Press Releases

WASHINGTON ­­­­- The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) today announced that veteran philanthropic researcher, reformer and author Teresa Odendahl has been elected chair of its board of directors. Respected for her 25 years of progressive advocacy in philanthropy, Odendahl joined NCRP's board in September 1995 and most recently served as treasurer until becoming chair at its spring 2003 meeting.

"Since I entered the foundation field at roughly the time that NCRP was created, NCRP has been a unique, clear voice for philanthropic reform," said Odendahl. "I am honored to serve as board chair and excited by this new opportunity to help foundations and other funders more effectively respond to the concerns of the least privileged in our society. From core operating support and grants spending to accountability and social justice funding, NCRP addresses a host of critical philanthropic issues - and I am eager to help the organization focus its efforts to make the most difference."

Odendahl is currently senior program officer at The Wyss Foundation, which funds environmental issues. For the previous decade, she served as executive director of the National Network of Grantmakers, where she launched a pioneering drive to encourage foundations to increase their "payout" rate and direct more resources toward grants. Odendahl co-founded the Institute for Women's Policy Research, is treasurer of the Center for Economic Justice and has also headed two women's funds. She has served on the faculties of Yale University's Program on Nonprofit Organizations and the University of California, San Diego Women's Studies Program. She earned her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Odendahl is author of Charity Begins at Home: Generosity and Self-Interest Among the Philanthropic Elite (Basic Books, 1990). She has written, edited and contributed to numerous research works in the field, including contributing to and co-editing Women and Power in the Nonprofit Sector with Michael O'Neill (Jossey-Bass, 1994), and co-authoring The Meaning and Impact of Board and Staff Diversity in the Foundation Field (Joint Affinity Groups, 2002) with Lynn Burbridge, William Diaz and Aileen Shaw.