What book will you read Thursday?

Mario Morino

This Thursday is Read a Book Day in the U.S., what will you be reading? I’d like to suggest that you pick up a book I’m reading, Leap of Reason, Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity, written by Mario Morino; it also includes a compendium of essays by others on the topic of mission effectiveness. Mario is the chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners and the Morino Institute and  he also has deep ties to Cleveland: he serves on the board of directors of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and is an Emeritus Trustee of Case Western Reserve University.

Mario will speak at our annual conference on Thursday morning, November 15, then follow up with a session with a smaller group of philanthropy leaders. He published Leap of Reason last year and distributed it widely; you can download a free copy in digital or PDF here.

I polled a few OGF members to see what they’ll be reading this week and I think you’ll agree it’s an interesting assortment of titles.

• Marcia Egbert, The George Gund Foundation: Alice Schroeder’s bio of Warren Buffett, The Snowball.
• Kathy Merchant, Greater Cincinnati Foundation, says “A group of us in Cincinnati are going to read Family Wealth: Keeping it in the Family. The author is James E. Hughes, Jr.”
• Bob Jacquay, The George Gund Foundation, says “Given the season, I’m actually paging through a few old chestnuts, LOUD & Clear in an Election Year: Amplifying the Voices of Community Advocates (2004).”
• Susan Urano, The Athens Foundation: Walk Out/Walk On by Margaret Wheatley and Debra Freize.
• Kim St. John-Stevenson, Saint Luke’s Foundation: Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, Leap of Reason and If It Takes a Village, Build One by Malaak Compton-Rock.
• Doug Kridler, The Columbus Foundation: The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad.
• John Mullaney, The Nord Family Foundation says “The Righteous Mind, Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. In my opinion it provides valuable insight into many issues we face in philanthropy.”

Use the comment box to let us know what you’re reading!