Leveraged Philanthropy is a donor advisory practice founded by Lukas Haynes, the former executive director and CEO of the left-of-center David Rockefeller Fund. ¹ Leveraged Philanthropy provides clients with services including investment strategy development, grantmaking recommendations, leadership counseling, and publication editing. ²

Founding

Lukas Haynes stated that he founded Leveraged Philanthropy because he felt an “internal stirring to try something new where [he’d] have more passion.” ³ Specifically, Haynes stated that “the racial justice reckoning in this country after George Floyd’s murder, combined with the threats around the 2020 election, converged in me to both remove myself as another straight white middle-aged male leader of institution without term limits, and apply myself to the democracy crisis in the same way that I’ve been working on the climate crisis for many years.” ³

The name “Leveraged Philanthropy” originated from Haynes’s belief that “good philanthropy is always leveraged in the sense of activating policy or public finance or other private philanthropic dollars,” and that the ability to “leverage your donations or your investments to sustain positive change over time…is really the holy grail of great philanthropy.” ³

Programs

Leveraged Philanthropy offers several services including investment strategy development, donation and grantmaking recommendations, and philanthropic events. Additionally, the organization provides “monitoring & evaluation” services by assessing the risk levels of potential grants and programs as well as following up on investments to make sure donations are impactful and meet client goals. Leadership counseling is also offered in addition to editing and drafting services for major donor and foundation publications. ²

Leveraged Philanthropy is a signatory of Election Day Every Day, a philanthropic call to action to begin planning 2025 “democracy budget[s],” offer bridge funding to grantees “who are building long-term sustainable community power,” and provide multi-year support to organizations to contribute to a “more inclusive multiracial democracy.” Other left-of-center signatories include the Amalgamated Foundation, Arca Foundation, Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust, Democracy Alliance, JPB Foundation, McKnight Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations. ⁴

Leveraged Philanthropy staff members also speak at events and conventions. In 2023, Haynes spoke at a session titled “The Role of Philanthropy in Democracy” at the 2023 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference hosted by the Stanford Social Innovation Review. ⁵

Leadership

Lukas Haynes is the founder of Leveraged Philanthropy. Previously, he was the executive director and CEO of the David Rockefeller Fund from 2015 until 2022. Earlier in his career, from 2000 until 2001, he was a speech writer for Clinton administration Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. ¹ He also volunteered for Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2003 and worked on John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004. ³ Haynes graduated from the College of William and Mary, was a Harvard University Kennedy School fellow, and earned a master’s degree in international relations from Oxford University. ¹

Johann Berlin is a senior advisor at Leveraged Philanthropy. Previously, he held “fractional C-Suite executive positions” at various foundations and investment firms. From 2012 through 2022, Berlin was the CEO of TLEX Institute North America, ¹ a professional development organization. ⁶ Earlier in his career, he was the CEO of Sustainable City Solutions where he advised inventors and researched sustainability practices. ¹

Susan Su, a senior advisor at Leveraged Philanthropy, is “a venture capital investor focused on climate tech and sustainability.” Her portfolio includes companies such as David Energy, The Cool Down, Pachama, Overstory, and Ecosafi. Su is a member of the board of advisors for the left-of-center Environmental Voter Project and is also a board director at the Carbon Business Council. ¹

1. “About.” Leveraged Philanthropy. Accessed December 11, 2024. https://www.lphilanthropy.com/about.
2. “Services.” Leveraged Philanthropy. Accessed December 11, 2024. https://www.lphilanthropy.com/services.
3. Pearlman, Nathaniel. Using Philanthropy to Protect Democracy with Lukas Haynes of Leveraged Philanthropy. The Great Battlefield Podcast, November 30, 2022. https://greatbattlefield.com/episode/using-philanthropy-to-protect-democracy-with-lukas-haynes-of-leveraged-philanthropy/.
4. “Letter & Signers.” Election Day to Every Day, October 22, 2024. https://www.electionday-everyday.org/letter-and-signers/.
5. Editors, SSIR. “Reading List: Strengthening Democracy through Social Innovation (SSIR).” 2023 Frontiers of Social Innovation Conference: Reading List. Accessed December 11, 2024. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/reading_list_strengthening_democracy_through_social_innovation#.
6. “Programs.” TLEX Mind Matters, November 7, 2024. https://tlexmindmatters.com/programs/.