Anita Nager

Biographical Information
"Anita Nager was the last Executive Director of the Beldon Fund, an intentional spend-out foundation, dedicated to building and sustaining a national consensus to achieve and sustain a healthy planet, and served for seven years as its Director of Programs. The Beldon Fund, founded and chaired by John Hunting, a Steelcase heir, invested its entire principal and earnings over a ten-year period. Anita guided the final spend out, communication of lessons learned, and the conclusion of operations.  When the Beldon Fund closed its doors in May 2009, it had allocated more than $120 million in grants and foundation directed projects.

"Prior to Beldon, Anita was a Senior Program Officer for Community Development and the Environment at The New York Community Trust where she designed a grantmaking strategy for a $100 million fund focused on national environmental issues.

"A former Board Chair of the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, Anita also is a past board member of the Neighborhood Funders Group and the Environmental Grantmakers Association. She was a founding board member of Cause Effective, which provides management and resource development assistance to nonprofit organizations, and a founder of the AIDS and Adolescents Network of New York.

"Anita is a trustee of the Hudson River Foundation and chairs the Advisory Board of its New York City Environment Fund, providing environmental stewardship grants to grassroots organizations. She is a founder and current co-chair of the Health and Environment Funders Network, and serves as a trustee of the Jenifer Altman Foundation.

"Anita was recognized by the Breast Cancer Fund at their 2008 Heroes Tribute for her “philanthropic leadership and nurturance of the environmental health movement” and by West Harlem Environmental Action in 2009 with its We Act for Environmental Justice 30th Anniversary Award. "