Half-Price Conference Registration and/or Membership Offer

We're offering a "special invitation rate" this year for non-members.  Everyone can now register for the same price.  Take advantage of the early-bird registration to save even more!

For specific eligibility information and more details, please contact the COF Membership Department at 202/467-0291.

CEO Links: Special Annual Conference Issue

This special issue of CEO Links gives foundation leaders an overview of activities designed especially for them at the Council on Foundations 2006 Annual Conference.

This issue contains foundation management and field leadership activities that offer lots of opportunities to share perspectives with peers.

Find out more here.

Teresa Heinz, chairman, The Howard Heinz Endowment and the Heinz Family Philanthropies
Plenary video

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Plenary video

George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Institute, the Soros foundations network and chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC
Plenary video

Capture the Conference!

• Read Philanthropy Today
  for daily Conference news
• Watch select plenary
  session video
• Listen to session
  presenter interviews

• Agenda at a Glance
• Conference Program (PDF)

Richard Florida, economist, professor and author of Rise of the Creative Class and Flight of the Creative Class
Plenary video

Joey Cheek,
2006 Olympic Gold & Silver Medal speed skater
Plenary video

Max Baucus, Ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee
Plenary video

Chairman Donald Powell,
Federal Coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding

JUST ADDED:
Dr. Mae Jemison,
Astronaut, Scientist,
Chair, The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence

Dear Friends:

We all receive too many invitations! Our professional calendars are crowding our personal lives in ways that beg for rescue and relief. Yet we remain hopeful that some new sense of priorities might find the right balance.

It is in this sense of respect for you, your work and your schedules that we hope you'll make the 57 th Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations a priority. We believe this conference will merit such an investment.

• Register Online now!

As we gather in Pittsburgh, our sector is at an important moment in our history. We see great opportunities to grow in size and, thus, in service to society. Yet, we are facing new challenges. Katrina taught us that most citizens do not understand the difference between philanthropy and charity. Numerous natural disasters have confirmed that we are both charitable in our giving and non-collaborative in our methods. Voices in the media and government are seeking to both define us and regulate us. These are just some of the reasons we hope you will make your attendance at this conference a priority.

In 2005 the Council's board approved a strategic framework for Council change that calls for new vision, new direction and new urgency. Reflecting the priorities of the framework, we are gathering some of the best thought—and action—leaders available from all parts of the globe and philosophic spectrum to help us translate vision into knowledge and inspiration that will change philanthropy in the 21st century.

When we recently visited with the leadership of this conference we established three goals for the annual conference. We want thought-provoking plenary sessions. We want the largest attendance in history. And we want everyone to return home from this conference with a new sense of momentum, passion and urgency for the role of philanthropy in creating a better society.

These are high standards. But they are appropriate, out of respect for your time and your schedule demands. And they reflect a new era at the Council on Foundations as we seek to work with all in our movement to embrace this historic opportunity for philanthropy to inform, inspire, innovate and impact in ways that invest in our vision of progress.

We look forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh on May 7–9 th . And until then, we'll be working hard to make this the best conference ever!

Sincerely,

Steve Gunderson