Emily Koons Jae is ACTA’s vice president of development & philanthropy. She leads ACTA’s development team, communicating the organization’s mission and work to an expanding circle of donors who are passionate about reforming higher education. Ms. Jae joined ACTA in 2019 as the director of our Fund for Academic Renewal, a program that helps higher education donors design, monitor, and evaluate transformative gifts that meet their philanthropic objectives.
Ms. Jae came to ACTA from the Jack Miller Center, where she worked on the center’s academic programs, communications, and development team.
ACTA's Emily Koons Jae and Bryan Paul recently sat down with Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation, to discuss the successes and shortcomings of higher ed reform in North Carolina.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has long advocated for a campus culture that promotes intellectual diversity, open inquiry, and free expression. The unfettered pursuit of truth is the lifeblood of higher education, yet today we face a deepening free speech crisis at colleges and universities. Intelligent giving can preserve and foster a culture […]
A few weeks ago, Ken Griffin’s $300 million contribution to Harvard University inspired an op-ed in Inside Philanthropy calling on universities to be more circumspect in allowing naming rights. Named gifts are easy targets for criticism, and many wealthy donors have been accused of making charitable contributions out of mere vanity or as a Quixotic attempt to cheat death.
$196 billion is quite a sum. According to Forbes, $196 billion is also the grand total given by the top 25 philanthropists over their lifetimes. Readers will recognize many of the names on the list, such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, and MacKenzie Scott, as both the heroes and the villains of our society, […]
It can be hard for donors to support higher education in keeping with their values. But there are options at universities all across the country. Americans have never been so disappointed by higher education. In a survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Bipartisan Policy Center, only 60% of Americans said that they […]
‘Targeted giving is a powerful lever for change in higher education,’ advisors say. In an economic upheaval, an influential philanthropy guide encourages donors to strongly consider directing gifts towards college programs that boost student outcomes and prepare graduates for careers. With this approach, donors can avoid having their gifts placed in a general fund, where they have […]
Launched in 1995, we are the only organization that works with alumni, donors, trustees, and education leaders across the United States to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives an intellectually rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price.
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