2022 was a year of growth and learning for Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP). It was also a year where we leveraged this learning to adapt as an organization, reshaping some of our approaches in pursuit of MACP’s mission.

This year also marks the halfway point of MACP’s 2025 Strategic Plan, which centers on partnering for lasting community impact. We deepened our understanding of what it will require to work with our partners towards achieving this Plan and our shared goals.

Renewed Commitments

We emerged from the challenging years of the global pandemic with a renewed dedication to continued learning and evolution, and to do so alongside our partners. The devastating effects of COVID-19 accelerated our exploration of new flexibilities with grantee partners. We heard this support was critical to our partners’ abilities to get through the pandemic and achieve their own missions. Going forward, we are finding opportunities to build greater flexibility, while reducing the burden to our grantee partners through our administrative processes.

Throughout these years of uncertainty, it has been important to stay connected to the communities we support. We transitioned to a hybrid office environment, reestablishing relationships in person that we had maintained remotely. It was also a welcome shift to be able to travel and see our partners face-to-face again and to visit communities where their work is making such a difference.

Embedding Equity

Centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) in MACP’s work is anchored in our values as an organization and the difference we hope to make through our partnerships. We shared our organization’s DEIJ Vision Statement publicly in 2022 and continued our efforts to identify what it means to truly live into that Vision. This included ensuring equitable practices in our recruiting, onboarding, and talent development, as well as surveying our investment asset managers to better understand the commitments to equity and diversity within their own organizations. In our grantmaking, our domains demonstrated shifts in our strategies and how we approach our work, lifting up community voices and finding opportunities to fund domestic and global partners who can provide direct support to community organizations.

In addition to our return to the office, we also resumed in-person partner and community visits, with MACP teams traveling across the state, across the country, and later in the year, across the globe as COVID-19 restrictions eased.

New Voices

Many new voices and perspectives contributed to our work in 2022. We celebrated the retirement of long-time MACP leader, Terry Meersman, and welcomed Kurian Thomas as our new Vice President, Programs. In all, 14 new team members joined MACP in 2022. We also expanded our governance structure, welcoming Dr. Kathy Annette and Kevin Washington to our Board Program Committees, and Antonia Hernández and Cheryl Wilson to the Akaloa Program Committee. Their insights and perspectives have been extremely valuable, not only when discussing strategy and approving grants as a committee, but also when we dig into what it means to support community-led work.

With our organization in a strong position, and in collaboration with the Board, I announced a transition of my own. In 2023, I will be retiring as President & CEO of MACP. While this decision certainly came with mixed emotions, I find reassurance in knowing MACP’s next President comes with exceptional leadership skills, sharp insights, and strong relationships with staff and partners – MACP Vice President and General Counsel, Heather Kukla. We are fortunate to have someone with her expertise move into this role, and I am excited for MACP’s future with Heather’s leadership as well as the incredible team across the organization. And I look forward to staying connected to the work of MACP through my ongoing role on our Board of Directors.

MACP remains committed to supporting our partners and to learning alongside them. Their clear message to us is that, now more than ever, this is a time to listen to communities, and to learn from them.

Our ability to convene across geographic and strategic divides, to partner alongside those deepest in community and center our efforts around their voices, their ideas, and their work – that is our most important role.

Our founder, Margaret Cargill, believed in supporting people and the communities where they live. The growth and evolution of our grantmaking strategies, while remaining grounded in donor intent, is at the heart of who we are as an organization. This annual report shares stories and examples of what this looks like in action, through the work of our grantee partners.

It has truly been a pleasure to work together these past fifteen years and experience the deep relationships I’ve had the honor to build with you all as colleagues, partners, and friends.

Warmly,

Paul Busch
President & CEO