The EFC has awarded its first-ever Philanthropy Compass Prize to William S. White, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The Prize recognises outstanding contributions to the development of the EFC and the European philanthropic sector as a whole. The Prize ceremony took place on 9 November during the Centre’s 20th anniversary celebrations in Berlin.
Mr White has worked for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in the United States for 40 years, becoming its President in 1976 and its Chairman in 1988. Accepting the award, Mr White said, “It is really gripping to get an award for having a lot of fun that was productive.” Regarding his foundation’s funding of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe, he added “We realised that when the Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, there was an historic opportunity. In the States, we never thought this would happen - this was an opportunity and it had to be seized.”
The Compass Prize will be given to the navigators that have, and continue to, break the mould of European philanthropy, both through their relationship with the EFC as well as with their peers.
Speaking at the ceremony, Emílio Rui Vilar, EFC Chair and President of Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, said Mr White “was really a leader and he helped very much in steering the European foundation movement during these last 20 years. And coming from a country of travellers, I really feel that a compass is the best way to pay this tribute.”
Raymond Georis, EFC Founding Chair, paid tribute to Mr White as well, describing the different projects that Mr White helped him realise in the beginning of their relationship. “I was wearing the European Foundation Centre hat, the European Cooperation Fund hat, the Youth-Empowerment Partnership Programme hat, the East-West Parliamentary Project hat and so on – thanks to you Bill, each hat received its most needed yearly contribution from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The time has come for me to take off all these hats to you, Bill.”
Some 200 representatives of foundations gathered for the 20th anniversary of the EFC at the “Moving European Philanthropy Forward” conference held 9-10 November in Berlin. The conference took place at the Brandenburgische Akademie Der Wissenschaften, supported by EFC members Bertelsmann Stiftung, Körber Stiftung, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Volkswagen Stiftung.
