective practice. To respond to the challenges of the twenty-first century and the evolving needs of the Jewish community, we seek to provide a forum for exposing the broadest range of contemporary creative and innovative thinking; to foster growth and vitality in Jewish charitable giving; to encourage informed grantmaking to Jewish and secular causes that embody Jewish values; and to facilitate cooperation and partnerships among grantmakers.
Mark S. Charendoff
President
150 W 30th Street, Rm 900
New York, NY 10001-4003
Phone: 212-726-0177
Fax: 212-594-4292
http://www.jfunders.org- Literacy Funders Network
To increase philanthropic community's knowledge and understanding of literacy as a systemic issue and a tool for community change.
Margaret Doughty
Managing Partner
501 E. Bayshore Dr.
Palacios, TX 77465
- Native Americans in Philanthropy
The mission of Native Americans in Philanthropy is to advance philanthropic practices grounded in native values and traditions. Towards this mission, NAP: (1) Engages Native and non-Native practitioners of philanthropy to focus on sustainable Native communities. (2) Educates to instill Native philanthropic values into contemporary practice. (3) Empowers Native philanthropic leadership to be effective practitioners.
Joy Persall
Executive Director
2801 21st Avenue South, Suite 132D
Minneapolis, MN 55407
Phone: 612-724-8798
Fax: 612-879-0613
http://www.nativephilanthropy.org- Neighborhood Funders Group
The Neighborhood Funders Group is a membership association of grantmaking institutions. Our mission is to strengthen the capacity of organized philanthropy to understand and support community-based efforts to organize and improve the economic and social fabric of low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities. We provide information, learning opportunities, and other professional development activities to our national membership, and encourage the support of policies and practices that advance economic and social justice.
Melissa Y. Johnson
Executive Director
1301 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-833-4690
http://www.nfg.org- Peace and Security Funders Group
Peace and Security Funders Group is dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of philanthropy to promote international peace security. To this end, the group provides opportunities for education and information sharing; facilitates the development of effective strategies and collaborations; and encourages greater and new investments in this challenging and rewarding area of work.
Katherine Magraw
Director
7 Elliewood Avenue, Third Floor
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Phone: 434-989-1514
http://www.peaceandsecurity.org/- Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement
Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement inspires interest, understanding, and investment in civic engagement. PACE aims to build a community within philanthropy committed to vigorous debate and action around encouraging participation and engagement in community, civic and political life; to inspire and incubate strategic collaborations with policy makers, nonprofits, business and the media to support active citizenship; and to increase the quantity and the quality of philanthropic investment in civic engagement strategies. PACE is non-partisan and actively seeks collaborative and innovative ways to work on new ideas.
Christopher T. Gates
Executive Director
444 Sherman Street, Suite 200
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 303-765-3411
Fax:
http://www.pacefunders.org/- Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders
The Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) is a national network that aims to strengthen, diversify and expand the community of grantmakers that focus on sustainable agriculture and food systems. SAFSF provides a wide range of learning and networking opportunities and keeps funders on the cutting edge of the growing 'good food' movement. In addition to expanding our members' knowledge of these issues, SAFSF highlights the important links between agriculture and food systems and other critical issues: health, climate change, education, and the viability of communities both rural and urban.
Virginia Clarke
Coordinator
911 W. Pedregosa Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone: 805/687-0551
Fax: 805/569-2686
- Technology Affinity Group
TAG is a membership organization of foundations that promotes the understanding of how information and communications technology can help its members further their philanthropic goals.
Lisa Pool
Executive Director
c/o Lisa Pool Consulting, LLC
23 Briar Road
Wayne, PA 19087
Phone: 610-688-6832
http://www.tagtech.org- The Communications Network
The mission of the Communications Network is to advance the strategic practice of communications in philanthropy.
Bruce S. Trachtenberg
Executive Director
1725 Park Street, Suite 260
Naperville, IL 60563
Phone: 630-328-2857
Fax: 917-677-4769
http://www.comnetwork.org- Women's Funding Network
Women's Funding Network, a partnership of women's funds, donors and allies around the world committed to social justice, works to ensure that women's funds are recognized as the "investment of choice" for people who value the full participation of women and girls as key to strong, equitable and sustainable communities and societies.
