In the most recent episode of Philanthropy Roundtable’s interview series “Doers to Donors,” Roundtable President and CEO Christie Herrera spoke with Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg, founder and chairman of The Orchestra of the Americas Group.  

Their wide-ranging conversation centered around Ochoa-Brillembourg’s success as an entrepreneur, her commitment to the arts and her personal story as an immigrant to the United States. During this discussion, Ochoa-Brillembourg, the chairman emeritus and founder of Strategic Investment Group, made the case for why capitalism is an engine for growth – and, on the other hand, why socialism breeds corruption.  

“[Capitalism] creates a marketplace for people to find the optimal way to trade their skills and to grow, and governments are necessary. We need rules. We need laws. We need rights that need to be defended by somebody, but governments are not what creates real wealth,” she said. “Without private enterprise, without business, without innovation, without entrepreneurs … we have a debt economy, and that is what has happened to my country. It is a band of criminals that is destroying the country and they have ruined the private sector.” 

Ochoa-Brillembourg, who grew up in Venezuela, detailed the country’s economic collapse and the “tragic” consequences caused by its socialist government.  

“I have never met a socialist who didn’t want to take other people’s money for themselves,” she said. “They have stolen [Venezuelans] blind. And it’s what’s happening in China and it’s what’s happening in Russia. Corruption in a socialist regime is extraordinarily more rampant than in a democracy.” 

She also offered a warning for those in the United States not to fall prey to the lures of socialism. If that happened, she said, “I don’t know where else I would go.” 

Learn more about “Doers to Donors” and watch the full interview featuring Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg here or listen to the podcast on Apple, Google or Spotify. Subscribe to the Roundtable’s YouTube channel to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.   

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The following was presented as part of a session at Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting in October 2023.  

Fires that consume more than 100,000 acres are becoming commonplace in America, with 72 million acres affected in the last decade. That’s according to Brian Yablonski, CEO of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), an organization that pursues innovative market solutions to the nation’s most pressing conservation problems. 

“The biggest culprit here is 100 years of misguided government policy,” Yablonski said during his Big Idea talk at the Roundtable’s Annual Meeting.  

PERC, located in Bozeman, Montana, pushes back on the idea that more government regulations are the answer to conserving America’s natural lands.   

“Conservation needs to be about speeding up not slowing down,” said Yablonski. “We need to replace slow down regulation with speed up policies that enable us to get in and restore quickly. … And that’s going to take revisiting environmental laws that have been on the books for more than 50 years.”  

Yablonski says conservation is in desperate need of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology, driven by local individuals who are open to exploring new ideas.  

One example Yablonski cites is the Crazy Mountain Virtual Fence Project, which will improve wildlife habitat on America’s cattle land by enabling the removal of miles of internal barbed-wire fence. Ranchers will be able to remotely map and manage livestock through a series of signal towers and GPS collars worn by cows.  

“Conservation needs to be done with, not to landowners,” said Yablonski. “Local individual knowledge needs to drive conservation, not bureaucrats.”  

For more information on this organization or others, please contact Program Director, Clarice Smith. 

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Philanthropy Roundtable believes a strong private sector, supported by the free enterprise system, creates the wealth that makes philanthropy possible, enabling charitable organizations to solve social problems and improve the lives of countless individuals. However, some of the nation’s most powerful philanthropic institutions have committed nearly $500 million over the next five years to “remake capitalism,” which will require greater government intervention in the private sector and could result in less overall charitable giving. 

In a recent episode of the Roundtable’s interview series, “Doers to Donors,” Maureen and Kelly Hackett of the Hackett Family Foundation offered a pointed response to those who want to dismantle our economic system – a system that has enabled their family’s foundation to provide critical support to mental health, cancer research and faith-based education institutions, among others. 

Maureen and Jim Hackett met as freshmen in high school, and went on to raise four children together, building a life of purpose and success. Jim Hackett earned his MBA from Harvard University and led firms in the oil and gas industry before taking on leadership roles in private equity. Maureen Hackett served as “CEO of the Hackett family” and took charge of their philanthropic work.

