Moving the Needle on Democracy and Equity

Healthy democracies are powered by healthy communities where everyone participates. Everyday leaders play a vital role in building relationships that strengthen their community’s ability to address their most pressing needs. Merle McGee, President, and CEO of Everyday Democracy, joins Foundation Source for an inspiring discussion on innovative approaches to building strong and healthy local democracies through dialogue and community engagement.

Key points of discussion:

• The important role philanthropists and foundations can play in driving specific outcomes.
• Challenges to building multiracial democracies including race, class and gender disparities and different approaches on the pathway forward.
• Achieving transformational change through dialogue and authentic community engagement.
• Connecting the dots between democracy, social justice, civic engagement, and the lives of everyday people.

Meet out Speakers:

Merle McGee
President & Chief Executive Officer
Everyday Democracy

As the President and CEO of Everyday Democracy, Merle McGee brings over 25 years’ experience in non-profit settings fighting alongside historically marginalized and excluded communities for dignity and racial, gender, and economic justice. Before joining Everyday Democracy, she served as Chief Equity and Engagement Officer at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, where she led organizational transformation through community engagement initiatives and by conceiving and implementing Reviving Radical, an initiative to reckon with the organization’s history and build accountable relationships with communities of color. She also served as Chief Program Officer at YWCA of the City of New York and taught non-profit consulting and Race and Identity in Organizations at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. Merle earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, and a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from the New School.

Gillian Howell
Head of Client Advisory Solutions
Foundation Source

Gillian Howell leads the Client Services and Philanthropic Advisory Services functions at Foundation Source, where she oversees teams of seasoned relationship management and philanthropic advisory professionals as they help foundations achieve their charitable objectives with greater efficiency and effectiveness. Previously, Gillian spent 31 years at Bank of America and its predecessor organizations where she served in multiple philanthropic leadership roles while collaborating with high-net-worth donors, private foundations, donor-advised funds and nonprofits on strategic planning, donor development, mission advancement, next generation engagement and board governance, as well as philanthropic investments and fiduciary and risk management. She is president of the Trustees of the Colt Bequest, a National Advisor for Vision 2020 founded by the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at Drexel University, and a board member of Everyday Democracy.