Defending the Freedom to Give with Tonya Allen and John Palfrey
Is the fundamental right to give according to one’s values under attack in America? Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with two influential foundation leaders who are sounding the alarm and fighting back. Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation, and John Palfrey, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, discuss the Unite in Advance initiative — a coalition defending philanthropic rights — and the broader issue of giving as a crucial first amendment right.
The conversation explores why these leaders believe we’re at a critical moment for U.S. civil society, how funders can increase their giving while continuing work on big goals like racial equity and halting climate change, and what individual donors can do to protect the American tradition of charitable giving.
Guest Info:
Tonya Allen is a transformative leader and change agent reshaping philanthropy to co-create an equitable, sustainable world. Raised in Detroit under the loving wing of her grandmother—a neighborhood organizer whose church-rooted leadership came with great sacrifice —Allen learned from both her mother and grandmother the power of community, the value of persistence, and that radical love drives lasting change.
She has built her career on community-led philanthropy and place-based transformation. With bold vision and strategic persistence, she engages communities and leads cross-sector partnerships, building bridges across differences while advocating for equitable policies that benefit all people.
As McKnight Foundation president since 2021, Allen has transformed the nearly 75-year family foundation into an innovative changemaking powerhouse. She championed aligning the Foundation’s investments with net zero goals and elevated McKnight’s voice, assets, and leadership to strengthen communities and economies across the Twin Cities and beyond. Under her leadership, McKnight achieved its highest charitable payout in history, granting over $145 million in 2024 (7% of the endowment).
Allen excels at uniting unlikely allies—centering community voices and co-creating solutions where people and planet thrive. In 2022, she assembled partners to launch the GroundBreak Coalition, an ambitious multi-sector effort to close wealth gaps in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Within a year, GroundBreak secured $1 billion in commitments—what Inside Philanthropy called the “fundraising success story of the year.”
Previously, Allen spent 16 years at The Skillman Foundation, serving as president and CEO for eight years while investing in Detroit youth. She founded the Detroit Parent Network and led the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Rebuilding Communities Initiative. Her leadership extends nationally as former chair of the Council on Foundations and co-chair of the Executives’ Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and the President’s Council on Impact Investing.
A sought-after thought leader, Allen contributes to national conversations through speaking, writing, and media engagement. Her opinion pieces on climate change, agroecology, and asset-based framing have appeared in Newsweek, The Hill, Inside Philanthropy, U.S. News and World Report, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Allen holds master’s degrees in public health and social work, plus a bachelor’s in sociology from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor.
John Palfrey is the President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Palfrey is a well-respected educator, author, legal scholar, and innovator with expertise in how new media are changing learning and education. Prior to joining the Foundation, he served as Head of School at Phillips Academy, Andover. Palfrey is the board chair of the United States Impact Investing Alliance; co-chairs the Disability and Inclusion Forum’s Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy; and serves on the board of the Fidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and serves on the governance council. And he is the former board chair of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Palfrey holds a JD from Harvard Law School, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an AB from Harvard College. Palfrey is an accomplished author; his most recent book is Wired Wisdom: How to Age Better Online, which he co-authored with Eszter Hargittai. His other books include Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces: Diversity and Free Expression in Education and Born Digital: How Children Grow Up in a Digital Age, co-authored with Urs Gasser.
Credits:
Podcast Production: Rococo Punch
Artwork: Jay Kustka
Resources:
Unite in Advance
McKnight Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
CEP Blog: “A Wave Forming? Funders Taking Action in Response to a Challenging Context”
Council on Foundations
Independent Sector
National Council of Nonprofits
GroundBreak Coalition
More Perfect
Press Forward
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