Testimonials

I’ve worked with grantmaking clients of all sizes and all types.
Here’s what your colleagues have to say.

Kris is an exceptional philanthropy leader, partner, and innovator. Her collaborative approach enables both ambitious visioning and practical planning. We have embarked on a

Kevin Ryan

Director, Delta Dental Community Care Foundation

Kris has dual impressive superpowers: both expertise and mastery of the field of philanthropy and also a practical, thoughtful, approachable communication style. This is

Mary Anthony

Executive Director, 1772 Foundation

As my trusted advisor, Kris helped our foundation navigate an organizational transformation to become more strategic and develop a clear plan to implement our

Dr. Laura Gerald

President, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust

As a CEO it is tremendously helpful to have someone with Kris’s expertise to be able to call any time and discuss any issue,

Janet Spears

CEO, Metta Fund

Kris brings a rare and unique perspective to her philanthropy consulting that makes it easy for us to bring our best selves to our

Ronn Richard

CEO, The Cleveland Foundation

Kris is a wonderful and objective resource for professional coaching. She promotes thoughtful consideration of myriad issues to help determine the big picture, while

Tina Markanda

Executive Director, Foundation for a Healthy High Point

Kris’s thoughtful, practical advice provides a roadmap for practitioners who want to increase their effectiveness.

LaTida Smith

CEO, Moses Taylor Foundation

As my strategic advisor and sounding board, Kris is always there when I need a clear path forward or a reality check. I am

Maureen Sheehan Massaro

Executive Director, Wilson Sheehan Foundation

Today, everyone is trying to do more with less. You need consultants who are a quick study, who already have broad experience, and who

Angela Glover Blackwell

Founder and CEO, PolicyLink

Kris’s deep knowledge and experience in philanthropy is invaluable. Her ability to identify and distill best practices beyond the obvious and then translate them

Mamie Kanfer Stewart

Director, Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation

Kris Putnam-Walkerly is one of the world’s foremost advisors to leading philanthropists. I highly recommend her if you want a trusted guide and confidential

Mitzi Perdue

Philanthropist and Author, How to be Up in Down Times

Kris’s keynote brought home the all-important point that transformational change can’t just be an aspirational vision for foundation executives alone. To achieve the greatest

David Goldsmith

SVP and Strategy, Giving Data

Financial institutions that serve private foundations and ultra-high-net-worth individuals seek to offer greater philanthropic value – especially in the current complex investment, regulatory, and

Allen Mast

Senior Vice President and Leader, Private Foundations Specialty Practice, SunTrust (now Truist)

Savvy advisors understand that expanding philanthropic offerings is vital to their long-term success. That’s why we engaged philanthropy expert Kris Putnam-Walkerly to help us

Emily Drake

Partner, Fairport Wealth

Kris’ approach is refreshing! It’s the right approach. She makes sure our philanthropy makes sense — to us and our partners, grantees, and community.

Sherece West-Scantlebury, Ph.D.

President and CEO, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation

We’ve hired Kris time and again for several projects, including objective evaluations of our own internal operations. Kris and her team stand out because

Mark Smith

Former CEO, California HealthCare Foundation

Kris shares the kind of advice that one wishes every consultant would give—insightful, useful and to the point, and always with good humor. She

Peter Long, PhD

President & CEO, Blue Shield of California Foundation

We trusted Kris and her team to create an honest retrospective about our work with race, both inside and outside the Casey Foundation —

Nonet Sykes

Director, Race Equity and Inclusion, Annie E. Casey Foundation

Kris expertly managed our $20 million grantmaking initiative to solicit, review, and select grantees to support Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Her consulting services are

Juan Davila

Executive Vice President, Blue Shield of California

We wanted to motivate other funders to support nonprofit talent and leadership by sharing the incredible work in process of our grantee partners. Kris

Rafael Lopez

Associate Director, Annie E. Casey Foundation

We hired Kris to conduct an environmental scan of the field of neuroscience and its application to interventions for children and youth. Kris and

Jane Isaacs Lowe

Senior Adviser for Program Development, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Kris has a refreshingly clear-eyed point of view on philanthropy. She can cut through the noise and keep things focused, which has made her

