Impact of giving drew George Family Foundation president to philanthropy

Sean Malone will work to continue advancing the George Family Foundation's efforts to promote an equitable society as president of the organization, which ramped up giving after the killing of George Floyd and in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Malone, who has led three nonprofit organizations, said the Minneapolis foundation's response to last year's upheaval was "all the more reason that I am inspired to come and work alongside this family."

Malone will join the foundation on Aug. 23. He will work on a transition plan with current president Gayle Ober, who will retire by the end of the year. Malone will be the second person from outside the family to serve as president.

Former Medtronic CEO Bill George and his wife, Penny, established the foundation in 1994. It boosted giving last year to more than 8% of its value, above the required 5% threshold, according to its annual report.

It made grants of more than $5.2 million, a record for the foundation, and gave $685,000 in emergency grants to organizations responding to the pandemic and supporting racial and social justice. The foundation has more than $70 million in assets.

Malone most recently was interim executive director of Journalism Funding Partners. In more than 20 years of nonprofit leadership he has served as founding president and CEO of Dix Park Conservancy in Raleigh, N.C.; president and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation; and president of Ten Chimneys Foundation in Wisconsin.

Malone has a master of arts in business from the Wisconsin School of Business at University of Wisconsin–Madison and a fine arts degree from the University of Southern California. He and his wife and their two daughters, all Midwest natives, will move to Minneapolis this summer.

A: When you have such significant challenges, that's one of the things that drew me to work alongside Penny and Bill George and the family and team, to roll up our sleeves and work with grantee partners in the Twin Cities and beyond, to say, what do we do? How do we fix it? How do we help make everybody's lives better and stronger? How do we promote a truly equitable society? That's clearly present in the work of the George Family Foundation and it's a powerful opportunity.

Q: What is the George Family Foundation's mission?

A: They focus on the idea of wholeness and integrity in terms of mind, body and spirit on an individual level, in terms of community and wholeness of community. They're talking about it in terms of being a whole authentic leader and what authentic leadership does to serve organizations politically, in business and in the nonprofit world. And wholeness in terms of integrative health and healing, which is one of their central focus areas.

Q: What has motivated you to work in philanthropy and nonprofits?

A: You see the impact it has, and that is powerful and rewarding and humbling and inspirational. Once you start seeing the power of philanthropy, once you start seeing the dedication and impact of nonprofits, how could you ever be OK with doing anything but that? It's such an honor to get to collaborate with people who are dedicated to transforming people's lives and then doing it, getting it done.