AGB’s 13th Annual Foundation Leadership Forum

Connecting Great Ideas… Strong Leaders… Best Practices

January 25-28, 2009

Hyatt Regency
Coconut Point Resort & Spa
Bonita Springs, FL

The current financial crisis, congressional pressure to increase endowment distributions, and federal scrutiny of higher education governance practices are together posing extraordinary challenges to the work of governing boards. The 13th annual Foundation Leadership Forum provides a unique opportunity for foundation executives and board members to learn about the challenges and opportunities confronting their organizations and resources to help their foundations take a proactive approach to public accountability.

Charles Ellis, Investment Committee Chair, Yale University and founder of Greenwich Associates opens our program with a discussion of the current investment climate and the ways investment committees are weathering the current storm.

On Monday morning Steven Miller, Commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division of the Internal Revenue Service and other policy makers discuss the federal government’s ongoing examination of higher education governance and accountability and current proposals to regulate endowment spending.  Monday afternoon a panel of foundation board chairs and chief executives discuss the ways foundations can help ensure that their boards are well equipped to fulfill their fiduciary obligations and demonstrate the level of accountability demanded by legislators and regulators. 

Tuesday morning the core program concludes with a discussion among institution and foundation leaders about the ways in which foundation-institution relationships are changing and how foundation boards and chief executives can help to forge strong working partnerships with their affiliated institutions’ leaders.

Tuesday afternoon’s Endowment Management Seminar provides an opportunity for board members and chief executives to get a national perspective on the impact of the financial crisis on college and university endowments and learn how their peers are addressing the current challenges.  Abby Joseph Cohen, President of the Global Markets Institute and Senior Investment Strategist of Goldman Sachs opens the Seminar with an update from Wall Street.  The session closes with a discussion among foundation investment committee chairs on the key issues their committees will focus on in the months ahead.

Wednesday morning workshops provide opportunities to discuss topics in depth and explore practical ways your foundation board can enhance its effectiveness. Workshops will focus on emerging governance practices addressed in the revised Form 990, board development, entrepreneurial ventures, and the board’s role in fund-raising. 

In 2009 a single Forum will connect all foundation leaders and allow us to address the full spectrum of foundation issues as one body. Plenary sessions address fundamental issues of concern to all foundations. Peer breakout sessions, special workshops, and breakouts in the endowment seminar will be focused to address the needs of foundations with assets of $400 million or more, foundations with assets between $150 and $400 million, foundations with assets between $50 to $150 million, and foundations with less than $50 million in assets. Session tracking by asset sizes is intended to help participants identify peer organizations and topics of likely interest. Participants will not be limited to particular sessions based on asset size.

Download Preliminary Program (Adobe PDF)