Professional Affiliation

Managing Director, Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Finland

Expert Bio

Jannica Fagerholm is the Managing Director of Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation - a private charitable foundation that supports medicine and upholds an art museum. She has previously worked within banking, insurance and asset management, most recently as MD of SEB Gyllenberg Private Bank and member of SEB (Scandinaviska Enskilda Bankens) Global Private Banking Board.

Jannica Fagerholm serves on the boards of Sampo plc and Teleste plc, both listed on the OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange. In addition she holds board positions in non-listed companies. She is a member of the international Women Corporate Directors (WCD).

Jannica Fagerholm is also engaged in boards of nonprofit organizations, the most significant being deputy chair and chair of investment committee and of fundraising committee of Hanken – Swedish School of Economics in Finland and the Swedish Society of Literature, the biggest charitable institution in Finland.

She holds a MSc(Econ), major in finance, minor in economics.

Wilson Center Project

"Impact Evaluation Trends and Practices among Private Foundations in the U.S."

Project Summary

The aim of my project is to study how American grant making foundations work with issues related to ensuring and evaluating impact and establishing new ways of interacting with each other and with grant takers to increased impact.

Philanthropy plays a far more substantial role in society in the U.S. than it has done in many European (and especially Nordic) countries. But with the increased pressure on public finances in Europe, areas which have previously been funded by public means are now looking for private funding, where private foundations play an important role. Private funding from foundations increasingly works along public funding within areas of social services, education, research and culture. The increased involvement of private foundations in society will lead to more demand for good impact practices, transparency and evaluation standards among these foundations and their grantees. Within this field there are interesting trends and practices to be found among American private foundations and organizations working with or for them. The study also involves the rising trend of impact investing among foundations as a mean of achieving their targets.