Attended a very interesting convening on The Moral Dimension of Philanthropy and Social Action. (That was working title; some expressed concern that the word moral would land us in the company of George Bush or worse.) The convenor of our conversation was H. Peter Karoff, the founder of The Philanthropic Initiative, and the original force behind the phrase, "strategic philanthropy." He is now troubled by how the language of business (investing, inputs, outputs, results) has swallowed up so much of the philanthropic conversation, to the detriment of the liberal art of philanthropy, or its moral and civic dimension. He wants to start a "movement" to promote the moral dimension, not by preaching, but through reflective civic conversation and the inner journey of donors.
Among those invited to this organizational meeting were Greg Behr, Vice Chair of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations; Elizabeth Boris, Director Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute; Kathy Bushkin Calvin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, The United Way Foundation; Alan Detheridge, Associate Director, The Partnering Initiative, International Business Forum; Peggy Dulaney, The Synergos Institute; Joel Fleishman, Professor of Law and Public Policy, Duke University; Marc Freedman, CEO and Fouder, Civic Ventures; Douglas Hall, Morton and Charlotte Friedman Professor of Management, School of Management, Boston University; Joel Isaacson, President and Managing Director, Isaacson, Miller; Mark Juergensmeyer, Professor of Global and International Studies USC; Amy Kass, Senior Fellow Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, Hudson Institute; Marty Linsky, Co-Founder Cambridge Leadership Associates; Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Founder and President of America Speaks; Elizabth Lynn, Director of Project on Civic Reflection, Valpariso University; Michael Moody, PhD, Moody Philanthropic Consulting; Jack Murrah, President, Lyndhurst Foundation; Brian O'Connell, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service; Laura Pappano, Writer in Residence, Wellesley Center for Women; Jim Pickman, Consultant; Paul Schervish, Center for Wealth and Philanthropy; Jonathan Quick, President and CEO, Management Sciences for Health; Deborah Rhode, E.W. McFarland Professor of Law, Stanford Law School; Steve Schroeder, Distinquished Professor of Health and Health Care, University of California; Bruce Sievers, Visiting Scholar, Hass Center for Public Service, Stanford University; Bradford Smith, President, Foundation Center; Marion Fremont Smith, Senior Research Fellow, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Harvard; Peter White, Citigroup, Founder, International Skye; Dennis Whittle, CEO, Global Giving; and Robert Withnow, Andlinger Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Princeton University.
I was the only practicing Morals Tutor to America's Wealthiest Families present, though Peter White at CITI does use integral psychology to backdoor moral issues. Paul Schervish as a former Jesuit could take confession, even if he can no longer offer penance and reconciliation. Amy Kass is superb at Socratic discourse, but I imagine she would stop short of healing her fellow Senior Fellows, or Board Members, at Hudson. Moral therapy was among the ancient Athenians a well accepted trade, but it has fallen into disrepute in our day and age. To do it properly, a Leech must be good with the lancet, as well as with the honeyed pill. In a time of plague, though, even the weakest healer may be welcomed into the house of the dying. Maybe the time has come to revive the role of moral healer. Admittedly, the business model remains elusive. I offered morals tutoring for $.50 cents an hour at Dr. Ted Eisenberg's here in Philadelphia, as a value-added for women getting breast augementation, or reduction, but he told me to get lost. Same thing with the penile implant specialist. I guess unlike tits, or peckers, people's morals never droop.
