On November 29, 2016, the National Museum of American History hosted its second Philanthropy Initiative symposium, The Power of Giving: Philanthropy’s Impact on American Life. Programming focused on the annual theme—philanthropy’s historic and contemporary role in addressing issues of sustainability and the environment. Featured speakers included  Erin Barnes, Austin Blackmon, Jean Case, Brian Clark Howard, Katherine Lorenz, Gifford Pinchot III, Nancy Pinchot, Philip Rigdon, David M. Rubenstein, Michael Scott, Sonal Shah, Lisa Pike Sheehy, Ted Steinberg, Mark Tercek, and Darryl Young.

Download the event program (PDF)

Smithsonian Welcome 

David J. Skorton
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

Museum Welcome

John L. Gray
Director
National Museum of American History

Nature’s Role in American History: New York as a Case Study

Ted Steinberg
Adeline Barry Devee Distinguished Professor of History and Professor of Law
Case Western University

Conservation and Social Responsibility: Four Generations of Pinchot Philanthropy

Interviewer
David M. Rubenstein
Smithsonian Regent
Cofounder and Co-CEO, The Carlyle Group

Panelists
Gifford Pinchot III
CEO, Pinchot & Company

Nancy Pinchot
Pinchot Family Historian

Protecting the North American West: Philanthropy’s Role in Conservation

Interviewer
Brian Clark Howard
Senior Writer Covering the Environment
National Geographic

Panelists
Philip Rigdon
Yakama Nation Superintendent of the Department of Natural Resources

Lisa Pike Sheehy
Vice President of Environmental Activism, Patagonia, Inc.

Michael Scott
Acting Program Director of Environment, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Building Stronger, More Sustainable Cities Through Philanthropy

Darryl Young
Director, Sustainable Cities Program, The Summit Foundation

Austin Blackmon
Vice President of Environmental Activism
Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space
City of Boston

Erin Barnes
Co-Founder and CEO
ioby

A Conversation with Jean Case: Impact Investing and the Environment

Jean Case
CEO, The Case Foundation

Sonal Shah
Executive Director, Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown Universitry

Next Gen Environmental Philanthropy

Katherine Lorenz
President, Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Power of Nature

Mark Tercek
President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy

Closing Remarks

David M. Rubenstein
Smithsonian Regent
Cofounder and Co-CEO, The Carlyle Group