Monica Patten

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Foundations of Canada, Monica Patten has presided over a period of unprecedented growth in Canada’s community foundation movement. When she took the helm of the fledging organization for Canada’s community foundations in 1993, it had 28 members with assets of $500 million. Today, those numbers have exploded to include more than 170 community foundations in cities, towns and rural areas all across the country, and assets close to $3 billion.

Monica Patten firmly believes that ‘growing the philanthropic pie’ benefits everyone, here at home and internationally. She has personally assisted in the development of community philanthropy around the world, including in Brazil, Mexico, Central and Eastern Europe, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Russia. She has served as Chair of WINGS (Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support), and is a former CIVICUS Board member. She is a senior fellow to Synergos and serves on the board of the Global Fund for Community Foundations. She is currently a Director of the Rio Tinto Alcan Fund and The Lawson Foundation.

Monica Patten serves as an advisor to many Canadian non-profit and philanthropic programs. She played an active role in the Voluntary Sector Initiative, the joint effort to strengthen the sector’s relationship with the federal government and enhance its capacity. An active volunteer, she has served on the Board of Equitas and chairs the Financial Management and Development Committee of the Anglican Church of Canada. In May 2005, Monica Patten received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lawson Foundation in recognition of her “extraordinary accomplishments and leadership.” She was also honoured by the Public Policy Forum in April 2002 for her contribution to public policy and Canada’s voluntary sector.