
“It was a game changer for me, it was pivotal,” said Mason Rummel, CEO of the James Graham Brown Foundation in Louisville, Kentucky, as she talked about her experience at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Rummel already had a successful career with the foundation and working in the Reagan administration when she decided to pursue a master’s degree in philanthropic studies at the school.
Her motivation to continue her education was her desire to dig deeper into philanthropy. She says the work she was doing was never boring, and she was still very much engaged but wanted to get an understanding of what’s behind the practitioner part of philanthropy. “I couldn’t tell you a whole lot about why this sector even existed. I needed something more,” she said. She knew exactly how to do her work and what to do, but she didn’t have a complete understanding of that “why.” Completing the program has given her an understanding of the why and a greater appreciation of philanthropy and its importance to civil society.
The importance of philanthropy
Rummel has seen first-hand the positive influence philanthropy has on communities through her work. She describes its importance by thinking of civil society as a three-legged stool. “You’ve got the government/public sector, the private sector/commerce and the voluntary sector. If you pulled that away that stool tips over,” explains Rummel. “Imagine your community without an orchestra, without shelters for the unhoused, without parks. It’s a bleak looking environment.” She says philanthropy’s power and its influence lies in its independence of the other two sectors.
Not all philanthropy can be seen, but for Rummel, the work of the James Graham Brown Foundation is visible in the Louisville skyline, the waterfront, museums, parks, and more. The city would not look the same without the foundation’s philanthropic work.
Founder James Graham Brown liked projects that created civic pride. Rummel says it’s important to always remember and act on projects with the donor’s original intent, even decades after their death. She’s committed to doing that as she leads the James Graham Brown Foundation.
Beyond the degree: Supporting the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
Rummel is a member of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Board of Visitors, stakeholders who advise and assist the school to advance its role in philanthropy. Being a member of the board allows her to support the growing field. She believes in this program so much, she says, that she promotes it whenever she has the opportunity.
As a student, she remembers how amazing it was that the people teaching the classes were the same ones writing the textbooks or quoted elsewhere as experts. She says there are very few fields that are so new you can experience that.
Rummel hopes other alumni will continue to support the school as well, and that students at the master’s level use their experience to mentor the undergraduate students. Doing so can create a network that can help enhance the field of philanthropy.
Coming to the school with experience
Rummel began her career with the foundation in 1989 as a grants coordinator. Before her work with the foundation, she served as a political appointee as a public affairs specialist for the Reagan Administration. In addition to her M.A. in Philanthropic Studies she has a B.A. in English from Sweet Briar College in Virginia and an M.A. in Creative and Professional Writing from Spalding University in Kentucky.
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