Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Kathleen Enright
The Council on Foundations (the Council) has appointed Kathleen P. Enright as its new president and CEO, seeking to bolster its efforts in enhancing the philanthropic sector’s ability to make lasting change and impact. Enright is an established and widely-known figure in the philanthropic sector, having worked her entire career within it. She comes to the Council on Foundations from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), where she served as president and CEO for nearly 17 years. Her successful governance of GEO led it to cement itself as a national and international leader in improving effective philanthropy.
Prior to her long tenure at GEO, Enright served as the group director for marketing and communications at BoardSource (formerly the National Center for Nonprofit Boards). She first joined BoardSource as an editorial manager, subsequently earning promotion to assistant director of communications before accepting the group directorship. Enright earned a bachelor’s degree in English and political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a MPA in nonprofit management from George Washington University. Hired out of college by the National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation as a project manager, she quickly became responsible for directing a Ford Foundation funded project concerning the cooperation of local governments and nonprofits. It was directly after this that she moved to BoardSource and set her career on the path to nonprofit leadership.
In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities as an executive, Enright has served on numerous advisory boards and committees. She currently sits on the boards of the Center for Effective Philanthropy and the Midge Smith Center for Evaluation Effectiveness. She also regularly speaks and writes about issues in the nonprofit sector, attending industry gatherings and helping other organizations improve results for those they serve. Kathleen P. Enright will assume the duties at the helm of the Council on Foundations, replacing interim president and CEO, Gene Cochran, in March 2019.
