Who we are

We partner with our clients to help them build new giving strategies, become more effective at grant making and explore new forms of philanthropy within social impact investing.  Our clients are extraordinary.  We are fortunate to work with a wide variety of individuals – donors & their advisers, families, foundations, social entrepreneurs and philanthropy membership associations – all committed to making a genuine difference in the organizations they support.  Venture3Philanthropy’s leadership provides significant social benefits and helps leave a lasting legacy that reflects what is important to our clients.

Venture3Philanthropy serves as a trusted confidant to our donors, grant makers and social entrepreneurs.  We provide unique and valuable advice, counsel, leadership support and resources to achieve our clients’ intended outcomes.

Venture3Philanthropy is a service calling. We share nearly three decades of expertise in organizational and philanthropic service work in all 3 sectors  – public/government sector; private/business sector; and the non-profit sector.   An experienced and proven leader, we are called to serve and advise individual donors, families, foundations and social entrepreneurs who are passionate about philanthropy and committed to exploring new ways of investing their private capital for specific outcomes and social impact. 

Our Vision
Venture3Philanthropy is devoted to service, creatively inspiring generosity, and committed to the art and business of making a lasting social difference.

Values
Respect, High Integrity, Trust, Effectiveness, Accountability, Results, Creativity, Innovation, Collaboration 

Colleen Mitchell created a professional philanthropy advisory practice in 2010 to uniquely apply her broad knowledge and seasoned experience by responding to a call to service.  Colleen has dedicated her professional life to working closely with those who share her passion for advancing philanthropy for the benefit of people in local communities as well as global society.

Colleen’s philanthropy advisory practice provides individual coaching and advice, as well as leadership in the operations and process of organizational effectiveness.  Colleen partners to create innovative giving and investing strategies to support donors and their families, their professional investment and legal advisers, foundation grant makers & membership associations, as well as social entrepreneurs.   As a respected career professional in global philanthropy, Colleen’s work has spanned nearly three decades throughout the public, private and non-profit/NGO sectors, comprised of experience with donor engagement and stewardship, family foundation and corporate grant making, brand marketing and sales leadership as well as fundraising.

Prior to establishing a philanthropy advisory practice, Colleen served as President of NorthShore University HealthSystem Foundation in Evanston, IL.  During the height of the recent global recession, Colleen, her staff team, Board, Physician Philanthropy Champions and volunteers raised more than $45M of private charitable support for clinical programs, research and the medically-underserved.

For nearly a decade at Whirlpool Corporation, Colleen served as President of Whirlpool Foundation.  Colleen transformed the corporate foundation, globally, and grew the fund balance by more than 200 percent while increasing grant making to support global manufacturing communities, aligned to customer values.  Colleen designed and implemented a global education program, Women: The New Providers, reflecting a North American and Western Europe, multi-country social research and public awareness initiative, published in eight countries and five languages.  The global studies generated more than one billion media impressions in their first year, valued at $36M, covered in respected media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and CNN, to name a few.

Colleen’s early professional career began on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. as a research associate for the bi-partisan Congressional Arts Caucus.  Additionally, she was Manager of Public Affairs for IMCERA Group Inc. in Northbrook, IL and was awarded The White Houses’ Presidential-Citation for Private Sector Initiatives for her teams, Community Partnership Program while serving as Executive Director of IMCERA Foundation.

Colleen’s experience as a marketing and sales executive stems from her responsibilities as Vice President of North American Marketing for the Denmark-based electronics firm GN Store Nord/Jabra.  Colleen has held several global P & L, marketing and sales executive roles with consumer electronics manufacturer Bose Corporation, as well as global brand management for KitchenAid appliances within Whirlpool Corporation.

Colleen has presented before numerous global institutions; including the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing, the Labour Committee of the European Union in Brussels, the U.S. Department of Labor Glass Ceiling Commission and the National Commission on Working Women, to name a few.

Colleen is currently a member of the Advisory Cabinet of the Council of Michigan Foundations, and an Associates Member of the Donors Forum of Illinois.  Colleen presently serves as a volunteer with the Berrien Community Foundation and Chair’s their Grants Committee for the newly-formed Harbor Country Endowment Fund.  Throughout her career, Colleen has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foundations in D.C., the Council of Michigan Foundations, Donors Forum of Illinois, a Founding Board member of the Regional Association of Grantmakers, the University of Michigan Center for Learning and the North Suburban Healthcare Foundation, IL.

Colleen Mitchell earned a B.A. from The Ohio State University, cum laude.

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