2026 Yale Philanthropy Conference Panelists
REFLECTION: Today’s Landscape
Innovating in the Funding Gap: Adaptation in Times of Change
Taj Tabassoom
Partner, SeaChange Capital
Kathleen D. McCarthy | Moderator
Michael Bochnovic
Chief of Staff, Independent Sector
Tom Schumacher
Director of Investments, Open Road Impact
Meeting the Moment: Proximity, and Accountability in Practice
Kenneth Maurice Jones
Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Equity Officer, The MacArthur Foundation
Katherina Rosqueta | Moderator
Founding Executive Director, Center for High Impact Philanthropy
Carlos Rojas Alvarez
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Decolonizing Wealth Project
Julia Parker
Founder, Park 4029 Consulting
Mission and Meaning: Messaging for Impact in Complex Times
EVOLUTION: Compelling Approaches to Philanthropy
Optimizing Beyond the Check: Redefining What It Means to Invest in Impact
Rich Leimsider
Director, AI for Nonprofits Sprint, Fund for the City of New York
Laura Clancy | Moderator
Shawn Dove
Managing Partner, New Profit
Spencer Kympton
Managing Director, Nationwide Solutions Portfolio Lead, Blue Meridian
Giving circles: the power of collective action and community engagement
Melanie Kahl | Moderator
Partner of Design, Strategy & Facilitation for Flourishing Organizations, Meld Strategy
Emily Rasmussen
Chief Executive Officer, Grapevine
Melissa Walker
Principal Strategist, Giving Circles - States Project
Stephanie Mesones Alvarado
Vice President of Advancement, Liberty Hill Foundation
Endowment Strategy: perpetuity vs. urgency
Elizabeth Dale
Acting Director & Frey Foundation Chair for Family Philanthropy, Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy
Caroline Suozzi
Deputy Director, Inquiry and Insights, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Pia Infante
Co-Founder & Executive Director, Trust-Based Philanthropy Project
Erin Bellissimo | Moderator
Executive Director, Swensen Asset Management Institute
OPPORTUNITY: Insights for the Future
Emerging philanthropists: the next generation of giving
Andine Sutarjadi
Senior Director, 21/64
Sid Efromovich
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Regeneration Group
LJ Joukovski
CEO, Good Stuff & DFTBA
Bridging ideological divides for impactful outcomes
Laur Hesse Fisher | Moderator
Vice President of Impact and Learning, DEPLOY/US
Tom Dillon
Senior Vice President, Pew Charitable Trusts
Amber Jean Hacker
Chief of External Affairs & Chief Financial Officer, Interfaith America
Judge Thomas Griffith
U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, Harvard Law School, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
The Architecture of Giving: Rethinking Donor-Advised Funds and Philanthropic Design
Kate Lewis-LaMonica | Moderator
Principal, The Bridgespan Group
Elizabeth Bouchard
Director of Philanthropic Strategies, Fidelity Charitable
Jordana Pleat
Managing Director of Impact-First Investments, CapShift
Mitch Stein
Head of Strategy, Chariot