CEO of Porticus, Melanie Maas Geesteranus. Porticus is perhaps the biggest philanthropic organisation that you have never heard of! We delve into their philanthropic work and rich history

In this episode, we learn about Porticus’ global operations and explore the importance of participation, building networks, developing programs from the ground up and driving systems change.

Since 1995, Porticus has coordinated the philanthropic endeavours of the Brenninkmeijer family, continuing a tradition of social engagement stretching back as far as 1841. 

Porticus works in 65 countries and has offices around the world. They have 1,500 partners with whom they aim to improve the world. 

Despite their size and reach, they’ve kept a low profile and traditionally the family said they wanted to focus on their partners, rather than have the spotlight on themselves — let our partners shine.

Now Porticus is changing to a more transparent approach. As Melanie notes, when you’re focusing on systems change, you need to get involved in advocacy, you need to be able to influence policy, so there are good reasons for taking a more public and transparent role. It also helps to get new partners and co-funders involved.

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