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Natalie Ross

@nataliejoross - As Vice President for External Relations at the Council on Foundations, Natalie’s team develops diverse and dynamic programming with foundations and partners in order to strengthen, advocate for, and amplify the work of foundations and their staff. Natalie oversees design and implementation of engagement strategies for all Council members, including communities of practice and thought leadership activities for community foundations, corporate grantmakers, and private foundations. Natalie also leads the Council's international program, which works to enable cross-border grantmaking globally, and manages a range of diverse partnerships with global philanthropy networks. Natalie previously worked at the Aga Khan Foundation USA, where she mobilized and managed a $30M portfolio of global civil society programs and launched the Global Alliance for Community Philanthropy.
International Grantmaking
Shifting the Meaning of Community: U.S. Community Foundations Increase Their International Giving

Shifting the Meaning of Community: U.S. Community Foundations Increase Their International Giving

Natalie Ross
We tend to think of community foundations as place-based institutions, solely serving a community of people living within a defined geographic area through their grantmaking. Research by Foundation Center and the Council on Foundations, however, shows that international giving by U.S. community foundations grew more than three-fold from $103 million in 2011 to $315 million in 2015, a much more rapid increase than the 29% growth in international giving by all U.S. foundations. What explains this growth and what else do we know about global grantmaking, leadership, and engagement by U.S. community foundations?