Take-A-Lesson with Carol Thompson Cole - President/CEO VPP

Carol Thompson Cole is President and CEO of Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP), a philanthropic investment organization that helps great leaders build strong, high performing nonprofit institutions. Cole has over twenty years of management experience in the public and private sectors, as well as a strong history of leadership in the National Capital Region’s nonprofit community and local government. She served as Special Advisor to President Clinton on the District of Columbia and Executive Director of the DC Inter-Agency Task Force, Executive Office of the President, where she was "point person" to the President on the District.

Prior to serving in the Clinton administration, Cole was the Vice President for Government and Environmental Affairs at RJR Nabisco, where she developed a corporate-wide environmental program that ensured that all business activities were carried out in an environmentally responsible manner and in compliance with federal, state, and local standards.  She served as corporate spokesperson on environmental issues; and functioned as a Washington representative monitoring public policy issues. 

Cole has been recognized for her outstanding leadership and dedication to the regional nonprofit community. Honors and awards include 2010 Sophisticated Lady by Arena Stage; 10 People to Watch in 2009, by the Washington Business Journal; Most Powerful Women of 2009, by Washingtonian Magazine; Phenomenal Women of 2008, by the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.  She earned a BA from Smith College and a master’s in public administration with a concentration in urban public policy studies from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University. She also attended the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Please join us in welcoming Carol Thompson Cole to Take-A-Lesson!