Reflections on European Foundation Week

The good news from TrustAfrica’s standpoint is that even though we live in a period of crisis — the financial crisis has been the context of almost all discussion over the last couple of years — there’s a lot of hope that foundations and philanthropic institutions are still very enthusiastic about what they do and eager to reach out and do more.

There is a proverb that says, ‘when it’s dark enough, you can see the stars’ and I’m really happy to see that European foundations are not becoming more insular and inward‐looking, and are keen to step forward. There is an optimistic atmosphere about this event that is very healthy. I haven’t heard or experienced the sort of pessimism or fear that one senses very easily in the governmental and private sectors, with the euro crisis and what’s happening in Greece dominating the news. It’s almost as if this is going in the opposite direction. So it’s very optimistic, very hopeful, and I like that.

But I think European foundations can do more, and that’s my call — that they should take centre stage globally. There’s a lot that European foundations specifically and European philanthropy as a whole can bring to the global community.


This post originally appeared in "Foundation Week Highlights from the EFC’s 21st AGA & Conference, Open Days & Interactive Fair", published by Alliance Magazine.