About Our Organization

Susan Burns, Advisor, is a social entrepreneur and Skoll Awardee with decades of experience leading cutting-edge initiatives in both for-profit and non-profit sectors. Her specialties include strategy, system change approaches, fundraising, program design, and impact measurement. She was formerly a Senior Advisor to the Poverty Stoplight, a mobile technology that empowers families to move out of poverty by making them the architects of their own living conditions. She was also Director of Finance for Change, a project of Global Footprint Network, an initiative that integrates ecological risks into fixed income investing. As co-founder and CEO of Global Footprint Network, she built the organization into one of the leading scientific organizations in the world addressing global ecological limits. In 2007 Susan, along with Global Footprint Network co-founder Mathis Wackernagel, won the Skoll Award on Social Entrepreneurship. In 2012 John Elkington, a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development, identified Susan among the “Zeronaut 50” Roll of Honor, i.e., leading pioneers who are driving the world’s most significant problems to zero. Susan and Mathis are 2014 ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Inductees. Contact Susan

Internationally recognized, Tracy Gary is known for her decades of work in the field of activist philanthropy. Her unique strategy is threefold: she advises donors in aligning their giving with their deepest values, works with non-profit leadership in their fundraising proficiency, and builds networks across communities. Her effectiveness in galvanizing change that addresses global needs arises from her core organizing principle: that the way we create a better world is by inviting all to the table.

As the Founder of Unleashing Generosity, which she co-directs with Susan Burns, Tracy has worked as a philanthropic advisor with over 500 donors and over 200 foundations (including family foundations which extend across multiple generations). As a field innovator and nonprofit entrepreneur, she has founded or co-founded 24 nonprofits including Inspired Legacies, the Women Donors Network, Resourceful Women, Women Moving Millions, Engaged Donors for Global Equity (EDGE Funders), and the Tipping Point Network. She has been a member of Advisors in Philanthropy and has worked with hundreds of family and investment advisors.

Tracy is a speaker, consultant and workshop leader, offering her services through Wholehearted Generosity, her private consultancy practice. She has worked in all 50 states and 23 countries. Her book, Inspired Philanthropy: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan and Leaving a Legacy, is in its 3rd printing and has sold over 44,000 copies. Contact Tracy

European Project Co-Director, Karen Payne, has been a writer, editor and filmmaker for over 30 years, with 10 years experience in the field of transformative philanthropy: writing, editing  and researching for publications, reports and websites. She developed the content and coordinated the production of Marion Rockefeller Weber's website on Flow Funding: www.flowfunding.org.  As co-author of Inspiring Youth to Bring about Change: A Curriculum and Facilitator’s Guide for Youth Giving Circles, Karen created a 10-session curriculum and Facilitators Guide. In 2011 she interviewed and wrote profiles of 16 women philanthropists for Resourceful Women’s 30th Anniversary album, Stories of Some of Our Lives. She is co-founder of Wild Zones and a member of The Funding Network in London, England.