During a recent episode of “Doers to Donors,” Philanthropy Roundtable President and CEO Elise Westhoff asked Maureen Hackett how she would respond to critics of capitalism who want to see the economic system that brought prosperity to her family and help to the beneficiaries of their foundation dismantled.

“[The critics] just don’t have the facts. [They] don’t see the tremendous impact capitalism can have on the world,” Hackett said. “Not just on tchotchkes and cars and rockets and these types of things, [but on] education and research and policy institutes and opportunities for politicians to do the right thing. That’s what capitalism is all about.”

Maureen Hackett also discussed the role capitalism played in building the United States, noting the contributions of the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, and other early industrialists who became philanthropists.

“Those were visionaries that wanted to see the world a better place,” she said. “We still have capitalists that have those visions and those dreams for this country and this world.”

Maureen Hackett’s daughter, Kelly Hackett, who is a leading voice for next-generation philanthropy, added it is “nonsensical to think anything would get done without capitalism.” She also called it “short-sighted” for capitalism’s critics to call for dismantling the system over the issue of income disparity.

“It would be great if we could do something about wealth disparity. [But] I don’t think necessarily going after capitalists is the way to go,” she said. “I think there are a lot of other things that we can do to fix a lot of the issues that we have with our fiscal system that don’t … target those who know how to make money by being visionaries.”

Maureen Hackett said there is something else critics miss when they attack capitalists: the hard work it takes to succeed in the free enterprise system – and the fulfillment that comes from charitable giving.

“A lot of blood, sweat and tears,” she said. “And as a result, a great deal of joy in the … ability to be philanthropic.”

Click to watch the full “Doers to Donors” episode featuring Maureen and Kelly Hackett and listen to the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify.

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In an article recently published in Washington Examiner entitled “People don’t believe government can solve tough problems. But philanthropy can,” Elise Westhoff, president and CEO of Philanthropy Roundtable, wrote that, instead of relying on the government to solve problems in our communities, charitable organizations respond quickly and effectively to the many concerns facing our country today.

Below are excerpts from the article:

“Americans named the government as the top problem facing the country last month, surpassing concerns over inflation and the economy. According to recent Gallup polls, faith in the U.S. government and its ability to address our nation’s most pressing challenges is at historic lows . While people’s frustration with government isn’t exactly new — Gallup notes “satisfaction” with the state of the nation has been declining for two decades — it’s important to recognize that government is not the only tool available when it comes to solving pressing challenges at the local, state, and federal levels.

“For those who wish to see more accomplished on issues such as education, poverty alleviation, and crime, we must remember that the private sector provides an even more powerful answer, a uniquely American tradition with a historic track record of success: charitable giving.”

…

“What’s more, nonprofit organizations and the philanthropy that supports them do far more than just address temporary needs, such as helping people learn a skill or earn a paycheck; they instill confidence and a sense of meaning and purpose in the individuals and families they serve. Effective philanthropy empowers people to transform their lives and achieve self-sufficiency for the long term — something that government is not well-equipped to do.

“Given the current state of our government and economy, now is the time for people to reacquaint themselves with the power of civil society to address tough societal issues, improve lives, and advance the proven values that have guided us for hundreds of years: liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility. Perhaps people would see more positive change if we invested in effective solutions and strong organizations rather than relying on government to address complex issues.”

Please continue reading “People don’t believe government can solve tough problems. But philanthropy can,” at Washington Examiner.

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The following was presented as part of a session at Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting in October 2022.

The use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to evaluate corporations — in addition to traditional financial measures — is an emerging and often misunderstood threat to free enterprise and a strong American economy.

On Oct. 19, Philanthropy Roundtable hosted a keynote conversation on this topic at the organization’s Annual Meeting, entitled “ESG: An Insidious Threat to Free Society and Philanthropy,” moderated by the Roundtable’s Vice President of Development Windle Jarvis.

Equinox Partners President and CIO Sean Fieler and Philanthropy Roundtable board member, founder of Strive Asset Management and best-selling author Vivek Ramaswamy joined the session as panelists to examine why the philanthropic world should be concerned about ESG and how we can defend free enterprise to ensure our vibrant philanthropic sector continues to be fueled by a robust American economy.

