March 2006
Greetings from the Institute for Philanthropy. It is my enormous pleasure and indeed great honour to have the opportunity to lead this great organisation and bring it to its next phase of development, reach and effectiveness. I am privileged to be able to do so upon the firm foundation established by the Institute’s pioneering founder, Hillary Browne-Wilkinson, its Board of Directors and Staff.
The months ahead will be a great period of period of learning for me – and one to which I look forward enormously. My plan is to meet a broad array of donors, charity leaders, financial services industry representatives and policy makers in order to gain a deeper understanding of philanthropy in the UK. I will be particularly interested in learning about opportunities for working in partnership, and identifying where, building upon the Institute’s history of innovation, we may develop new and effective initiatives.
I am fortunate to have worked with and learned from donors from many parts of the world and am looking forward to applying that learning to the UK context. This is an enormously exciting time for the field of philanthropy in the UK and globally. New models are emerging, new donors are coming to the table, and exciting new approaches to using private capital to solve social problems are being pursued with a great sense of experimentation. At the same time, however, much work lies ahead for all of us who are committed to increasing the flow and effectiveness of philanthropic giving. Regardless of where new programmatic directions may take us, do count on the Institute to be a strong partner in and voice for the sector, a disseminator of knowledge, a convenor and builder of donor capacity, and a centre for innovation.
Dr. Salvatore LaSpada
Chief Executive
March 2006