Washington Grantmakers Conference Celebrates 15 Years of Funder Collaboration in D.C. Region

Washington Grantmakers will host a 15th Anniversary Conference for funders, nonprofits, business community, and public officials, on Thursday, November 15, 2007. "The Power of Generosity: Giving in the National Capital Region" will feature a panel of local leaders discussing the region's assets and challenges. Washington Grantmakers will release the report "Our Region, Our Giving - 15th Anniversary Edition: Then and Now."

Washington, DC (PRWEB) November 13, 2007 -- Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (Washington Grantmakers) will host its 15th anniversary conference on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Alice Rivlin, Brookings Institution, will offer an examination of the National Capital Region's assets and challenges, and reacting to her will be a panel of regional leaders:

- Maria Gomez, president and CEO, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care
- Barbara Lang, president and CEO, DC Chamber of Commerce
- Margaret O'Bryon, president and CEO, Consumer Health Foundation
- Stewart Schwartz, executive director, Coalition for Smarter Growth

The 15th anniversary edition of Washington Grantmakers' annual giving report will be available at the event. "Our Region, Our Giving: 15th Anniversary Edition - Then and Now" compares the current philanthropic landscape in the National Capital Region to that in 1992, the year Washington Grantmakers was founded.

"Our funding community has come so far since those early days in 1992," notes Julie Rogers, president of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation and founding Chair of Washington Grantmakers. "We've grown dramatically in numbers, and, most importantly, we've formed deep working relationships that improve our work, our ability to partner with outstanding nonprofits and our impact on the lives of people in our region."

"Philanthropy is evolving," says Washington Grantmakers President Tamara Lucas Copeland. "Evolving in how it invests, collaborates, and defines impact. Funders and nonprofits are increasingly partners in clarifying needs and identifying strategy. And funders are increasingly seeing the importance of working with public officials as a necessary step toward making lasting change."

Activist and author Geoffrey Canada will provide the luncheon plenary address. A June 2004 cover story in The New York Times Magazine called Canada's Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) "one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time."

Joel L. Fleishman, JD will address Washington Grantmakers' members in a private morning meeting. Dr. Fleishman is a professor of Law and Public Policy and Director of the Heyman Center on Ethics, Public Policy and Professions at the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. His book, The Foundation: A Great American Secret - How Private Money is Changing the World, was published in January 2007.

Register for the conference online at http://regonline.com/powerofgenerosity

Public Schedule:

11:00 a.m. - Exhibit Hall (Dr. Joel Fleishman will sign copies of *The Foundation*, royalties benefiting the Duke University Foundation Research Program).
11:30 a.m. - Opening Plenary - Alice Rivlin, Brookings Institution
"The National Capital Region: Our Assets; Our Challenges; Our Region"
12:00 p.m. - Panel discussion of regional leaders
12:45 p.m. - Luncheon Plenary: Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone
"The Power of Generosity in the Nation's Capital: Change Agents"
2:15 p.m. - Roundtable Discussions - Facilitator: Carolyn Lukensmeyer, AmericaSpeaks
4:00 p.m. - Reception

Thursday's event is sponsored by WG member Freddie Mac Foundation. Other sponsoring members include Fannie Mae (luncheon), the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation (reception), Community Foundation for the National Capital Region (giving report), Kaiser Permanente, American Legacy Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and the Horning Family Fund.

About Washington Grantmakers:

Washington Grantmakers is a membership association and a leader in the philanthropic sector. Established in 1992, Washington Grantmakers' membership is composed of private foundations, community foundations, public charities, corporate foundations, corporate giving programs, government grantmaking agencies, and individual donors. The organization promotes and supports effective and responsible philanthropy and is committed to improving the quality of life in the Washington, DC region by identifying community needs and making positive change through sustained action.

Contact:

Nick Geisinger, communications manager
Washington Grantmakers
202-939-3435 (office)
703-371-4144 (cell)
http://www.washingtongrantmakers.org

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