Meet this veteran of prestigious nonprofits and advocate for people-focused philanthropy aimed at bettering lives for struggling people.
Independent Women’s Forum is pleased to announce that Elise Westhoff, the President and CEO of the Philanthropy Roundtable, is the latest entry into our popular series of Champion Women profiles.
Westhoff is one of the leading figures in promoting philanthropic giving that upholds the principles of America’s funding and aims to make people's lives better.
A veteran of prestigious nonprofits, Westhoff, who joined the Philanthropy Roundtable in 2020, staked out a position for “people-focused” philanthropy and against “woke” philanthropy in a now-famous column in USA Today last year. “People-focused Philanthropy is on the way out,” the headline stated. “A philanthropy that divides us is taking over.”
“I felt inspired to write the USA Today piece,” Westhoff tells IWF, “because I was drawn to philanthropy and to the nonprofit world because of experiences that my own family faced overcoming challenges. After spending many years in this sector, I have seen a huge shift in how people are approaching the job of philanthropy, which in my view is to help equip struggling people and communities with the tools they need to overcome challenges. Those things include hard work, education, faith, and personal responsibility. And, unfortunately, in the philanthropic sector, what we now see is really a lot of money being spent and a lot of focus on increasing the role of government and promoting this worldview of victim and oppressor where there are winners and losers based on things like your skin color, and your gender, and your sexual orientation.”
“It’s a disempowering view of the world and not one that the Philanthropy Roundtable and I share,” she continues. “I really truly believe that people have the power to overcome challenges and that we’re very lucky to live in a country that allows us so much freedom and opportunity, and that the best way to help people is to share the values of liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility and instill those in people who are struggling.”
We know you will enjoy meeting Westhoff and learning about the family story that made her such a forceful advocate for people-focused philanthropy that aims at better lives for struggling people.
