Meet Andrea McGrath

Director, Center for Applied Philanthropy
Participant: We Media Miami ’10
Judge: We Media PitchIt! Challenge

The Center for Applied Philanthropy (CAP) is a new advisory firm focused on catalyzing the adoption and use of ‘nontraditional’ capital (structured as mission investments) among philanthropic organizations to help leverage traditional funding streams and create a new paradigm in philanthropy. In her current role, Andrea focuses her activities on CAPs advisory work with philanthropic organizations, outreach and education with nonprofit organizations, research and knowledge development, and building relationships with practitioners and others in the field.

Prior to joining CAP, Andrea worked as a consultant and researcher with nonprofits, venture funds, think tanks and academic institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom, developing a broad perspective of the field of social enterprise and innovation. Her work has been driven by issues critical to scaling impact, including examinations of ‘capital’ needs in the field (knowledge, human, financial) and how policy changes and collaborations between social enterprise and government could help foster, support, and scale innovation in the sector. She has collaborated with centers of social enterprise and management at Duke University, Yale University, Harvard Business School, and the Harvard Kennedy School on a variety of projects. She also manages and advised entrants in social enterprise competitions. Andrea’s interests in field-based initiatives focus on scaling innovation through improved collaboration among the sectors and the development of a robust social capital marketplace.

Andrea began her career as a fundraiser, and then earned an MBA and joined a global Fortune 500 financial services organization, where she worked as a senior consultant and project manager in operations, worldwide marketing, and global competitive intelligence. Andrea earned her AB from Boston College, her MBA from the University of Connecticut, and her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.