Ramaswamy kicked off the conversation by stating his concerns with the ESG model and how this philosophy could endanger our country’s value system by putting decisions about important social issues into the hands of corporate executives.

“[This model] sent a signal to everyday citizens that their voices did not matter in answering the political questions that we ought to settle in a democratic society through free speech and open debate, whether or how to address systemic racism or climate change or whatever,” he said. “These questions are important enough that everyone’s voice and vote count equally. Just because I was a biotech CEO or a fund manager or whatever didn’t give me more authority on those questions.”

Nevertheless, Fieler said he believes corporations are driving demand for ESG because “these elites [executives and board members] are true believers in this agenda. They’re willing to pursue this ESG agenda … even when it’s not in the financial interest or any normal worldly interest of their business, because they are very much committed ideologically,” he said, to which Ramaswamy offered his own perspective on these motivations. 

As Jarvis navigated the discussion, Ramaswamy and Fieler shed further light on the dangers of ESG, including mandates relating to oil and gas that have negatively impacted domestic production, and why philanthropists should play a role in challenging this model.

“We’re going to have to get off the sidelines if we’re going to win this fight,” Fieler said. “You may work hard in your day jobs making grants, making donations to causes that you think advance a better world … yet our own dollars, through the investment accounts, through the balance sheet where your dollars are invested, are actively undermining the very agendas where you may spend your day job,” Ramaswamy added.

Check out other Annual Meeting videos at the links below.

Keynotes:

Ken Griffin Receives 2022 Simon-DeVos Prize for Philanthropic Leadership and Discusses Approach to Charitable Giving

Leaders Discuss Future of Conservative Movement at Philanthropy Roundtable’s 2022 Annual Meeting

Elise Westhoff Gives Welcome Address at Philanthropy Roundtable 2022 Annual Meeting

How Philanthropy Can Defend American Values and Support Smart Foreign Policy

Big Idea Talks:

Diversity Done Differently: United, Not Dividing, with Karith Foster

Philanthropy and Civics Education: Hanna Skandera on How Civics Bees Can Help Inform Today’s Students

Philanthropy and the Dignity of Work: Reimagining Reentry with Brandon Chrostowski

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The following was presented as part of a session at Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting in October 2022.

On Oct. 20, 2022 at Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, three prominent conservative leaders dove into the debate over the future of American conservatism, including tensions between anti-establishment populists and the intellectual elite. Ahead of the midterm elections, the conversation focused on the current state of conservatism and how cultural and economic factors might affect its trajectory.

American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Matthew Continetti moderated the insightful discussion between Manhattan Institute President Reihan Salam and The Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.

Continetti, also the author of “The Right: The Hundred Year War for American Conservatism,” was well-equipped to guide the conversation and opened with his belief that “the American conservative movement is on the verge of some of its greatest successes,” citing the states as laboratories of democracy advancing causes like educational freedom.

Continetti kicked off the discussion digging into the “contest for the future of the center-right,” and posed a question to Salam about his view on the center-right coalition and how it’s changed in recent decades.

“When I think about conservatism — the conservatism that has always resonated with me — its cornerstone is the idea of the decentralization of power,” Salam said. “When we think about the virtues of American life, a lot of them spring from the fact that this is a country that has not been a top-down country, [but rather] a country where you see robust communities, [where] you see a kind of vitality both economic and cultural that stems from that decentralization.”

As these leaders reflected on the future of the conservative movement, Roberts, who was named president of The Heritage Foundation last year, said the organization is committed to being “on offense every single day for the American people.”

“I like to think about the work we do as being the intellectual ammunition for effecting policy change,” he said.

Nevertheless, Roberts acknowledged tensions that exist among conservatives, particularly between those who espouse populist beliefs and those who hold more traditional conservative values.

“Yes, these tensions exist. They are animated and even personified by one particular political personality, which divides our movement,” he said.

Despite that, Roberts said Heritage’s distinctive role and main objective is “to change laws that need to be changed, to devolve power from D.C. and to restore self-governance to the American people.”

