Alexa Cortes Culwell

Alexa Cortes Culwell has decades of experience building, managing, and advising philanthropic initiatives, as both a foundation CEO and a partner to donors shaping their strategy, implementation, learning, and legacy. As Co-founder and CEO of Open Impact, she leads an innovative team with a distinctive and holistic approach to working alongside clients at every step in their giving journey.

Alexa’s prior leadership roles include serving as the founding CEO of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, a position she held for 13 years, and as CEO of the Stupski Foundation. Alexa served as a visiting practitioner at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and as an Instructor for Stanford Continuing Studies’ highly rated course on nonprofit governance. She is a contributor to Stanford Social Innovation Review and co-authored the groundbreaking report, The Giving Code: Silicon Valley Nonprofits and Philanthropy.

Alexa is active in key organizations that are shaping the national ecosystem of philanthropy-serving organizations, including serving as a board member of the Center for Effective Philanthropy during its formative years, chairing one of the first national conferences for Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and advising organizations such as the National Center for Family Philanthropy and Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2). She is also a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley and a member of the Leap Ambassadors Community, a national leadership network focused on promoting high performance in the nonprofit sector.