Jonah Wittkamper

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Jonah Wittkamper is a biologist, [1] technologist, startup founder [2] and social entrepreneur. He is the Co-Founder and President of the NEXUS, a movement to help wealthy families engage in charity and impact investing. [3] In 2020, he founded the Amazon Investor Coalition to advance forest friendly economic development and the rule of law. [4] [5] [6] In addition, in 2017, he created the Healthy Democracy Coalition, a network of philanthropists dedicated to bridging political divides.

Contents

Wittkamper works to unite young social and philanthropic leaders to influence the public sector, including the United Nations, [7] [8] [9] [10] the White House [11] [12] and the United States Congress. [13] [14] [15] Earlier in his career, he co-founded the Global Youth Action Network, a global association of youth organizations that merged with TakingITGlobal and grew to become one of the largest communities of young social change leaders on the internet. [16] In 2007, he joined Distributive Networks and helped to build the text messaging technology of the 2008 Obama campaign [17] and in 2015 he served as an advisor to the Council on Foundations' Evolution of Philanthropy Initiative. [18] He has worked as the United States Director of Search for Common Ground [19] and is the founder and owner of EZinTouch.com, a contact management platform. He is an alumnus of Williams College, Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn) and Camp Rising Sun.

Prior to NEXUS

Before co-founding NEXUS, Wittkamper served in various roles that focused on impacting and inspiring youth leaders across the world. Beginning in 2000, Wittkamper co-founded the Global Youth Action Network (GYAN). [20] Through the help of Wittkamper, GYAN reinforced the participation of youth in global decision-making. Wittkamper served as the Chief Technology Officer and opened the South American Regional Office, which he ran until 2006. [21] Soon, GYAN merged with TakingITGlobal, as mentioned previously. TakingITGlobal quickly became the largest Internet site dedicated to the empowerment of young leaders, receiving almost 2 million hits every day.

Family

Jonah Wittkamper is the grandson of Will Wittkamper, a former steward of Koinonia Farm. This is the inter-racial Christian intentional community in Americus, Georgia, that inspired the creation of Habitat for Humanity. [22] The Wittkamper family is profiled in the book Class of 65. [23] Wittkamper is also a grand-nephew of George S. Vest, former Director General of the US Foreign Service.

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The Healthy Democracy Coalition is an American national non-profit organization dedicated to cross-partisan philanthropic learning and collaboration. Founded by Jonah Wittkamper, the Coalition manages a network of philanthropists, convenes events, and develops strategies for collective action. Catalyzed years earlier, the group formally launched in 2017 with support from the Hewlett Foundation and the Fetzer Institute. The organization has local chapters in dozens of cities across the country. The group was developed over years of coalition building through events at the White House and the United States Congress that were facilitated by NEXUS in collaboration with a Council of Advisors from across the political spectrum, representing several of the most influential partisan donor networks in the country. In 2020, the organization redirected its membership to join forces with the Leadership Now Project to invest in the integrity of US democracy.

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References

  1. ↑ "Root herbivory: in vitro Interactions between roots and aphids grown in aseptic coculture". In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Helping to Launch Those who Launch Companies". Newsday. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Millennial Investors Unite". Private Wealth Magazine. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Saving the Amazon One Investment Strategy at a Time". Initiative 20x20. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "Amazon Investor Coalition is investing in forest-friendly economic development across Latin America". LatamList. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Investing in Amazon Rainforest Conservation". Mongabay. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "UN Galvanizes Philanthropy". Vanity Fair. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Millennials Transform Charitable Giving Into Philanthropic Action". The Huffington Post. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "Young Philanthropists And Social Entrepreneurs From 70 Countries Mobilize At The U.N. To Solve Global Challenges". Forbes.com. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "Nexus: Minds and Money Meet, Pushing the World Forward". The Huffington Post. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Jamie (18 April 2014). "Including the young and rich - White House hosts 'Next Generation'". New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  12. ↑ "At Nexus, a Peek Into the Minds of Young, Wealthy Donors". Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Killian, Linda (10 December 2014). "Engaging Disaffected Millennials". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  14. ↑ Killian, Linda (26 December 2014). "When Will We See A Millennial Congress?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  15. ↑ "Millennials Bring a Bipartisan Message to Congress". Non-Profit Quarterly. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  16. ↑ Tapscott, Don and Williams, Anothy D. (2006). Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, p. 50. Penguin Books Ltd., London. ISBN   1-59184-138-0.
  17. ↑ "Startups get a lift from election '08". Fortune. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Evolution of American Philanthropy". Council on Foundations. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  19. ↑ "Nexus Summit Inspires Next Generation of Billionaires to Give Back". Forbes.com.
  20. ↑ "Team". NEXUS. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  21. ↑ "Team". NEXUS. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  22. ↑ "Growing Up at Koinonia". Christianitytoday.com. Christianity Today.
  23. ↑ "How a white student stood by his black classmates during the Civil Rights era". Washington Post.
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