Meg Gage

Meg has been a leader in the field of social change philanthropy since 1981 when she founded the Peace Development Fund.  She was executive director of the Ottinger Foundation from 1992-1999 and executive director of the Proteus Fund from 1992 until her retirement in 2015, focusing on democracy, peace and human rights. Meg has always understood that change happens from the bottom up and was a trailblazer in developing strategies for funding grassroots organizations with an eye on national impact.  For example, she helped develop the philanthropy strategy for winning marriage equality by focusing first on grassroots and state-based campaigns, rather than on national policy.   In recognition of her pioneering work the Council on Foundations awarded Meg its inaugural Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creativity by an Individual Grantmaker. In 1997 she wrote the Funders Handbook on Money in Politics and spoke to dozens of foundation boards which was instrumental in engaging philanthropy in tackling the impact of special interest money on elections and on policy.  Meg is very involved in her local community in Amherst with a special interest in the arts and in expanding democratic participation.