Salam highlighted the Manhattan Institute’s approach to advancing conservative principles.

“We decided to really, really zero in and focus on the rule of law, public safety and the scourge of identity politics,” said Salam. He added, “What we try to do is show not tell. … We’re not leading with ideological language, we’re trying to lead with results and specifics.”

While discussing foreign policy, Continetti said, “one’s attitude toward the world reflects one’s attitude toward America itself” and “there are some who wish to turn inward,” which in his view results in “a very pessimistic view of the American future.”

He asked Salam how he thinks about this challenge, specifically, “what it means for the American right to take an outward view rather than look inward.”

In concluding his remarks on the threat from China, the war in Ukraine and the important role of global leadership and strategic partnerships in national security, Salam noted concern with the idea of surrendering U.S. global leadership and “that sends a very dangerous signal to other freedom loving people around the world.”

Roberts said those considering foreign policy questions should be thoughtful about where the government spends its resources overseas.

“Our own financial situation, which is dire, is going to force the American political right to be much more strategic about where to spend that money,” he said.

The panelists shared their gratitude to donors for the resources and advice provided by the philanthropic sector. Continetti also credited philanthropists and his fellow panelists with “trying to build this golden triangle between ideas, institutions and the individuals who can actually put them into practice.”

Watch the video above, and don’t miss Roundtable President and CEO Elise Westhoff’s welcome address from Annual Meeting. More conversations from the Roundtable’s Annual Meeting will be shared in the coming weeks.

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In his new book, “Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit and the Path Back to Excellence,” author, entrepreneur and Philanthropy Roundtable board member Vivek Ramaswamy turns from the question of how corporate America went woke to address the question of how America, once a nation of underdogs, has instead become a nation that celebrates victimhood.

Ramaswamy, who recorded this video as part of the Roundtable’s True Diversity initiative, has advocated alongside this organization for valuing each person as a unique individual – and embracing a rich diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to empower people, promote equality and improve lives. This book lays out his argument for why Americans should pursue “exceptionalism” and “revive a new cultural movement … that puts excellence first.”

Early in the book, Ramaswamy declares, “We’re a nation of victims now. It’s one of the few things we’ve all got left in common.” He makes a persuasive argument using history, constitutional law, psychology, sociology, biology, foreign policy, philosophy and economics to explain how the country got to this place – and how we can move forward.

Becoming a Nation of Victims

Ramaswamy points out that, from its founding, the United States was a nation of people who overcame obstacles. Early on, the American Dream was epitomized by author Horatio Alger’s stories of the plucky underdog who, through hard work, grit and a little luck, surmounted the odds against him and succeeded. Now, however, Ramaswamy argues the underdog mentality has been supplanted by a close cousin: the victimhood mentality.

Ramaswamy believes the seeds of modern American victimhood can be traced to the Civil War, when he says a defeated South changed from viewing itself as an underdog to a cheated victim, making a villain of Confederate general James Longstreet. At the same time, a constitutional war unfolded with the resulting law encouraging people to embrace their tribal identities rather than a national identity. As Ramaswamy explains, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Slaughterhouse Cases mark the point at which the nation’s high court abandoned the question of which rights Americans have under the 14th Amendment due to their status as citizens.

In subsequent cases the Court instead focused on the far more subjective question of which fundamental rights all people possess as human beings. These later rulings developed a doctrine protecting the fundamental rights of people as human beings and provided instructions regarding which groups of people ought to be regarded as victims deserving of special protection. The result was the law incentivized Americans to present themselves as victims rather than as citizens. Over time the courts gave themselves more and more power to determine who counted as a victim.

How the Victimhood Mentality Hurts America

Modern America’s victimhood-narrative mindset manifests itself in several ways. One is a trend toward looking at racial issues through the lens of critical race theory (CRT). According to Ramaswamy, “What all forms of CRT have in common is that they divide the world into oppressors and their victims; they simply disagree on the mechanisms of the oppression.” Another is the development of a “sore loser” mentality in politics on both the Left (e.g. Stacey Abrams) and the Right (e.g. Donald Trump). Ramaswamy notes, “Ironically, Republicans and Democrats are converging. Maybe no one likes a sore loser, but it seems like everyone likes being one. The new wisdom for both parties is that any election you win is legitimate, and any you lose must’ve been stolen. Wallowing in this shared victimhood narrative may soothe the sting of defeat, but it’s poison to the rule of law.”

