I learned a lot of what I know about philanthropy from Pablo Eisenberg. Editing his columns for the Chronicle of Philanthropy over more than two decades, I learned the most when he wrote tributes to the lives of the key figures in American philanthropy in the late 20th century, moving and personal accounts of the lives of John Filer, John Gardner, Brian O’Connell, Sargent Shriver, Paul Ylvisaker, and Waldemar Nielsen and Alan Pifer — all men he knew well.
As the years went on, I worried that one day I would need to write about his legacy — and that it would be impossible to do justice to his voice, his leadership, his compassion, and mentorship. Sadly, that day has arrived. Pablo died at age 90 earlier this week.
Pablo, who led the organization Center for Community Change for 23 years and founded the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, started writing for the Chronicle of Philanthropy in 1988, soon after we started publishing and wrote scores of articles on a broad array of topics. Some were investigative pieces that showed off his watchdog skills, others were calls to action, and most discussed ways philanthropy could do more to help the most marginalized. He was also passionate about the power of journalism to bring about change in the nonprofit world — and was always ready with a critique of coverage he found too soft. Pretty much every time we sent out our daily newsletter, I knew I could expect a call about what he liked or disliked about what our reporters said — and nearly always he would suggest a question we should have asked.
I had the chance to further my education in philanthropy by working with Pablo on a collection of three decades of his work, Challenges for Nonprofits and Philanthropy: the Courage to Change, published by Tufts University Press in 2004. The collection was a bit of a compromise: A lot of people wanted Pablo to write a memoir, but he hated to call attention to his life that way. That meant others of us had to point out that in addition to his social-justice career, he was a Wimbledon champion and the captain of his tennis teams at Princeton and Oxford. And as his friends recall, he often introduced himself by saying he “Born of parents with a sense of humor, my name is Pablo Eisenberg.” What he didn’t mention was there was a reason for that: He was the godson of Pablo Casals.
Because Pablo never pulled punches when he was disappointed in an organization or a public figure, he outraged many in philanthropy — but he has always commanded respect. Even those who disagreed with him — and many people did — they said they were impressed by his courage and determination to speak his mind. Every once in a while Pablo’s columns would so anger a foundation leader that he would get a threat that his grants were about to be canceled. That didn’t silence him ever, and in fact it mainly encouraged him to keep writing.
Pablo entered the social sector at a time when nonprofit organizations were growing rapidly in the wake of the War on Poverty, and he witnessed a doubling of the number of nonprofit groups in operation and a stunning increase in the wealth of the nation’s foundations.
In addition, he played a key role in shifting the focus of a national blue-ribbon commission studying the responsibility of private foundations to society. Due to his advocacy, the commission focused on whether foundations were doing enough to help the poor. He also pushed the commission to be sure to include the views of those who receive financial support from foundations and not just consider the opinions of grant makers themselves.
Pablo’s writing often focused on how public policy should be reshaped to ensure that charities and foundations are accountable to the public. Drawing on his experience at the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, in addition to his years of advocacy work, Pablo pointed out how some of the most promising ideas of the Great Society years became disappointments. He also examined how philanthropy could do much to ensure that government operates better.
Although Pablo spent most of his professional life working in the United States, he began his career in Africa as a foreign-service officer with the United States Information Agency. In his writings, he often put to use the expertise he developed overseas, such as in an article he wrote suggesting ways that foundations could help improve foreign policy making.
Phil Semas, the founder of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, recruited Pablo to become the first regular opinion columnist for the newspaper, and from our news organization’s earliest days we tried to follow his lead in working to ensure that the nonprofit world lives up to its promise.
I miss the regular phone calls from Pablo, helping me think about how the Chronicle can do better. But I will never forget the lessons he taught me — and the powerful advocacy he led that has made our society a fairer and more just place.
