Berrie is an unabashedly happy practitioner of hands-on philanthropy: “You have to do things that feed your soul to see that there’s more than just having money and giving it away. It’s a very personally rewarding journey.” credit: Forbes Magazine
Editor's Note: Angelica Berrie was keynote speaker at the FWN Annual Filipina Leadership Global Summit held in Manila, Philippines last year. FWN is going back to Manila in 2016. This year the Filipina Summit will be in San Francisco.
Angelica Berrie’s story on her hands-on philanthropy was recently used as one of the case studies on Forbes' Do’s And Don’ts Of Passing Down A Private Foundation. Peter Karoff, founder of The Philanthropic Initiative and an advisory arm of the Boston Foundation, has some advice for donors and heirs: start planning.
Karoff has worked with families that have planned carefully for transitions, and with families where a sudden death or divorce has meant an unprepared widow or child is suddenly handling big philanthropic dollars. It’s a lot like family businesses: the business owner is so busy with the business; succession planning is pushed off for another day.
One case study: helping the late Russ Berrie hammer out a mission statement in the 1990s that still guides his foundation’s board of trustees, including his fourth wife, Angelica Berrie, who now heads up the Russell Berrie Foundation. “Russ wanted to have the foundation around so Angelica could enjoy it without being under the gun; it’s a joy and a challenge for her,” Karoff says.
To read, Angelica’s story, click here.