23
February 2010
Past Event
Too Close for Comfort? Obama and the Foundations

Too Close for Comfort? Obama and the Foundations

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
February 23, 2010
Default Event Image
23
February 2010
Past Event

1015 15th Street, N.W., 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Speakers:
William Schambra,

Hudson Senior Fellow and Director, Bradley Center for Philanthropy & Civic Renewal

Gara LaMarche

President, Atlantic Philanthropies

Terry Mazany,

Chicago Community Trust

Lewis Feldstein,

New Hampshire Charitable Foundation

Chester Finn,

Thomas Fordham Foundation

"It is nice to be able to say that you look forward to working with your own government to make the world a better place – independent of it, surely; at times critical of it – but feeling you have a partner, not an adversary. Maybe demonstration projects we fund in philanthropy that actually demonstrate something will no longer be like the proverbial trees that fall in the forest with no one to hear them." So spoke Atlantic Philanthropies president Gara LaMarche shortly after President Obama was sworn in, capturing a widespread feeling that the new administration was opening itself in unprecedented ways to partnership and collaboration with philanthropy, and was prepared at last to "scale up" - with federal dollars - innovative foundation approaches to problems in education, welfare, and health. But as Mr. LaMarche’s statement suggests, we look to philanthropy for more than close partnerships with government. We also expect it occasionally to be a critic and adversary. How is that tension likely to play out in the context of the Obama administration? In the first flush of enthusiasm for a closer foundation/government relationship, is there a danger that the two can become too close for comfort?

Related Events
23
October 2025
In-Person Event | Invite Only
The US in the South Caucasus: Mapping New Strategic Opportunities 
Featured Speakers:
Ilan Berman
Luke Coffey
Steve Daines
Michael Doran
Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim
Efgan Nifti
Joel Scanlon
: President Donald Trump, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sign a joint declaration at the White House in Washington DC, on August 8, 2025. (Getty Images)
23
October 2025
In-Person Event | Invite Only
The US in the South Caucasus: Mapping New Strategic Opportunities 

A keynote address by Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), to examine the implications of the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement. 

: President Donald Trump, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sign a joint declaration at the White House in Washington DC, on August 8, 2025. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Ilan Berman
Luke Coffey
Steve Daines
Michael Doran
Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim
Efgan Nifti
Joel Scanlon
30
October 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
How Long Can Russia’s Weakening Economy Support Putin’s War on Ukraine?
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Volodymyr Lugovskyy
Dr. Anders Aslund
Thomas J. Duesterberg
Getty Images
30
October 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
How Long Can Russia’s Weakening Economy Support Putin’s War on Ukraine?

Join noted Russian and Ukrainian economists and Hudson Senior Fellow Thomas Duesterberg for an event that will analyze how growing economic problems are affecting Vladimir Putin’s war effort and its ability to avoid an economic crisis.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Volodymyr Lugovskyy
Dr. Anders Aslund
Thomas J. Duesterberg
03
November 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Congressman Rich McCormick on Securing American AI Leadership
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Rich McCormick
Jason Hsu
Representative Rich McCormick speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on January 11, 2024. (Getty Images)
03
November 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Congressman Rich McCormick on Securing American AI Leadership

Senior Fellow Jason Hsu will host Congressman Rich McCormick (R-GA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee and a former member of the bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, for a conversation on securing American AI leadership.

Representative Rich McCormick speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on January 11, 2024. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Rich McCormick
Jason Hsu
17
October 2025
Past Event
What Is North Korea’s Strategy?
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Glenn Chafetz
In-bum Chun
Bruce Klingner
Dr. Taerim Lee
Markus Garlauskas
Moderator:
Patrick M. Cronin
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un after a meeting in Beijing on September 3, 2025. (Getty Images)
17
October 2025
Past Event
What Is North Korea’s Strategy?

What is driving North Korea’s closer cooperation with Russia and China, and how does Kim view cooperation among the CRINK states? What are Kim’s ultimate aims with his nuclear program? How has North Korea developed such vast cyber capabilities? Is North Korea preparing for war? And how should the US and its allies respond?

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un after a meeting in Beijing on September 3, 2025. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Glenn Chafetz
In-bum Chun
Bruce Klingner
Dr. Taerim Lee
Markus Garlauskas
Moderator:
Patrick M. Cronin