Person

Tuti Scott

Occupation:

Interim CEO, Tides Foundation

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Tuti Scott is a left-progressive philanthropic officer who, as of September 2020, works as the interim CEO of the Tides Foundation, a left-of-center pass-through funding nonprofit. 1 She has held the interim position since September 2019 after spending most of her career as a consultant advocating for left-feminist causes. 2

Background

Scott grew up in rural New Hampshire3 and was a longtime athlete. 4 Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science at Ithaca College, and a Master of Science in Exercise Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 5

Scott has previously worked as a fundraiser for the Women’s Sports Foundation, the charitable outlet for former tennis professional Billie Jean King, where she raised $70 million during her tenure. 6

Aside from working in left-of-center philanthropy and advocacy, Scott is an adjunct professor at Bay Path College in the school of Nonprofit Management and a research associate for the Smith College Project for Social Change. 7

Associations with Tides

Tuti Scott sat on the Tides Foundation board for nine years, including some time as board chair, before she was selected to be interim CEO in September of 2019. 8

In an interview, Scott said she came to Tides in 2010 in part because a Black woman was chairwoman of the board and the organization had hired an openly lesbian woman to a major role. 9

Business Ventures

Before joining the Tides Foundation, Scott had a career in business consulting, often working with left-of-center feminist organizations. In 2008, Scott established Changemaker Strategies, previously known as Imagine Philanthropy. 10 Changemaker Strategies coaches and consults for organizations seeking to grow, providing advice on strategic planning, organization governance, and fundraising. Past clients have included left-of-center philanthropic organizations such as ReflectUs, Women Moving Millions, Third Wave Fund, and Equal Rights Advocates among others. 11

Aside from her work with Changemaker Strategies, Scott is a member of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers and sits on the board of the Women Win Foundation. 12 Scott has personally coached a number of left-of-center feminist activists, including Geena Davis, Noreen Farrell, Serene Jones, and Jane Sloane. 13

Gender Lens Investing

Scott organizes “Women and Money-Making Money Moves that Matter,” an annual event that focuses on the “gender lens investing space.” 14 Gender lens investing encourages philanthropists to target donations to support left-progressive agendas for women and girls. In 2019, Scott published a guide to gender lens investing. 15 As part of the program for gender lens investing, Scott argues that women should “own” their money story by building community around women and “educating” themselves on racial and gender issues to promote “true systems change.” 16 17

Scott also helped to develop the “SheEO” initiative in 2015 to encourage successful women to finance and support other female entrepreneurs. The initiative has motivated 3,000 women to loan about $3 million to 32 female-led businesses. The goal for the program is to acquire one million women “activators” to loan $1 billion to fund 10,000 businesses led by women. 18

Politics

Scott is a left-of-center activist, frequently speaking out against right-of-center politicians and policy. Premier Speakers Bureau markets Scott as the “Ellen DeGeneres of women’s philanthropy and the Ann Richards of social justice,” after the prominent talk-show host and the former Democratic Governor of Texas. Scott regularly speaks at conferences on social change and gender investing. 19

Three days before President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, Scott attacked Trump and Republicans in a Huffington Post op-ed, claiming that she could not “ trust the motives, courage or moral compass of the majority of our Congress people as well as the President.” Scott continued the op-ed by claiming that “Republican white men” were trying to “dismantle health care” and end protections for women, people of color, and religious minorities. 20

References

  1. “Media: Tuti Bio.” TUTI SCOTT. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.tutiscott.com/media-tuti-bio.
  2. “Q&A with Tides Interim CEO Tuti Scott.” Tides. September 29, 2019. Accessed April 29, 2020. https://www.tides.org/tides-news/from-the-ceo/qa-with-tides-interim-ceo-tuti-scott/
  3. Tuti Scott. LinkedIn. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tutiscott/
  4. Tuti Scott. Changemaker Strategies. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://we-are-changemakers.com/about
  5. Tuti Scott. Women Win. Accessed September 19, 2020. http://www.womenwin.org/about/team/staff/tuti-scott
  6. Tuti Scott. LinkedIn. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tutiscott/
  7. Tuti Scott. Women Win. Accessed September 19, 2020. http://www.womenwin.org/about/team/staff/tuti-scott
  8. Tuti Scott. Changemaker Strategies. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://we-are-changemakers.com/about
  9. “Q&A with Tides Interim CEO Tuti Scott.” Tides. September 29, 2019. Accessed April 29, 2020. https://www.tides.org/tides-news/from-the-ceo/qa-with-tides-interim-ceo-tuti-scott/
  10. “Tuti Scott’s Playbook for Women’s Philanthropy.” Giving Compass. July 29, 2019. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://givingcompass.org/partners/gender-and-giving/tuti-scotts-playbook-for-womens-philanthropy
  11. Tuti Scott. LinkedIn. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tutiscott/
  12. Tuti Scott. Women Win. Accessed September 19, 2020. http://www.womenwin.org/about/team/staff/tuti-scott
  13. Tuti Scott. Changemaker Strategies. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://we-are-changemakers.com/about
  14. Tuti Scott. LinkedIn. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tutiscott/
  15. Tuti Scott. LinkedIn. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tutiscott/
  16. “Tuti Scott’s Playbook for Women’s Philanthropy.” Giving Compass. July 29, 2019. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://givingcompass.org/partners/gender-and-giving/tuti-scotts-playbook-for-womens-philanthropy
  17. Growland, Lela. “These Professional Women are Making Money Moves That Matter.” Forbes. December 18, 2019. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/leliagowland/2019/12/18/these-professional-women-are-making-money-moves-that-matter/#e188ab913423
  18. “A Global Community of Radically Generous Women,” SheEO. September 28, 2020. https://sheeo.world/.
  19. Tuti Scott. Premier Speakers Bureau. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://premierespeakers.com/tuti-scott
  20. Scott, Tuti. “Now is the Time for Radical Self-Care.” Huffington Post. January 17, 2017. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/now-is-the-time-for-radical-self-care_b_587edd47e4b0474ad4874ec9

Connected Organizations

  1. Tides Center (Non-profit)
    Chief Executive Officer (2019-Present)
  2. Tides Foundation (Non-profit)
    Interim CEO (2019-2020)
  3. Tides Inc. (TINC) (Non-profit)
    CEO
  4. Tides Network (Non-profit)
    Interim CEO (since 2019), former Board Chair
  5. Tides Nexus (Other Group)
    Interim CEO (2019-2020)
  See an error? Let us know!