Ramaswamy goes on to compare America to Carthage, China to Rome, and Taiwan to Sicily, saying America’s focus on victimhood is affecting its ability to compete internationally. His rationale is victimhood causes national decline by making the economic pie smaller as everyone focuses on grabbing what they can rather than expanding the pie. A nation declines economically through decreased productivity and culturally through division due to perceived unfairness.

“Human happiness is greatly affected by the perception in the fairness in distribution of goods. … Human and animal studies demonstrate that it’s not inequality that we object to, it’s unfair inequality, and ensuring that citizens have equal opportunities to succeed would create a perception of fairness, even in the presence of wealth inequality,” he says.

The Path Back to Excellence

Given what he views as a sorry state of affairs in the country, Ramaswamy calls for a return to a merit-based culture of excellence instead of one of victimhood. To achieve this, he believes mutual forgiveness and a ”theory of justice as duty” are necessary. The first step is recognizing that everyone has valid claims of victimhood and forgiving. After all, he says, America is “locked in a grievance-fueled race to the bottom propelled by two major forces: cyclical control of the political levers of power and unrestrained backlash to the entrenched cultural ones. The only way to break free of this vicious cycle is to find a way to forgive each other instead of trying to win at the game of playing the victim.”

He says forgiveness enables excellence, offering the example of accomplished Black musician Daryl Davis, who has befriended Ku Klux Klan members, ultimately resulting in over 200 white supremacists abandoning the KKK. Davis did not accept the identity of black victimhood or allow himself to feel harmed. Ramaswamy observes, “He’s been so successful at persuading white supremacists to abandon their racism through the simple power of being himself around them, unencumbered by the false identities they or anyone else would impose on him.”

He goes on to say, “Forgiving someone else’s bigotry involves not giving up a grievance you have a right to, but understanding that what they did to you is the least and smallest part of who they are, that they merely mistook you for the least and smallest part of who you are.”

Ramaswamy offers a thought-provoking examination of how America became a nation that has embraced victimhood and is engaged in fierce internal conflict via identity politics. While some of his proposed solutions to addressing this problem might be contentious and some members of our community may not agree with this approach, his urging not to base one’s identity on victimhood – or the identity of others on their prejudiced actions – arguably provides a path forward to forgiveness and healing for the country.

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Below are excerpts from the op-ed entitled “Left Melts Down as Parents Now on to ‘Woke’ Curriculums, CRT’s Harms”:

“The Stop WOKE Act prohibits teaching critical race theory (CRT) in K-12 schools; prohibits school districts and public higher-ed institutions from hiring CRT consultants; and gives employees and families the tools to sue when CRT is forced upon them.

Like many bill signings about educational issues, Gov. DeSantis was flanked by students and parents. Several students appeared to be Black, and that set off the likes of MSNBC host Joy Reid.

She tweeted her response: ‘This misuse of Black boys is tantamount to child abuse. I would really like to hear the back-story on who these kids were and how they wound up at a DeSantis event. Given how anti-Black DeSantis is, using Black children this way is extra sick.’

Reid took her usual racially-charged, divisive rhetoric against anything conservative to a new low. 

…

Ron DeSantis stands up for giving all parents greater control over what their children are taught in class — whether that’s CRT or gender ideology.

…

American parents reject being ‘woke’ now that they are awakened to how destructive, divisive, and anti-America CRT is. The left is panicked.”

Please continue reading “Left Melts Down as Parents Now on to ‘Woke’ Curriculums, CRT’s Harms” at Newsmax.

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Their recent work focuses on educating state treasurers and others about the financial consequences of Environmental, Social and Governance policies, which companies increasingly are adopting for investors to track things like social goals and company leadership. While these policies may seem well-intentioned, SFOF warns they could lead to unintended consequences for Americans.

