Rick Luftglass is a seasoned philanthropy professional who has worked in the private, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. He began his career in New York City cultural nonprofits, with a particular focus on jazz and immigrant cultures, received an MBA at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and spent 16 years at Pfizer, where he served as Executive Director of the Pfizer Foundation and Senior Director of Corporate Philanthropy and Community Engagement. Mr. Luftglass has served as a consultant for private foundations, including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and as a grants reviewer for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Choice Neighborhoods and the Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhoods initiatives, which were part of the Obama White House’s flagship neighborhood revitalization strategy.
Mr. Luftglass’ passion is in urban issues – appreciating the vitality, diversity and rich assets of cities and developing solutions for the problems that affect them. His areas of interest include health care, education, community and economic development, affordable housing, urban history, arts and immigrant communities. He is particularly attuned to collaborative strategies that address multiple issues, engage multiple sectors and foster comprehensive community change.
In addition to grantmaking, Mr. Luftglass has worked on public/private partnerships and engaged with community and elected representatives at the city, state and federal levels. He led the ramp-up of Pfizer’s Community Health Advocacy, a novel strategy to partner with community-based, multicultural and faith-based organizations to advance public policy issues of mutual interest, and worked on Pfizer’s neighborhood revitalization initiatives in Williamsburg/Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, which was home to the company for more than 150 years. Mr. Luftglass has served as a board member of Philanthropy New York and co-chair of its foundation CEO Roundtable, and has served on the Council on Foundations’ Corporate Advisory Committee and the Executive Committee of the Conference Board’s Contributions Council. He also serves as President of the board of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, a New York City nonprofit that works to sustain the cultural heritage of urban immigrant communities, and is chair of Economic Development for Brooklyn’s Community Board 6.
