Hilary Pearson is the former president of Philanthropic Foundations Canada. She now co-chairs the federal Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector and works as an independent policy consultant.
“Future people count. There could be a lot of them. We can make their lives go better.” These statements capture the essence of the argument made by the author of What We Owe the Future. William MacAskill is widely known as the primary exponent of effective altruism, an approach to “doing good,” in his words, that has as much impact as possible on the well-being of people across the world.
Lucy Bernholz’s central message in her book is that giving is about participation and engagement by all of us for all of us. But to be fully realized, giving must involve participation with others, must be driven by a clear set of moral and political values, and must contribute to shaping the society we want.
We asked Hilary Pearson, who frequently reviews books for The Philanthropist Journal, to comment on “A Short History” as a way of providing an entry point for the article.
In her strongly argued new book, author Beth Breeze takes on three main critiques of the urge to give and offers her own prescription for how philanthropy can be improved.
Two new books look at grantmaking practice and urge innovation in the post-COVID world of philanthropy. Both provide a window into the thinking and activism of a new generation of grantmakers and investors.
Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg, by Paul Vallely. Bloomsbury Publishing, London; 2020; 756 pp. ISBN HB 978-1-4729-2012-6 If you have been looking for a comprehensive
Michael Prosserman’s Building Unity is about leading innovation in the non-profit sector, built on the unique experience and language of hip hop or breakin’ culture.
The Corporate Social Mind: How Companies Lead Social Change from the Inside Out, by Derrick Feldmann and Michael Alberg-Seberich, Fast Company Press, Austin, Texas, 2020;
