Doing Good Well: Navigating Ethical Tensions in Philanthropy

Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (with Deborah Mower)

Indianapolis, IN, March 18, 2026

Drawing on experience in philanthropic governance, this talk reframes ethical leadership as less about personal virtue and more about the decision procedures, vocabularies, and structures that shape who gets heard and how choices are made. It warns against “visionary” cults of personality and argues that good leaders build conditions for honest speech and accountability. The central task is to surface real value conflicts, center those most affected, and reason transparently through tradeoffs with humility and revisability.