The Roundtable recently spoke with SFOF’s CEO, Derek Kreifels, about the organization’s work and priorities for 2022. 

What is the State Financial Officers Foundation’s mission and main objective? 

State Financial Officers Foundation’s mission is to drive fiscally sound public policy by partnering with key stakeholders and educating Americans on the role of responsible financial management in a free-market economy. 

Our organization equips and empowers principled, fiscally responsible state treasurers, state auditors and other state financial officers to be steadfast champions for economic freedom. This network of pro-freedom treasurers and auditors is fostering collaboration, sharing best practices and developing models to best advance fiscally responsible practices in their states.

An issue that SFOF has prioritized this year is educating state financial officers on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies and how they undermine state economies and erode opportunity.  State financial officers are a frontline defense to push back against these types of far left ESG policies and protect public pensions from activist investors.

We are turning high-level state finance issues like this one into “kitchen table issues” through a new targeted messaging campaign that will inform and engage the American public about how ESG policies negatively affect them and their personal finances.

Many public funds and state pensions are invested in ESG-centric funds that underperform and don’t deliver on their promises. The mishandling of these public funds — trillions of dollars — will have damaging effects on retirees, state employees and business owners. SFOF provides research and monitors attempts at the state level to advance these misguided policies. 

SFOF will stop the advance of destructive ESG practices by empowering state financial officers to stand against these policies and raise awareness about their pitfalls to the public.

What has been the biggest obstacle in conducting SFOF’s work? 

The biggest obstacle to SFOF’s work is a lack of awareness in two areas:

First, many people do not know the names of their congressional representatives, much less their state financial officers. They remain largely unaware that state treasurers and auditors wield enormous power and shape the fiscal policy of their states.

Second, there is a lack of knowledge about ESG policies and how they affect Americans at a personal finance level. ESG policies have quietly been adopted by the largest fund managers in the U.S., but these fund managers abuse the public’s naivete and talk about ESG in a way that belies its real, destructive impact. 

SFOF is helping state financial officers raise awareness about ESG and how it impacts their constituencies.

What is something you have learned along the way that has been surprising? 

I have been surprised to see the impact that a small group of people, standing up for what is right, can make. Earlier this year, Riley Moore, state treasurer for West Virginia and a SFOF member, took a stand against asset manager BlackRock for its decision to cut investments in coal and bet against West Virginia, the second-largest coal producer in the country, by pushing carbon neutrality. Meanwhile, BlackRock is investing heavily in China, even as it opens 43 coal-burning power plants. As a result of this, Moore will no longer allow the company to manage his state’s public funds. 

You can read about this in more detail on our website, but Riley’s actions are causing state treasurers and auditors to examine the investment practices of their fund managers and consider similar actions. When state treasurers make decisions that are in the best interests of their constituents, Americans win.

How can those interested in supporting your work go about doing so? 

We look forward to partnering with people who believe, like we do, that empowering state financial officers is critical to achieving economic freedom and sound financial principles — and pushing back against far-left ESG ideas.

I would be thrilled to discuss how other concerned Americans can get involved with SFOF and share more details on our work, including the impact we are having and our efforts and goals for 2022 and beyond. 

If you are interested in learning more about the State Financial Officers Foundation, visit sfof.com.  

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Herbert Hoover was an entrepreneur, philanthropist and the 31st president of the United States. The humanitarian services for which he is perhaps best remembered were public-private efforts to relieve misery and suffering in the wake of war and disaster. He was also a significant philanthropist in his own right. His personal charitable giving centered around two areas: character building for children and creating one of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished think tanks, the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. 

An Innovator 

Hoover was born in 1874 in the small village of West Branch, Iowa. Orphaned at a young age, he went to live with an uncle in Oregon. His character was shaped by his Quaker faith, from which he gained a strong sense of moral virtue, an appreciation for voluntary service and a relentless work ethic. He enrolled in the inaugural class at Stanford University, and was quickly fascinated by the study of geology.  

