Marker Goldsmith Philanthropy Advisors works in a specialized niche in the philanthropy advisory field. Our expertise is on the two ends of the grantmaking and funding continuum: working with high net worth individuals, families, and foundations to set strategies, policies, and approaches prior to funding, and then evaluating grants and their impact afterwards. As such, Marker Goldsmith Philanthropy Advisors restricts its offerings to short term or project related contracts.
We are fully independent – we do not accept any development or fundraising contracts, and therefore never have a conflict of interest in serving the interests of our clients. Our fees are based exclusively on the nature of a project and are not dependent on the size of a client’s budget or asset base. Moreover, we do not provide legal, financial, or management services; if appropriate, we are pleased to refer our clients to first-rate firms that do provide those services, or to work in partnership with such firms.
Our clients have been quite diverse. We specialize in middle-sized and smaller funding organizations and foundations, and high net-worth families.
Richard Marker
Richard Marker is an internationally known expert on philanthropy and giving strategies. Currently he is Senior Fellow at NYU’s George Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy where he chairs the Academy for Grantmaking and Funder Education. The Academy is the oldest and most comprehensive university program teaching funders and philanthropists in the country. In February 2007, he was recognized with the NYU Excellence in Teaching Award.
He is also co-principal of Marker Goldsmith Philanthropy Advisors, advising philanthropists, families and foundations on strategic philanthropy. Marker is a popular lecturer on philanthropy to community foundations and wealth management firms. His columns on philanthropy have been published widely and is the author of Saying ‘yes’ Wisely: Insights for the Thoughtful Philanthropist. His career was the subject of a feature length article in Lifestyles magazine in September 2006.
Over a professional career which began in 1968, Marker has been the ceo of a major philanthropic foundation, a professor, a university chaplain, senior executive of an international not for profit organization, and a management consultant. In these capacities, he has lectured in 30 countries on 5 continents and in over 40 of the United States.
In addition to NYU, Marker has taught at Hofstra, Loyola of Chicago, and Brown University [tenured 1976.] He has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Brown University. He also chairs two international boards, and sits on the boards of several grantmaking foundations and social change non-profits.
He is married to his business partner, Mirele Goldsmith, Ph. D. an environmentalist and nationally recognized expert in program evaluations for not for profit organizations, and is the father of Adam, a public interest attorney in Washington.
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Mirele B. Goldsmith
Mirele B. Goldsmith is an independent evaluator who helps organizations to use the tools of evaluation to improve their programs. With many years of experience in the trenches as a non-profit manager, she adapts the evaluation process to fit real-world time and resource limitations. Mirele created a course on evaluation for grantmakers for New York University’s certificate program in grantmaking, and has taught the course since 2002.
Mirele has special expertise in standards and accreditation. Prior to establishing her independent practice, Mirele created and implemented an acclaimed accreditation program for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, where she served as the Director of Professional Development and Accreditation. She also developed voluntary standards for the Jewish Community Centers of North America.
Mirele became involved in environmental activism in after a life-changing visit to Yosemite National Park in 1997. She felt compelled to make a personal commitment to a sustainable future and went back to school to study human dimensions of environmental change. Mirele completed her PhD in environmental psychology at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Her research explored grassroots citizen participation in environmental decision-making in the New York City watershed. Since then she has expanded her consulting practice to include work in the area of environmental sustainability. She uses insights from psychology to help people help their organizations make changes that are good for them and for our environment.
Mirele serves on the boards of directors of Hazon and the American Friends of the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership. In the past she has served on the board of the Hadassah Foundation, as vice-chairperson of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and as an advisor to Youthbridge for the “Get Green” program. In addition to having completed her PhD, Mirele is a graduate of Barnard College and holds an MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
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Strategic Alliances
We have chosen to develop our practice around our core competencies and unique experience.
We do not claim to be, nor do we wish to become, a "full service provider."
There are times, however, when we call upon expertise beyond our own. In order to provide the best service to our clients, we believe strongly that it is important to provide services, as needed, by those best able to provide them. We are pleased therefore, that we have cooperative relationships with a variety of carefully selected practitioners. This group includes:
Asset managers
Attorneys
Program specialists
Quantitative analysts
By utilizing these fellow experts only on an as-needed basis, we keep our own overhead low, and your costs appropriate to the work you need accomplished.
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