Adele Simmons is president of the Global Philanthropy Partnership, which works to strengthen the infrastructure of global philanthropy and is editor of Global Giving Matters.

Mrs. Simmons was president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for a decade, overseeing grants of over $1.5 billion. The foundation’s international programs focus on the environment, population, international peace and security, understanding inequality within and among nations and climate change.

Mrs. Simmons has served on a number of Commissions and Committees relating to Global Affairs including the World Bank Institute Global Equity Initiative, President Carter’s Commission on World Hunger, President Bush’s Commission on Sustainable Development, Commission on Global Governance, as well as the UN High Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development.

Before joining the MacArthur Foundation, Simmons was president of Hampshire College and a dean at Princeton and Tufts Universities.