WHO AM I
Stefani Jacobson Willis
For nearly two decades, I have been learning, growing and contributing globally to the philanthropic and corporate sectors. I have raised money for nonprofits, strategically given away money to nonprofits, launched initiatives in collaboration with foundations and inspired my community to be more generous with their time and money. This has been possible by forming strong relationships with foundation and business executives, nonprofit program and administrative staff, consulting firms and community volunteers.
Career highlights include learning about giving from one of California’s largest private foundations, The James Irvine Foundation …. to launching the 1st foundation led collaborative ... The Chalkboard Project, an Oregon statewide engagement initiative addressing K-12 public education issues. In addition, I have put my skills into action by volunteering in Africa, Central America and Europe through both hands-on service projects and board leadership. I'm a creative problem-solver who makes things happen. I thrive in the giving space. I know this world. I ask tough questions and deliver answers candidly. Many of these skills I credit to Westmont College where I graduated in Communications Studies and Spanish.
I now find myself living in a perfect giving storm. I’m surrounded by great wealth in the Bay Area, and great need, both local and global. I’m a connector who is passionate about each one of us realizing our own giving potential. But I understand that life is complicated. We are busy people who don’t always have the time to figure out where to donate our money. Or we don’t feel comfortable giving more because life can be messy, and our financial situation might change. Or perhaps we are skeptical of what the organization(s) will do with our money.
I want to change that. I want to help you find the time. I want you to feel comfortable knowing that your money matters, and that the organization(s) you decide to support will be better because of it. In the dark hours of the night, our giving stories give us hope. Let’s make more stories.
Testimonials
Contributors
Charmaine Ess Kyle
Charmaine has been involved in the nonprofit and social venture sectors for over two decades—having the experience of launching, running, advising and funding nonprofits. She firmly believes that only if we give back, and inspire others to give back, can we ultimately make this world a better place. As a result, Charmaine has dedicated much of her career to the sector. She started her career early on by launching the Moscow office arm of Financial Services Volunteer Corps in the early 90s—which worked with the Russian Parliament and Central Bank on transitioning to a market economy. And since then, she has held leadership positions at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (where she was in charge of a 1 billion dollar grant program) and Room to Read (where as Chief of Strategy she was in charge of their expansion into Asia and Africa).
Today Charmaine is the founder of Partners in Scale, where she specializes in nonprofit facilitation and strategy work. She works with a wide range of nonprofits and foundations: everything from Habitat for Humanity and the Nike Foundation, to smaller start-ups such as READ Global and Ecology Project International. Charmaine particularly specializes in international development work, education, the environment and gender rights; speaks five languages and holds an MBA from Harvard.
Amy Madsen
Amy was raised believing that a life of service, is a life worth living. She grew-up working in soup kitchens, participating in garbage clean-ups, assisting in the restoration of natural wetlands and interning for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. After six years as a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State, Amy moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and joined Partners in Scale. At Partners in Scale, Amy is the Principal Research Officer, assisting nonprofits via surveys, competitor analysis, landscaping documents and identifying donor support. Amy continues to volunteer her time with several Bay Area nonprofits and supports multiple causes near and dear to her heart. Amy has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She spent one year studying in Akita, Japan and attended high school in Passau, Germany. She speaks French and German and has studied Arabic, Farsi and Japanese.