NCRP Identifies Philanthropy’s
Best & Boldest Leaders Meeting the Moment in
its Winners of the 2025 IMPACT Awards
Selection Committee of 10 philanthropic and nonprofit leaders spotlights innovative and steadfast commitment of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Grand Victoria Foundation, Women Donors Network, Bush Foundation, and The Philanthropy Project’s Jan Masaoka and Jon Pratt to challenge the sector to better meet the moment.
Washington, DC –This week, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) proudly announced the winners of its biennial celebration of philanthropy’s best actors, the IMPACT Awards.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Grand Victoria Foundation, Women Donors Network and Bush Foundation were chosen by a committee of distinguished philanthropic and non-profit leaders for displaying the kind of exemplary leadership and funding practices that philanthropy should be pursuing in service of the common good.
The Philanthropy Project’s Jan Masaoka and Jon Pratt were also announced as the 2nd biannual winner of NCRP’s “Pablo Eisenberg Memorial Prize” for Philanthropy Criticism. The award was established in 2023 in honor of the late Pablo Eisenberg, NCRP’s Founding Board Chair.
“Authoritarianism is on the rise, and the winners of the 2025 NCRP IMPACT Awards are on the frontlines helping philanthropy play a meaningful role in protecting democracy and ensuring our nation lives up to its highest ideals,” said NCRP President & CEO Aaron Dorfman. “They are bold and courageous. They aren’t backing away from their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion — even in the face of unrelenting pressure to do so. They know that building the society we all deserve requires deliberate action to ensure that communities who have historically been oppressed and marginalized are well-funded to have a powerful voice in how decisions get made in America.”
The IMPACT Awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, October 29 during the 2025 CHANGE Philanthropy Unity Summit. The three-day conference looks to deepen individual and institutional funding practices that advance equity with an intersectional lens and community at the center.
This year’s award winners stand out for their commitment to boldly resourcing and advocating for those getting us closer to a just and equitable world:
Grand Victoria Foundation
The “Changing Course” Award for Incorporating Feedback is given to the funder that has shifted their strategies and operations in response to feedback from their stakeholders, particularly those most affected by inequity and injustice.
Dorfman: “The Committee chose Grand Victoria Foundation for its extraordinary work redefining its mission and vision around the feedback of Illinois’ communities of color. The foundation is now explicit in its commitment to helping communities, particularly Black residents, build community power.”
Sharon Bush, President, Grand Victoria Foundation: “Grand Victoria Foundation is honored to receive NCRP’s IMPACT Award. We share this award with the communities and partners who have guided our journey. Their feedback has been the compass for transforming our strategies and deepening our impact.”
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The “Get Up, Stand Up” Award for Rapid-Response Grantmaking goes to a funder that provides timely, flexible resources and adjusted processes to respond quickly to urgent movement needs, especially those of smaller grassroots, frontline groups.
Dorfman: “The Committee chose Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their extraordinary work meeting this urgent moment in incredibly important ways, not only with dollars for frontline organizations but also by using their reputational capital to speak up. Their work centering health equity, embracing the need to fund power-building, and reckoning with the origins of their foundation’s wealth sets a great example for other foundations.”
Richard Besser, President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: “RWJF is honored to stand in solidarity with our partners and grantees as we try to meet this moment with the urgency it requires. We know that real risk lies with those on the frontlines, and RWJF strives to match their courage to take bold leaps to build a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.”
Women Donors Network
The “Mover and Shaker” Award for Bold Peer Organizing goes to a funder that centered their work on the needs of excluded and impacted communities, leveraging their reputation and convening power to advance systems-change strategies.
Dorfman: “The Committee chose Women Donors Network for their extraordinary work to help donors and foundations respond to this challenging environment, particularly their leadership, with Solidaire, of the Block and Build Funder Coalition. They also have quickly distributed funds to community-led social justice movements.”
Leena Barakat, President and CEO, Women Donors Network: “We are deeply honored to receive the “Mover and Shaker” Award for Bold Peer Organizing. Moving in solidarity alongside movement is a core value of our work at WDN and WDN Action. It is especially necessary at a time when philanthropy must choose courage over comfort, to protect and advance the liberated future we all deserve.”
