Who I Am
Bringing the right people, strategy, and resources together to move complex ideas from possibility to execution.
I'm Charles McDonald, a partnerships and strategy executive with nearly two decades of experience across philanthropy, education, and social impact. I help leaders move from vision to execution, building the partnerships, strategy, and systems that turn ambitious ideas into measurable results.
Over nearly twenty years I've advised presidents, CEOs, and foundation executives, built and led a national firm, and helped guide more than $100M in philanthropic investment. On the technical side I'm a practitioner, not a salesperson translating a pitch: I've built 20+ AI-enabled tools, and I build and fine-tune models and design evaluation systems, so I can engage strategy and engineering audiences on substance.
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Philanthropic Investment Guided
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Unrestricted Funding Increase
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Years Across Philanthropy & Social Impact
Envision possibilities. Design solutions. Actualize impact.
EDA is an approach to problem solving that combines behavioral science research, nearly 20 years of leadership in the social impact sector, and the technology to act on it.
Executive Advisory & Coaching
I advise presidents, CEOs, boards, and foundation executives on strategy, partnerships, philanthropy, and implementation, applying the EDA® methodology to move from vision to execution. Engagements run from half-day sessions to multi-month partnerships.
Technology & Applied AI
Diligence, evaluation, and decision-support systems for the people making the calls. I build and fine-tune models and design evaluation and governance systems, so the tools engage strategy and technical teams on substance, not a pitch. 20+ built for foundations, nonprofits, and research teams.
Tools for Changemakers
Stakeholder, decision-support, and donor-intelligence tools built for the people who run social impact work.