Soon after his graduation in 1895, Hoover found himself in Western Australia, where he applied new technologies to gold mining. One business success followed another, and his career soon took him to China, Russia and South Africa. According to George Nash, Hoover’s leading biographer, Hoover’s net worth in 1913 was approximately $4 million. 

 “The Great Humanitarian” 

On the eve of World War I, Hoover was working in England. When the conflagration began, he found himself on what he later called the “slippery slope of public life.” Hoover was distraught over the suffering of civilians and organized the Commission for the Relief of Belgium. The effort fed millions of Europeans during and after the Great War; on two continents, he was called the “Great Humanitarian.”  

On the basis of his experience, historians Richard Norton Smith and Timothy Walch write that Hoover “developed a unique philosophy—one balancing responsibility for the welfare of others with an unshakable faith in free enterprise and dynamic individualism.” 

Throughout his life, Hoover would be called upon to assume the role of public humanitarian. In 1927, for example, the Mississippi River flooded, leaving 1.5 million Americans homeless. Although it did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Department, which Hoover then headed, six governors asked President Calvin Coolidge to put Hoover in charge of the relief effort. He marshaled a massive private-sector response. “I suppose I could have called in the Army to help,” he said years later, “but why should I, when I only had to call upon Main Street?” 

Two decades later, in the wreckage of postwar Germany, he led a similar effort to bring food and medicine to a devastated Germany. In all, he oversaw the distribution of 40,000 tons of emergency meals, in what was a crucial precursor to the Marshall Plan. 

A Champion for Private Giving 

Hoover’s involvement in public humanitarian projects (to say nothing of his political career) should not overshadow his generosity as a private citizen. With his wife, Lou Henry, he had a strong moral sense of responsibility for his fellow citizens. As many biographers have noted, however, Hoover had an equally strong moral sense that his private good deeds should be kept out of the public eye. 

Even during the Great Depression, when Hoover was blamed for the worst economic crisis in American history, he never allowed his many charitable activities to be made public or politicized in any way. The nation, notes Smith, “saw nothing of his private anguish, or the dozens of personal bequests he made to individuals in need.” According to historian and biographer Glen Jeansonne, “Hoover did not simply save Belgium, much of Central Europe and the Soviet Union from famine during the era of the Great War; he performed small acts of kindness virtually every day.” 

A central focus of Hoover’s philanthropy was fostering character among young men. After leaving the presidency, he became an active supporter of the Boys Club of America, including serving as chairman. Through the Boys Club, he hoped to introduce young men to the wholesome pleasures of the great outdoors. Hoover, notes Smith, “devoted thousands of hours to the organization, building it up from 140 clubs to more than 600 at the time of his death.” 

Defends Liberty and Limited Government 

Hoover was likewise committed to understanding the principles and policies that led to war or peace, deprivation or prosperity. In the aftermath of World War I, he donated $50,000 to Stanford University to begin collecting documents related to the issues and ideas that had caused the Great War. The Hoover Institution gathered materials on a variety of topics, but came to be a leading repository for scholarship on the dangers of communism. It soon became one of America’s major think tanks, defending the constitutional order and offering public-policy solutions rooted in the principles of liberty and limited government, wielding real influence on foreign and domestic policy throughout the 20th century. 

George Nash, author of the biography The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917,  writes: 

Hoover practiced the philanthropic virtues that he professed. As president, he declined to spend any of his salary on himself. Instead, he gave it away to charities or as income supplements to his associates. During their long marriage, he and his wife extended charitable assistance to countless needy recipients, usually anonymously and through surrogates. In the 1930s, Hoover’s brother concluded that he [Hoover] had given away more than half of his business profits for benevolent purposes. Characteristically, however, Hoover concealed most of his benefactions, with the result that their full extent may never be known. 

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An “indispensable duty” 

James Forten was born free in the city of Philadelphia in 1766. As a child, Forten learned the craft of sail making from his father. But at age 14, he answered the call of the American colonies and fought in the Revolutionary War. Forten served on a privateering ship that was captured by the British Navy during its second voyage.  

