President
Dr. Lee Draper’s broad understanding of issues facing the nonprofit sector comes from 35 years of experience performing diverse roles in nonprofit leadership and service: as grantmaker, board member, executive director and program manager, consultant, scholar, and active member of local and national associations.
Dr. Draper is involved in all Draper Consulting Group consulting projects and provides project design, strategic thinking, and depth of expertise. Dr. Draper holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. The firm’s methodology is rooted in anthropological theory and honors each organization’s unique values, culture, and constituency. Dr. Draper’s leadership, vision, and high standards of excellence and service are cornerstones of DCG’s success. She has helped more than 200 nonprofits move to the next level of organizational vitality, effectiveness, and sustainability.
Since 1990, Dr. Draper has led major efforts to shape philanthropy. She served as one of the lead consultants to Blue Cross of California in creating all aspects of its two new philanthropic entities valued at over $3.2 billion: The California Endowment and the California HealthCare Foundation. She assisted in the development of the foundations’ mission, vision and values, programmatic priorities, operations plan, board governance, and staffing. Dr. Draper helped in the formation of 10 new foundations and assisted in the expansion and program design of 12 more.
Dr. Draper designed and administered diverse capacity building programs — that built board and staff leadership, effective program and financial management, and diverse fundraising skills — including those sponsored by the Flintridge Center (formerly the Flintridge Operating Foundation) and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. She has written extensively on best practices in nonprofit management and organizational development based on DCG’s track record of success, and has been an advisor to numerous management support organizations.
In 2006, Dr. Draper founded the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers whose mission is to increase philanthropy and deepen its impact by harnessing the skills and experience of consultants across the U.S. The organization has forged partnerships with many grantmaking associations and developed the first national online, searchable directory of qualified and vetted consultants.
Prior to establishing Draper Consulting Group, Dr. Draper held management positions at three major California foundations. At The Ahmanson Foundation, she served as program officer for health, human services, education, and the arts. At the W. M. Keck Foundation, Dr. Draper was responsible for national grantmaking programs in medical research, medical education, and liberal arts. She then served as program director at the California Community Foundation, overseeing the foundation’s overall funding program as well as directing arts and health grantmaking. In addition, Dr. Draper has seven years of nonprofit management experience as a museum director, curator, and educator. She taught in the graduate Museum Studies Program at J.F. Kennedy University.
Dr. Draper actively participates in the Council on Foundations as a conference panelist and facilitator. For over eight years, she wrote regular feature articles under the byline “Philanthropy in Action” for Foundation News & Commentary and has appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Town & Country, and on NPR.
