National Center for Family Philanthropy created its Fellows program to honor leaders in family philanthropy and nurture a generation of new leaders. NCFP’s three new fellows—Mary Mountcastle, Kelly Nowlin, and June Wilson—will share what it means to be a giving family in today’s world. Important discussion topics include: balancing donor legacy and shared family vision against the needs of communities being served, managing the power and privilege of your position while working on the front lines of change, building honest, collaborative and accountable relationships between the board and the communities, and showing up in meaningful ways at board meetings. The moderator is NCFP’s current Fellow, Douglas Bitonti Stewart.
Featured speakers
For nearly 27 years Doug Bitonti Stewart has dedicated his career to philanthropy serving organizations such as Michigan State University, Michigan Nonprofit Management Institute, the Arthritis Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Michigan and as Director of Development for Children’s and Women’s Health at the University of Michigan Health System. In early 2007, Doug became the first Executive Director of the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation. In his position Doug has the privilege of helping the Fisher family further their philanthropic legacy by working with partners making the most meaningful impact to strengthen and empower children and families in need.
Doug is a member of a number of volunteer boards including the Jewish Funders Network; Excellent Schools Detroit; immediate past chair of The League Michigan, an organization promoting youth service and leadership throughout Michigan; and the 2014 American Express NGen Leadership Award Selection Committee. Doug serves the philanthropic field and social impact sector through his work on the CEO Advisory Board of the National Center for Family Philanthropy, the Committee to Transform Michigan Philanthropy through Diversity and Inclusion of the Council of Michigan Foundations, and Development Summer Internship Advisory Board at the University of Michigan where he also served as a guest lecturer in the Org Studies program. In 2014, twenty-two years after receiving his undergraduate degree in Finance from Michigan State University, Doug graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Business Administration from the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.
Mary Mountcastle is a trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds and Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundations, a board member of Demos, and has served on the boards of numerous state and national organizations. Previously, Mary was a senior manager at Self-Help, the nation's largest nonprofit community development lender, and served in senior positions at the Center for Responsible Lending and MDC Inc, a nonprofit policy research center as well as other private and public sector organizations. Mary holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from Williams College.
Kelly D. Nowlin is Principal at KDN Philanthropy Consulting and is a fifth-generation trustee of the Surdna Foundation. She chairs the Andrus Family Program, and was former chair of the foundation’s Centennial Working Group. Kelly is responsible for outreach to, and engagement of, nearly 500 extended family members and identifies opportunities to collaborate with other family foundations and youth philanthropy programs. Kelly guided the development of activities marking Surdna’s 100th anniversary in 2017.Kelly was a founding board member of the Andrus Family Fund (AFF), an independent grantmaker launched by Surdna for fifth generation family members. She helped develop program areas, all governance aspects, and strategic vision of this $4MM fund. Kelly served as Vice Chair, then Co-Chair for four of her seven-year term.Kelly has nearly 30 years of experience as a media and communications professional, has launched two startups, and has worked extensively with non-profit organizations generating awareness and support for their causes. She is currently a full-time philanthropy and marketing consultant and serves on the boards of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) and the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP). She speaks regularly on topics in philanthropy including next generation engagement, social justice, impact, culture, and strategic communications. An honors graduate of Boston College (Class of ’89), Kelly lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts with her husband and two teenage children.
June Wilson, executive director emeritus and board member of the Quixote Foundation, combines her talent as a dancer and choreographer with the operational expertise of a COO and strategic acumen of a CEO. She understands people’s physical and emotional interactions within a literal, conceptual or practical space and can quickly translate what she sees into strategic systems. Her unique approach has strengthened nonprofits like the Minnesota Dance Alliance in Minneapolis and the National Performance Network in New Orleans. At Quixote she artfully guided the design and implementation of their “Spend Up” approach to operating within a strategic lifespan and transformed the foundation’s commitment to racial equity. She looks forward to her next stage, where she’ll continue to translate movement into meaningful patterns for those working for social change.
Who should attend: Board members, staff, advisors, and donors in family philanthropy.
Price: There is no fee for NCFP Friends or members of one of our Family Philanthropy Online Partner Communities.