"Is There Anything New About Innovation? A Cherished Philanthropic Buzzword" is the subject of the talk delivered by Gara LaMarche, President and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies. LaMarche delivered this address at the 2011 Maine Philanthropy Center's Annual Meeting.
As an internationally recognized leader in the field of philanthropy and advocacy, Gara LaMarche often challenges the norms. On the relationship between philanthropy and government for example, he said, "Philanthropy has too often in the last several decades kept an arm's length relationship with government and public policy. That has to change if we are to have any hope of making real progress on many of the leading challenges of our time."
As a major national and international funder, The Atlantic Philanthropies are committed to making improvements in the lives of people who need change the most. In keeping with the Giving While Living philosophy of their founder, Charles "Chuck" Feeney, co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers, they believe in making large investments to help solve urgent social problems now, so they are less likely to become larger, more entrenched and more expensive challenges later on. To that end, Atlantic will become the largest foundation in history to spend down their endowment. Since its founding in the early 1980s, they have made grants totaling more than $5.5 billion.
This talk was recorded June 16, 2011 at the Abromson Center on the USM Campus in Portland.