The captain of the British vessel offered Forten the opportunity to receive an education in England, but Forten, a loyal revolutionary, refused, reportedly shouting, “I am here a prisoner for the liberties of my country; I never, NEVER, will be a traitor to her interests.” He remained a prisoner of war for seven months. 

Upon his release, Forten continued his education in sail making. He apprenticed at the sail loft where he and his father had once worked together, and ultimately bought the business when the owner retired. Forten was an innovator, developing a new sail design that improved speed and flexibility and, due to his talent and business savvy, he became one of the wealthiest people in the U.S. 

While Forten loved his country, he was sharply critical of slavery. In a speech delivered before the Ladies’ Antislavery Society of Philadelphia in 1836, Forten said, “It is my indispensable duty, in view of the wretched, the helpless, the friendless condition of my countrymen in chains to raise my voice, feeble though it be, in their behalf, to plead for the restoration of their inalienable rights.” 

Forten put his fortune behind this sentiment. He spent half his money buying freedom for people who were enslaved, made his home a stop on the Underground Railroad, funded the abolitionist newspaper “The Liberator,” and supported the Lombard Street School, at the time “the only public high school for Black students in the city.” He remained an abolition leader for 50 years. Forten passed away in 1842, 20 years before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Lincoln. 

“A man of utmost dignity” 

New Orleans Creole Thomy Lafon was born free in 1810. He started early as an entrepreneur, selling cakes to workers along the city’s wharves. As a young adult, Lafon opened and operated his own store and brokered loans. However, he made his fortune in real estate, earning approximately $500,000 during his lifetime (worth about $14 million today).  

Lafon fought against the institution of slavery through philanthropy, making sizable donations to the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Underground Railroad. He also contributed large sums of money to a number of charitable organizations before and after the Civil War, including a school for poor African-American children, a charity hospital, a home for elderly persons of color, and the Tribune, the first Black-owned newspaper in the South after the war. 

Lafon died on December 22, 1893. Upon his death, he left his estate to various charitable organizations in the city of New Orleans, the largest share bequeathed to an African American order of nuns known as the Sisters of the Holy Family. 

According to an entry in the Encyclopedia of African American Businesses, “It’s been said that both in life and death, every Black charitable institution in New Orleans and every newspaper that supported human rights received a donation from Lafon and benefited from his generosity. … Always a man of utmost dignity in life and in all of his business transactions, he commanded and received respect.” 

“I’d rather be a corpse than a coward.” 

Bold, shrewd and generous, Mary Ellen Pleasant was a giant figure in the fight for abolition. It is unclear whether she was born free or enslaved, but by 1820, at the age of 6 or 11 (depending on the account), Pleasant was working at a shop in the whaling city of Nantucket, Massachusetts. 

Twenty years later, she moved to the bustling city of Boston and apprenticed for a tailor. It was there she met her future husband, James Smith, an ardent abolitionist, and began her work for the Underground Railroad, helping to usher people who had been enslaved to safety in Nova Scotia, Canada. After her husband passed away, Pleasant inherited a handsome sum of money she would turn into a fortune through clever investments. Pleasant’s net worth was estimated to have been a staggering $30 million in the 1840s, which would be worth close to $1 billion today. 

Pleasant remarried in 1848, traveled to New Orleans to help more slaves escape, and then, to evade authorities, she fled to San Francisco, California during the Gold Rush era. 

Though Pleasant was wealthy by that time, she worked as a live-in domestic, using her access to wealthy men to borrow investment tips. She became a lender, ultimately co-founding the Bank of California. She established restaurants, boarding houses and laundries.  

Through it all, her fight against slavery and injustice never stopped. She continued to help transport enslaved people to the free state of California, then took care of their needs when they arrived – providing food, clothing, jobs, legal services and anything else they needed to survive. For this work, she became known as the “Mother of Civil Rights” in California. 

After the war, Pleasant retired from her many professional pursuits but continued to be a champion for civil rights, fighting against Jim Crow laws. She was often quoted as saying, “I’d rather be a corpse than a coward.” 

Mary Ellen Pleasant died on January 11, 1904. 

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