Univators Interview – Mike Berkowitz & Lana Volftsun

While in NYC, I met with Mike and Lana who created the 1% foundation, a non-profit aimed at making young professionals give 1% of their revenue to their initiative (see description below) and invest it in social projects. We were in a pub for an event they organised, but since the place was very noisy and dark, we ended up doing the interview in the men’s room! Kind of strange at first, but very effective in terms of noise reduction!

The One Percent Foundation (OPF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing persistent global challenges by building a broad-based movement of next generation philanthropists.  The Foundation educates, organizes, and mobilizes young adults, ages 18 to 39, to become generous, committed, and strategic philanthropists.  The Foundation’s goal is to empower every young adult to give away at least one percent of his or her annual income to philanthropy. OPF’s core program, the One Percent Giving Circle, is the largest giving circle in the country!

Biographies

Mike Berkowitz is the President and co-founder of the One Percent Foundation (OPF). Mike is also co-founder & CEO of Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies, LLC, a full-service philanthropic advisory and nonprofit consulting firm that specializes in designing and implementing innovative next generation philanthropic engagement opportunities for individuals, nonprofits, foundations, and businesses.

Lana Volftsun is the Executive Director of the One Percent Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to addressing persistent global challenges by building a broad-based movement of next generation philanthropists. Lana also founded jenerocity, a giving circle project in Washington, DC, and is on the Board of Slingshot, a collective fund which provides support for a subset of innovative Jewish organizations featured in the Slingshot Guide. In addition, Lana sits on the Issues Committee for the National Center for Family Philanthropy, the UpStart Bay Area‘s Connect Advisory Group, and the Steering Committee for the Nexus Global Youth Summit. Previously, she facilitated the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute (JYPI) program in Northern Virginia and served on the Young Leadership Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Prior to joining OPF, Lana worked as a Technology Consultant at Deloitte Consulting. She has a BSBA and Master’s Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Washington University in St. Louis.