How Philanthropy Created America, and Can Rescue Us Now
Philanthropy in America is a bursting, bubbling impulse that has vital effects on almost every sector of our society. In this lively talk, former White House domestic policy adviser Karl Zinsmeister sketches the unappreciated scope of charitable giving, and argues that without it there would be no America as we know it. Private action to solve public problems is one of the practices that most distinguishes the U.S. from other nations, and it continues to play a crucial role in keeping our communities healthy and our economy burgeoning. This presentation includes rich images, fascinating biographies, and powerful arguments from Zinsmeister's two 2016 books: The Almanac of American Philanthropy, chronicling our history of private giving, and What Comes Next? explaining how philanthropy can produce encouraging culture reform no matter what happens in government.
Karl Zinsmeister oversees all magazine, book, and Web publishing at The Philanthropy Roundtable in Washington, D.C. His most recent book, What Comes Next? How private givers can rescue America in an era of political frustration, offers a vision for constructive culture change, working around electoral gridlock. His 2016 creation, The Almanac of American Philanthropy, is the 1,342-page culmination of a multiyear effort to create the authoritative reference on America's fascinating and culturally seminal tradition of solving public problems with private resources. He also founded and advises the Roundtable's program on philanthropy for veterans and service members. Karl has authored 12 books, including two different works of embedded reporting on the Iraq war, a book on charter schools, a storytelling cookbook, even a graphic novel published by Marvel Comics. He has also made a PBS feature film and written hundreds of articles for publications ranging from the Atlantic to the Wall Street Journal. Earlier in his career he was a Senate aide to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the J. B. Fuqua Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and editor in chief for nearly 13 years of The American Enterprise magazine. From 2006 to 2009 Karl served in the West Wing as the President's chief domestic policy adviser and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. He is a graduate of Yale University and also studied at Trinity College Dublin.
Pre-Coffee Sponsor: SCORE
Early Bird Sponsor: Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area
