Recently, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy published an assessment of the William Penn Foundation on its new website, Philamplify, and in it they reported that some grantees “critiqued the foundation’s handling of recent institutional shifts.” They went on to write,
“Grantees appreciate their relationship with staff; the consistent, large, long-term investments that the foundation has made in nonprofits; application and evaluation processes; and various types of capacity support beyond the grant. Yet, the foundation’s effectiveness as a partner with grantees has been hindered by weak transparency and uneven communication during a pivotal time of leadership change and implementation of a new strategic plan.”
That assessment was published a little more than a month ago and referred in part to the executive transition that saw Jeremy Nowak, who had been there only about two years, leave and Peter Degnan, formerly a Vice Dean at the Wharton School, take over. Now, Peter Degnan has tendered his own resignation after only a little over five months.
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