Author Archive:

Peter Laugharn

Opinion Kathleen Enright, Peter Laugharn and Benjamin Bellegy 10 October 2022

The next evolution of international philanthropy: Localization

American foundations should feel pride about one of the key headlines from an event at the U.N. General Assembly last month: a new report on global giving found their giving has skyrocketed in recent years, …

Opinion Peter Laugharn 31 August 2021 For Subscribers

What I know now

Some 17 years ago, as an international funder Peter Laugharn penned a letter to an imagined colleague new to the field. Here he writes a follow-up letter from his vantage point as president and CEO …

Conference reports Peter Laugharn 5 April 2016

2016 GPF Conference: Filling the Gaps in Humanitarian Aid

Over the past fifteen years, the demand for humanitarian aid has increased dramatically. The world currently spends $25 billion to provide assistance to 125 million people, and according to a UN High-Level Panel on Humanitarian …

Conference reports Peter Laugharn 6 May 2015

‘The first thing we do, let’s study all the lawyers’ (with apologies to William Shakespeare)

Last week at the global dinner at the Council of Foundations conference, Ed Cain of the Hilton Foundation mentioned that his brother, a lawyer, had come to understand and support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) …

Conference reports 1 Peter Laugharn 1 May 2015

Council on Foundations conference focuses on Sustainable Development Goals

The theme of the Council of Foundations’ annual conference in San Francisco this week was ‘Hope and Opportunity in a Destabilized World’. This theme led directly and logically to a significant emphasis on the ‘Sustainable …

Conference reports Peter Laugharn 28 April 2015

Climate change and global governance: day one of the Council on Foundations’ conference

Addressing climate change is a focus issue at the 2015 Council of Foundations’ annual conference in San Francisco, and one of its most eloquent proponents is former Irish president and UN human rights commissioner Mary …

Conference reports Peter Laugharn 16 June 2014

Council on Foundations: a network-based strategy for the global arena?

With the advent of its new network-based strategy, the Council on Foundations has done a significant amount of reorganizing. Part of that reorganization included the downsizing of its global programme staff and the disbanding of …

Conference reports Peter Laugharn 11 June 2014

Council on Foundations conference 2014: foundations and the post-2015 development goals

One of the best-attended sessions at the Council on Foundations conference this week was on foundation involvement in the global development agenda for the period 2015-30.  The standing room only crowd was urged by panellists …

Conference reports Peter Laugharn 9 June 2014

Council on Foundations conference 2014: improving capital flows to non-profits

At the annual Council on Foundations conference, one of the key moments to focus on international questions has always been the global philanthropy dinner, and in particular its keynote. This year, that keynote was given …

Conference reports Peter Laugharn 8 May 2014

Global Philanthropy Forum 2014 (3): Keeping a balance between global goals and citizen solutions

This is the last of three blogs from this year’s Global Philanthropy Forum. Yesterday I focused on citizen abilities to help families and communities organize, thrive and adapt and to hold institutions to account. Today …