For Immediate Release

FORMER EDNA MCCONNELL CLARK FOUNDATION PRESIDENT MICHAEL BAILIN JOINS BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPY

Cambridge, MA …Michael Bailin, former president of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF), was elected to a three-year term on the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP’s) Board of Directors, effective May 24, 2005.

“Michael Bailin’s significant experience as a foundation leader and as a nonprofit leader, demonstrated commitment to improving foundation effectiveness, and wisdom will strengthen CEP,” said Phil Giudice, Chair of CEP’s Board of Directors. “I am delighted that Michael has joined us.”

Bailin served as president of EMCF from 1996 to 2005 and guided the foundation through a significant shift in its focus and approach to grantmaking. As a February 2006 Chronicle of Philanthropy article noted, “The New York foundation wound down its…programs that had focused on solving broad, entrenched problems…and instead placed all of its chips on a new effort to improve youth groups.”

“Michael Bailin’s leadership of EMCF transformed the Foundation and launched one of the most important and innovative strategies ever undertaken by a U.S. Foundation,” said Phil Buchanan, Executive Director. “He has offered important counsel to CEP as a member of our Advisory Board, and we look forward to his continued engagement in his new role.”

For the 17 years prior to his work at EMCF, Bailin was a founder, former president and chief executive officer of Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), a nationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to improving opportunities for young people in poor communities. Over the years he has helped to build, has managed, or has served as a board member or advisor to numerous nonprofit organizations. Currently, he serves on the boards of Civic Ventures, the International Trachoma Initiative, and the William Penn Foundation; on the President’s Leadership Advisory Council of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America; and on the Advisory Council of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. Recently, he spent a semester as visiting Professor of the Practice of Foundation Strategy in the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPY

The Center for Effective Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization focused on providing management and governance tools to define, assess, and improve overall foundation performance. CEP received initial funding in 2001 and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information on CEP's work, including its research, publications, and assessment tools, see www.effectivephilanthropy.org.