What Books Are Philanthropic Leaders Reading? Here Are 11 Great Picks From IP Interviews in 2023
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I suspect many readers have a pile of books on their nightstand that’s only gotten taller and more foreboding since the holiday season. If so, I’m afraid to say that this post won’t assuage what armchair psychologists endearingly call “the anxiety of the ‘to be read’ shelf.”
Around this time last year, we published a list of book recommendations gleaned from our many conversations with foundation leaders. What was interesting — although not entirely surprising — was that while few books explicitly focused on philanthropy, many addressed issues that leaders grappled with in their day jobs, including immigration, racial equity, education and leadership. The thematically diverse list also included a healthy dose of speculative fiction titles and one biography, Walter Isaacson’s “Leonardo da Vinci.”
As the year progressed, we continued to ask interviewees the same question whenever we got the chance — what was the last great book they read? — out of both genuine curiosity and enlightened self-interest. Now that a new year has arrived, here’s a list of the great books philanthropic leaders read during 2023, along with some select commentary, to add to that ever-growing “to be read” pile.
“Poverty, by America,” by Matthew Desmond
Recommended by Molly Talbot-Metz, Mary Black Foundation President and CEO
“It’s eye-opening in how he explores the ways in which we benefit from keeping people in poverty, which is his assertion in the book. He argues that we can end poverty in this country, but we don't have the will to do it. And on my list to read next is ‘Of Boys and Men,’ by Richard Reeves.”
“The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion; and “Wave,” by Sonali Deraniyagala
Recommended by Javier Alberto Soto, Denver Foundation President
“I told you about my daughter’s passing last year. This journey is a very difficult one and something that has helped me tremendously is to read grief memoirs. It's hard to talk about the loss of a child on many levels, and by reading grief memoirs, I feel like I’ve been in dialogue with others who have suffered this kind of unimaginable grief.
“Two books in particular that had a profound impact were ‘The Year of Magical Thinking,’ by Joan Didion, and ‘Wave,’ by Sonali Deraniyagala. We’re all going to be touched by grief at some point in our lives, either personally or through someone you know, and it’s helpful to understand what that person might be going through and how you can support them.”
“Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice,” by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Recommended by Lu Zhang, A Blade of Grass Executive Director
“I’m rereading a collection of essays called ‘Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice’ by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, who is a [Unites States Artists] Disability Futures fellow and another artist I admire. It’s an incredibly informative book that I keep returning to, especially now, because I want disability and access to be core to all of A Blade of Grass’ work moving forward.”
“The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho
Recommended by Carnell Chosa, Founder and Director of the Attach Your Heart Foundation
“I just picked it up again — this will probably be the fourth time I’ve read it. I read it when I moved back home to New Mexico after being on the East Coast for six years, and it made me realize that treasure and valuables are here at home. For me, the message is about following your dreams and destiny. And in this process of raising this foundation, it’s been a journey that’s emotional, spiritual, communal and physical, and the shepherd in that story was experiencing all of that as he traveled to find his treasure and valuables. It’s a book I re-read every four years, and it seems like there's always a different message for me as I get older.
“I’d also recommend ‘Pueblo Nations’ by Nee Hemish and ‘Invisible No More,’ which is edited by Raymond Foxworth of First Nations Development Institute and Steve Dubb of The Nonprofit Quarterly.
“The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves,” by Dr. Shawn A. Ginwright
Recommended by Michelle Morales, Woods Fund Chicago President
“As someone who leads a foundation, I’m obsessed with anything management related. Your readers may know this book, but I cannot encourage it enough — it's ‘The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves’ by Dr. Shawn A. Ginwright, and it’s an amazing book that asks people to think differently about leadership.
“For those of us who are working in racial justice, this becomes especially important because we need to lead in a way that I don't think exists yet, because many of the traditional leadership norms and management styles run counter to racial justice. So this book came to me at a very transformative time, as I was dealing with a pretty significant health crisis while also thinking about what it meant to lead in a foundation that was committed to racial justice.”
“Ideas-Arrangements-Effects,” by the Design Studio for Social Intervention; and “The Family Crucible,” by Augustus Y. Napier and Carl Whitaker
Recommended by Mariko Silver, Henry Luce Foundation President and CEO
“I mostly like to read fiction and books about human relationships. Picking a favorite novel would be too hard, so I’m going to pick two books about human relationships, with the caveat that I think fiction is often the most engaging and insightful way to think about human relationships.
“The first one is by a grantee, the Design Studio for Social Intervention, called ‘Ideas-Arrangements-Effects.’ The second is ‘The Family Crucible.’ I read it many years ago at the recommendation of someone whom I admire, and it is one of the most accessible descriptions of group dynamics, even if you’re not thinking about family, per se. It’s a great guide to the different ways in which humans set themselves up into habits and patterns that may not serve either the group or the individuals.”
“The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson
Recommended by Sushma Raman, Heising-Simons Foundation President and CEO
“I’ve actually just read the first couple chapters, but then I went back to the beginning to reread it, because it’s so lyrical and beautifully written. It’s the story of three people in the Great Migration, and what she does so eloquently is this world-building project where she constructs the life, the society, the environment of these three people. I’m really inspired by it.”
“Braiding Sweetgrass,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Recommended by Cate Fox, Director of the Center for Cultural Innovation's AmbitioUS Program
“I love how she looks at not just Indigenous wisdom, but also the ways in which we can learn from our natural environment. I’ve underlined so many passages in that book.”
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot
Recommended by Susan Mims, Dogwood Health Trust President and CEO
“It’s fascinating for folks who are in health, but it’s also a great human interest story about Henrietta Lacks, who is the source of the immortal cell line called HeLa. Seventy years ago, doctors took cells from her biopsy without her consent to be used in research, and it turns out that her cells just kept growing and growing, and they have been used as the foundation for many medical tests, interventions and vaccines. It’s a foundation of modern medicine and a lot of people in medicine have no idea who Henrietta Lacks is.
“I love this book because it tells her story so she can finally get the recognition she deserves. In addition to the human interest story and the historical component, it addresses important ethical considerations of informed consent.”
“College Behind Bars,” a PBS documentary
Recommended by Lauren Casteel, Women’s Foundation of Colorado President and CEO
“I’m going to deviate and give you a film [laughs]. It ties to the idea of who has access to opportunity, and it’s a PBS documentary series called ‘College Behind Bars.’ It’s the story of a group of incarcerated men and women who are struggling to earn college degrees and turn their lives around at the Bard Prison Initiative. It is a stark look at our failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for the over 2 million Americans living behind bars. I felt all of the pain for lives that could have been perceived as being lost, and also the opportunity for redemption.”