Bush Foundation
The “Smashing Silos” Award for Intersectional Grantmaking is given to funders that worked in deep partnership with under-represented and vulnerable communities and supported multi-issue and cross-identity efforts to address systemic causes of social, economic or environmental challenges.
Dorfman: “The Committee chose Bush Foundation for the extraordinary work rooting their service in principles of trust-based philanthropy, gender, racial, and economic justice, participatory grantmaking and decision-making, and advocating that their peers do the same.”
Jennifer Ford Reedy, President, Bush Foundation: “We are honored to be recognized with an NCRP IMPACT Award. The list of funders that NCRP has celebrated through the years is impressive and it is exciting and humbling to be in their company.”
Jan Masaoka and Jon Pratt
The Philanthropy Project
The Pablo Eisenberg Memorial Prize for Philanthropy Criticism IMPACT Awards was established in 2023 after the passing of one of NCRP’s founders, Pablo Eisenberg. The honor seeks to spotlight the kind of bold truth-telling that Pablo modeled throughout his public career.
Dorfman: “Jan and Jon have for decades been truth-tellers and thoughtful critics of philanthropy. Their latest joint effort, The Philanthropy Project, seeks to focus attention on the need for appropriate regulation and public accountability for tax-favored philanthropic wealth. Pablo appreciated their work, and I know he would be incredibly pleased that they are receiving this award that bears his name.”
Jan Masaoka and Jon Pratt: “It is an honor to be associated in any way with the name of Pablo Eisenberg, the sharpest interrogator of ‘Who benefits from philanthropy?’ Pablo saw that big piles of money have a tendency to look after themselves, including the $1.5 trillion dollars held by foundations and DAFs. We are happy to be an NCRP ally carrying on this campaign for accountability.”
IMPACT AWARD WINNERS CHOSEN BY COMMITTEE OF REFORMERS IN THE SECTOR
Dorfman thanked the members of the Selection Committee for their time, energy and insights. The outstanding leaders that served on this year’s committee were:
Sharon Alpert, Principal, Bold Strategies Collective
Carmen Berkley Anderson, Vice President of Strategy & Impact, Inatai Foundation
E. Bomani Johnson, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, ABFE
Tory Gavito, Co-Founder & President, Way to Win
Rana Elmir, Program Director, RISE Together Fund
MARS. Beard, Co-Director, Third Wave Fund
Rona Fernandez, Development Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Carly Bad Heart Bull, Executive Director, Native Ways Federation (NWF)
Aria Florant, Co-Founder and CEO, Liberation Ventures
Jalessah T. Jackson, Founder & Principal, Practice Liberation LLC; Founder, Decolonial Feminist Collective
Winners were selected based on these three criteria:
Exemplary Grantmaking – Funders had to demonstrate evidence of allocating a relatively high percentage of annual discretionary giving to social justice, marginalized communities, general operating support and multi-year grants. Its grantees have a visible effect on promoting systems change and empowering underserved communities.
Philanthropic Leadership – The funder’s leaders also had to publicly demonstrate a commitment to systems change strategies such as public speaking or writing about funding social change strategies and marginalized groups, serving on committees or other initiatives that promote social justice and signing on to Philanthropy’s Promise.
Diversity, Inclusion and Equity – Finally, the funder shows a demonstrated commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity, especially along lines of race and gender, in its staff and trustees.
ABOUT THE 2025 IMPACT AWARDS
Since 2013, NCRP has awarded 34 IMPACT Awards to grantmakers in recognition of support, leadership and partnership with grassroots organizations and community leaders around LGBTQ rights, minimum wage, environmental justice, health equity and other critical issues. In 2023, we added a fifth, the Pablo Eisenberg Memorial Prize for Philanthropy Criticism, in honor of NCRP’s founding board chair.
The IMPACT Awards takes place at the CHANGE Unity Summit. Click here for more information on the 2025 Unity Summit.
ABOUT NCRP
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) has served as philanthropy’s critical friend and independent watchdog since 1976. We partner with foundations, nonprofits, and social movements to ensure that the philanthropic sector is accountable to communities with the least wealth, opportunity, and power.
For nearly 50 years, NCRP’s storytelling, advocacy, and research efforts have fostered transparency and accountability within the sector, and helped funders fulfill their moral and practical duty to build, share, and wield power to serve the public.
