Albert Ruesga, Ph.D.

He served for seven years as Vice President for Programs and Communications at the Meyer Foundation in Washington, D.C., one of the oldest and largest foundations in Greater Washington. Under his watch, the Foundation earned a national reputation for its work in communications and capacity building.

Dr. Ruesga was the founding director of New Ventures in Philanthropy, a national initiative that has helped generate more than $500 million in new philanthropic resources against an investment of $14 million.

His knowledge of the nonprofit community comes from many years of nonprofit management and fundraising consulting.

Dr. Ruesga serves on the board of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. He’s also a member of the steering committees for the Southern Social Justice Working Group, the Aspen Philanthropy Group, and the Working Group on Philanthropy for Peace and Social Justice Philanthropy. He served previously as board chair of Hispanics in Philanthropy, a transnational network of grantmakers committed to strengthening Latino communities across the Americas.

Dr. Ruesga earned his Ph.D. at MIT and taught ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of the social sciences at Gettysburg College before entering the world of philanthropy.  He also served as a teaching fellow at Harvard University. An accomplished writer, his articles have appeared in Social Theory and Practice, The Journal of Popular Culture, and other publications. He was for many years a contributing writer to The Boston Book Review, and is the founding editor of the White Courtesy Telephone, a popular blog about nonprofits and philanthropy.