Tamir Novotny

Executive Director, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy

Kris led our board through a very comprehensive and thorough strategic plan refresh process that allowed us to confidently develop the next steps for

Deborah Ellwood

CEO, CFLeads

Kris is great at making the complex easy to understand, and helps grantmakers shift their thinking to embrace new possibilities and opportunities. Her presentations

LaTida Smith

CEO, Moses Taylor Foundation

Our evaluation work with Kris was essential to supporting one of the most significant grantmaking endeavors our foundation has ever had. Kris helped our

Alison Belfrage

Executive Director, Ohio State Bar Foundation

Kris really understands how foundations work. Kris and her team have a high level of knowledge and are very professional. Kris was clear about

Christy Pichel

President, Stuart Foundation

Since working with Kris we have a far more streamlined grantmaking process, and we get all the answers we need to make sound grantmaking

Merle Gordon

Director, Community Benefit, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Ohio

Kris’ ability to collect the best thinking and present it back to the field has been a valuable asset for EPIP and helped enhance

Rahsaan Harris

Executive Director, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy

Kris and her team were instrumental in helping shape my big picture ideas into an actionable and sensitive representation of our major rural community

Allen Smart

Former Vice President, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust

The impact assessment that Kris and her team conducted for EPIP really helped to shape our organization’s strategies for growth. We had minimal evaluation

Rusty Stahl

Founder and former Executive Director, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy

Creating a theory of change is challenging work, but Kris helped us envision and plan where we want to go and did so in

Sue Krey

President, Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland

Kris cares deeply about communities. She worked with ethnically and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods and was able to build trust and understanding while providing us

Michael Baloing

Former Program Officer, The California Wellness Foundation

We needed more than an environmental scan. We needed someone to give us their analytical perspective on how best to build out an initiative

Denis Udall

Former Senior Program Officer, Walter S. Johnson Foundation

We’ve received only positive feedback from our partners about Kris and her team. They helped me stay organized and ahead of the curve while

Lisa Bottoms

Program Director, The Cleveland Foundation

We wanted to create a niche leadership recognition program, and we approached Kris because of her deep knowledge of California, nonprofits, and how foundations

Lande Ajose

Former Senior Program Officer, The James Irvine Foundation

Kris has a proven ability to do what she says she’ll do, on budget, on schedule, every single time. Her reports are concise, accessible,

Eric Sloan

Program Officer, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation

Kris crafted an analysis that helped us more deeply understand the impact and challenges of our investments in youth media, which guided our work

Rhonnel Sotelo

Chief Operating Officer, Stuart Foundation

Kris asked us questions about our strategic planning that we hadn’t considered. She challenged our thinking and helped us answer key questions around the

Dave Henderson

Board Chair, Stroke Awareness Foundation

Kris and her team were instrumental in helping the United Way of the Bay Area identify organizational challenges and set priorities to tackle these

Molly Wertz

Vice President, United Way of the Bay Area

Kris knows the philanthropy field, has the relationships, and understands the behavior and culture of foundations.

Colin Lacon

President and CEO, Northern California Grantmakers

We had an idea for a new initiative but needed to refine and expand upon it. Kris and her team added muscle to our

Victor Capoccia

Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Working with Kris is extremely beneficial. Her attention to detail — specifically in analyzing and sharing information to support our decision making — helped

Maisha Simmons

Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Kris’s insights help keep our heads focused on our vision and our feet firmly rooted in the communities we serve.

Bob Eckardt

Executive Vice President, Cleveland Foundation

Kris has a direct, matter-of-fact style and unquestionable logic when it comes to corporate giving in ways that are efficient, effective and ultimately beneficial

Alicia Procello Maddox

President, Avery Dennison Foundation

Kris “gets” philanthropy in a way that few consultants can match. I find her voice and her ideas refreshing, inspiring and always a bright

Shawn Dove

CEO, Campaign for Black Male Achievement

Kris is knowledgeable about all the different, nuanced aspects of philanthropic strategy and understands why not all grantmakers are the same. I appreciate the