TC Today - Teachers College Columbia University
TC Today - Teachers College Columbia University
TC Today - Teachers College Columbia University
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The Education Broker<br />
When education nonprofits need private funds, Lisa Philp plays matchmaker<br />
If, as many people believe, the future of education is<br />
public-private partnerships, the world is going to need<br />
more people like Lisa Philp.<br />
Witness the critical, behind-the-scenes role Philp<br />
played last summer in ensuring the success of i3, the U.S.<br />
Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation Fund.<br />
Under the program, nearly 1,700 education nonprofits<br />
from around the country submitted proposals for outof-the-box<br />
approaches to boost student achievement.<br />
In early August, USDOE chose 49 winners—and then<br />
things got interesting. Federal law required the i3 funds<br />
to be assigned by September, leaving the recipients with<br />
just one month to come up with the requisite 20 percent<br />
matching private funds.<br />
“It was all or nothing—the groups either raised their<br />
match, or they were shut out,” says Philp, 45, a <strong>TC</strong> master’s<br />
degree student in interdisciplinary studies who also serves<br />
as Managing Director and Global Head of Philanthropic<br />
Services at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.<br />
There are times when<br />
someone sells a business or<br />
inherits money and decides<br />
it’s time to move from being a<br />
check-book giver to becoming a<br />
more strategic philanthropist.<br />
Under intense pressure, Philp found funding partners<br />
for 14 nonprofit organizations to win grants, including<br />
two New York City programs—the School of One, which<br />
combines teacher-led instruction with individualized software,<br />
and the District 75 arts education program for children<br />
with special needs. Among those answering Philp’s<br />
call was Laurie Tisch, Vice Chair of the <strong>Teachers</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Board of Trustees, who provided matching funds through<br />
the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.<br />
“Lisa has the reputation for being a really straight shooter<br />
and very organized,” Tisch says. “She knows what she is<br />
talking about.”<br />
Indeed, few people have a better understanding of the<br />
sea changes in philanthropy in recent decades—particularly<br />
on the education front. Philp began her career at<br />
Public Technology, Inc., a nonprofit resource for municipalities<br />
in Washington, D.C. After earning her MBA in<br />
marketing and nonprofit management at Northwestern<br />
<strong>University</strong>’s Kellogg School of Management, she entered<br />
New York’s philanthropic world at the New York<br />
Regional Association of Grantmakers, now known as<br />
Philanthropy New York.<br />
There, she served as Director of Communications and<br />
Government Relations, forging public-private partnerships<br />
to support neighborhood improvement programs<br />
around the city. In 1998, she joined J.P. Morgan as a vice-<br />
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