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

Kathy Smith
Senior Program Officer, Walton Family Foundation
Kris’s advice is thought provoking and very practical.

Brian Frederick
President and CEO, Community Foundation of Lorain County
No matter how you approach philanthropy, Kris has valuable wisdom to share.

Lori Kuhn
Executive Director, Morgan Family Foundation
Kris’s thoughts on our field are refreshing, provocative, and compelling.

Alison Belfrage
Executive Director, Ohio State Bar Foundation
Kris brings the perfect combination of bold visioning ability and attention to detail, which is why we retained her to develop a clearer, more

Deborah Ellwood
President and CEO, CFLeads
The fresh perspective that Kris brings to philanthropy is always eye-opening and spot-on.

Allen Smart
Vice President of Programs, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust
Kris has a rare ability to work with diverse personalities and populations. She integrates easily and always gets the job done. Kris is simply

Alexa Culwell
former Chief Executive Officer, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
Kris is creating innovative news ways to look at philanthropy and altruism so that both donor and recipient are better served and there is

Alan Weiss
The Million Dollar Consultant®, Summit Consulting Group, Inc.