Cara Binder-Kopchick

Cara Binder-Kopchick is a philanthropy advisor with a passion for facilitating meaningful conversations, nurturing trusting relationships between donors and grantee partners, and building smart operations. She approaches her work with determination balanced by patience to make sure that each decision is in the best interest of both the donor she is partnering with and the community they are looking to serve. In her daily work she strives to embody the values she holds most dear: justice, creativity, respect, and simplicity.

Some of her recent client work includes managing a portfolio of grantee partners for an anonymous donor focused on economic mobility and belonging for Black mothers and their families, facilitating complex board transition planning for a family foundation, contributing to the review and selection of partners for Ms. Foundation’s Activist Care and Collaboration Fund and Birth Justice Initiative, and supporting AARP Foundation and Google.org’s learning network focused on economic mobility for low-income older workers.

Prior to starting her own consulting practice, Cara spent 15 years focused on many different angles of philanthropy, working on both international and local grantmaking teams at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; facilitating workforce development grants through the City and County of San Francisco; leading the Midwest regional advisory team at Arabella Advisors; and serving as the founding Director of Samvid Ventures, an operating foundation based in New York City.

Cara has an MPA from the University of San Francisco, where she graduated with high honors, and a BA in journalism, specializing in social justice, from Michigan State University. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two young children. She loves experimenting in the kitchen, traveling to new places, playing with her border collie, and creating fun activities for her kids.