Emily Koons Jae serves as Director of the Fund for Academic Renewal (FAR), a program of ACTA that works closely with higher education donors to design, monitor, and evaluate transformative gifts that meet their philanthropic objectives. Prior to joining ACTA, Emily served as the director of entrepreneur engagement at the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives in southeastern Pennsylvania. Before that, she worked for the Jack Miller Center, serving in a progression of roles on the organization’s academic programs, communications, and development teams. Emily holds a B.A. in history from Davidson College. After spending a decade in Philadelphia, she and her husband now live in Washington, DC, and enjoy exploring their new city. Emily is an avid reader and spends her time cheering on the Wildcats (both Davidson and Villanova) in college basketball.
ACTA's Emily Koons Jae and Bryan Paul recently sat down with Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation, to discuss the successes and shortcomings of higher ed reform in North Carolina.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has long advocated for a campus culture that promotes intellectual diversity, open inquiry, and free expression. The unfettered pursuit of truth is the lifeblood of higher education, yet today we face a deepening free speech crisis at colleges and universities. Intelligent giving can preserve and foster a culture […]
A few weeks ago, Ken Griffin’s $300 million contribution to Harvard University inspired an op-ed in Inside Philanthropy calling on universities to be more circumspect in allowing naming rights. Named gifts are easy targets for criticism, and many wealthy donors have been accused of making charitable contributions out of mere vanity or as a Quixotic attempt to cheat death.
$196 billion is quite a sum. According to Forbes, $196 billion is also the grand total given by the top 25 philanthropists over their lifetimes. Readers will recognize many of the names on the list, such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, and MacKenzie Scott, as both the heroes and the villains of our society, […]
It can be hard for donors to support higher education in keeping with their values. But there are options at universities all across the country. Americans have never been so disappointed by higher education. In a survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Bipartisan Policy Center, only 60% of Americans said that they […]
‘Targeted giving is a powerful lever for change in higher education,’ advisors say. In an economic upheaval, an influential philanthropy guide encourages donors to strongly consider directing gifts towards college programs that boost student outcomes and prepare graduates for careers. With this approach, donors can avoid having their gifts placed in a general fund, where they have […]
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