An Interview with Marcus Walton, President & CEO, GEO

Throughout this discussion, Makiyah and Marcus converse about:

• How to think about the silver linings of this moment, but hold the trauma, the hurt, and uncertainty, and still be able to find the positives that are emerging.
• How philanthropy increases impact in support of thriving communities.
• The way we come together to increase our awareness, to share our observations, and then be intentional about the cultivation of collective genius towards applying responses to various situations.
• The difference between philanthropy’s need to fix versus philanthropy as a resource or advocate.
• Shifting from a charity model to a change model in philanthropy.
• Peer learning as a vehicle that GEO uses to help cohorts share their learning to others nationally to create the opportunity for a deeper dialogue which can be translated into agreements for action.
• How GEO members are transforming themselves to support their grantees during this time.
  • Encouraging foundations to think about their asset payouts for grantmaking.
  • Focusing on being more collaborative to support others rather than operating in silos; leveraging each other’s progress for the greater good.
• The importance of moving outside of our comfort zones of achieving what is practical to reach for what is possible.