Ronald Austin Wells
Ronald Austin Wells, Ph.D., is Chairman of The Wells Philanthropic Group, providing consulting services to private, family, corporate and community foundations, individual donors, and nonprofit social sector organizations.
He has extensive leadership experience working in the philanthropic sector, serving as executive vice president directing international and U.S. grantmaking programs of the Phelps-Stokes Fund in New York, the first family foundation (established in 1911) in the U.S.He founded the Phelps-Stokes Institute, which was instrumental in launching the American Indian College Fund as a separate 501(c)3 organization. Prior, he served as executive director of the Connecticut Humanities Council. A member of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers, he has consulted with dozens of foundations and nonprofit social sector organizations, focusing particularly on governance and leadership development for boards of directors. He is a member of the consulting faculty of The Fund Raising School at Indiana University; is certified by BoardSource as an advanced consultant in board governance, board assessment, and CEO performance appraisal; and has completed the training necessary to lead a family foundation through the National Center for Family Philanthropy Pursuit of Excellence Assessment Process.
Wells has served as national Chairman of the Board of the Fulbright Association and Vice Chairman of the Board of Native Seeds/SEARCH in Tucson, Arizona. Other board service includes the Arizona Humanities Council, New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, The Phelps-Stokes Fund, Connecticut Habitat,and the Connecticut Humanities Council. He is author of The Honor of Giving: Philanthropy in Native America; Donor Legacy; and co-author of Principles and Techniques of Fund Raising for Native American Organizations. He has published essays, articles, and reviews in Philanthropy in America, American National Biography, Journal of the National Center for Family Philanthropy, Board Member, and the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. He holds degrees from Queens College and the University of Connecticut, was a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University, a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Oulu, Finland, and a fellow of the Salzburg Seminar in Philanthropy. He served on the Research Committee of Independent Sector. His research interests include the governance of social sector organizations, the philosophy of giving and generosity, and the history of philanthropy. Wells is listed in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in International Education, and Who's Who in America.
Karen K. Jambeck
Karen K. Jambeck, Ph.D., CPC, CPEC, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wells Philanthropic Group. She specializes in helping groups and teams such as boards of foundations and nonprofit social sector organizations improve their effectiveness. As a professionally certified leadership and executive coach, she has guided and coached individuals and large and small groups in achieving peak performance. Trained in linguistics, she has taught university courses and conducted training sessions on the uses of language and discourse in small group dynamics, organizational development, and leadership. She holds the Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and was a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University. She has lectured and presented papers in England, France, Finland, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, and the U.S. Her publications include articles and reviews on philanthropy, patronage, discourse, the language of leadership, sociolinguistics, and other topics.
Dr. Jambeck serves on the Board of Directors of Chamber Music Plus Southwest. Her consulting work includes colleges, universities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and numerous nonprofit social sector organizations. She holds the designation of CPEC (Certified Professional Executive Coach) and is accredited as Professional Coach by the International Coach Federation. Dr. Jambeck is certified by BoardSource as an advanced consultant in board governance, board self-assessment, and CEO performance appraisal, and has completed the training necessary to lead a family foundation through the National Center for Family Philanthropy Pursuit of Excellence Assessment Process.