Contemporary Issues in Philanthropy with Mariko Silver

Institutions--like the communities they serve--are living systems: formed, sustained, and continually remade by people.  This discussion situates contemporary non-profit strategy as a practice of institutional design and imagination: inviting new ways of thinking about, stewarding, and evolving the systems that shape our collective life.  Dr. Mariko Silver, President and CEO of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, will reflect on her leadership career across higher education, philanthropy, and the arts to touch on key issues facing the field today.  Dr. Silver will be in conversation with Princeton Vice Provost Aly Kassam-Remtulla.

This session is a part of the Contemporary Issues in Philanthropy Series which is co-sponsored by GradFUTURES, The School for Public and International Affairs, Department of Sociology, the Research Development Office, and Service Focus.

If you are external to Princeton University and would like to register your attendance, please email gradfutures@princeton.edu

About Mariko Silver:

Dr. Mariko Silver is the president and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She previously held the same role at the Henry Luce Foundation and served as the president of Bennington College.  
At the Luce Foundation, she oversaw the creation of new initiatives supporting Democracy, Ethics, and Public Trust and Asian American Voices, prioritized funding exhibitions of and by American artists of color in art museums across the country, and more than doubled the foundation’s funding commitment to Indigenous communities. As President of Bennington College, Dr. Silver secured the largest endowment gift in its history, welcomed its biggest and most diverse classes, and forged lasting partnerships with some of the world’s premier arts and cultural institutions. Additionally, she worked closely with local community members and elected officials on the successful effort to redevelop the town of Bennington’s major commercial crossroads.  

During the Obama administration, she served for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Policy. Dr. Silver also served for Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as the Policy Advisor for Economic Development, Innovation, and Higher Education.  

Prior to her government service, Dr. Silver was instrumental in the transformation and expansion of Arizona State University, leading teams in economic development policy and metrics, science, technology and innovation policy, state K-12 and higher education policy, sustainability science, and global health. Dr. Silver is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Public Administration. She serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. She holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geography from UCLA; MSc, Science and Technology Policy from SPRU, University of Sussex (UK) and B.A., History from Yale University.