The name Jason McGill had no significance to me before I was exposed to who he was. Jason is vice president at Philanthropy New York a non-profit management group that helps operate and manage over 280 non-profit foundations in New York City. Some of the member foundations his company works with include The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Carnegie Mellon and the Alfred P Sloan Foundation. As vice president he delegates who and what these foundations spend their money on. In total he pumps 4.5 billion dollars into the New York Public specter, this allows groups such as the cities education system and the United Nations to function the way they do. At first it was hard for me to grasp what exactly Jason did or even who exactly he was. As I walked into his office Jason said “ are you sure you can get enough out of me to write a story”. His modest attitude did a great job of disguising his work.
Jason is one of the most charismatic people I have ever met. Before we engaged in conversation ranging from nuclear non-proliferation to Juvenile justice system reforms, he had me tell him my life story. As I spoke he never once glanced at his blackberry or had his secretary update him on member group spending. It was essential for Jason to understand who I was before I learned about him.
Jason then told me his life story. The nearly seven years he has had at Philanthropy New York has allowed him to work with the city state and federal government on a variety of levels as well as the UN and EPA. He has guided member foundations to donate billions of dollars to benefit the people of New York. Perhaps it is the lack of knowledge the public specter has about non-for profit groups that fuels Jason’s modesty about his profession. Jason then told me an example of how foundations can affect New York. He is currently working with the state and cities education system as well as the juvenile incarceration system to ensure that minors who leave schooling to serve a sentence still receive a proper education and improve their chances of receiving a diploma.
As the pieces began to come together I slowly began to realize how important the work Jason does actually is. The word non-profit can disguise its importance at times, yet in reality the foundations Jason works with contributes 15% of the cities spending money.
After the big picture was exposed, I was curious to see how his work affected individuals that live in New York City. Jason said, after a chuckle or two. “ It affects them in every way possible, the money that our member foundations spend is all about the individual. Whether its funding projects to increase art education in the public school system or simply funding the work of stem cell research and alternative energy, it all in some way comes back to the men and women of New York”.
The mood of the interview then made a stark change, Jason took of his glasses, rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. The recession has had a major effect on the non profit field, “it essentially striped foundations of the money they had” said Jason, “ I had a handful of foundations close because they literally could not stay open, the major contributors survived by making lay offs and pay cuts but the scary thing is, is that the worst is yet to come”.
I was stumped; I was under the impression that the economy was going in a positive direction, if this is the case how is the worst yet to come?
“ The investments and stocks of each company has not had time to show what exactly the effects of the recession are” said Jason “ in time its full effects will be seen, and I think a lot of companies whether its non for profit or not will have a serious problem on their hands"
I then found myself listening so intensely that I forgot to take notes. Jason started to talk about how severe the recession affected him as well as his company. The look in his eyes was not one of sadness but rather relief, Jason was just happy to still maintain his job. He hopes that the recession still allows him to improve New York City.
“ What could be better then bridging the gap between the individual and government? I help maintain that each project I work on betters someone in every facet of society”
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