Lisa Pilar Cowan is a third-generation New Yorker, a writer, strategist, mother, partner, sister, oldest cousin, daughter and friend.
She has spent her professional career working for and supporting social justice organizations.
Lisa Cowan started her career as a youth worker in Boston, and has gone on to be a non-profit leader, Board President, management consultant and funder for anti-poverty organizations in New York City and beyond. Lisa most recently served as the Vice President of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation for almost 9 years. She was a founding member of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, and a columnist for the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Lisa is on the board of directors of NYC Kids RISE, the advisory board of College Access: Resource and Action, and is the Board Chair of NonProfit New York.
Lisa graduated from Wesleyan University, was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in New York City, and holds an MFA in Creative NonFiction writing from Hunter College.
She is working on an essay collection about love and loss and duty and resentment. She writes about accompaniment during the illness and grief at the death of her mother, and the challenges of letting go and holding onto newly-adult children. She also writes a regular substack column on surviving and thriving in late-stage middle age during late-stage capitalism.
News & Press
Center for Effective Philanthropy
A Path to Repair: What if Philanthropy Wasn’t About Giving Away Money, but Returning It?
Lisa writes about the origins of wealth and how a deeper understanding of where money comes from can unlock new ways of redistributing it.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
As Funders Face New Levels of Risk, What Does Bravery Look Like?
We foundation leaders have long been insulated from threats. It’s time to shed our chicken feathers.