Topic: Real History: Private-sector Solutions are Best for Tough Public Problems
Karl Zinsmeister oversees all publishing at The Philanthropy Roundtable in Washington, D.C. His most recent book, What Comes Next? How private givers can rescue America in an era of political frustration, offers a vision for constructive culture change, working around electoral gridlock. His 2016 creation, The Almanac of American Philanthropy, is the 1,342-page culmination of a multi-year effort to create the authoritative reference on America’s fascinating and culturally seminal tradition of solving public problems with private resources.
He also founded and advises the Roundtable’s program on philanthropy for veterans and service members. Karl has authored 12 books, including two different works of embedded reporting on the Iraq war, a book on charter schools, a storytelling cookbook, even a graphic novel published by Marvel Comics. He has also made a PBS feature film and written hundreds of articles for publications ranging from the Atlantic to The Wall Street Journal.
Earlier in his career he was a Senate aide to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the J. B. Fuqua Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and editor in chief for nearly 13 years of The American Enterprise magazine. From 2006 to 2009 Karl served in the West Wing as the president’s chief domestic policy adviser and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. He is a graduate of Yale University and also studied at Trinity College, Dublin.