Dr. Franklin was appointed in 2015 as the W.K. Kellogg Community Philanthropy Chair at the Johnson Center for. As holder of the nation’s first endowed chair focused on community philanthropy, he engages in research, teaching, consulting, and thought leadership to explore and advance the field, nationally and internationally. This includes work exploring (1) how we give better together through networks and vehicles for collective giving and (2) how we strengthen our giving practices to communities we care deeply about, both place-based and communities of identity. He is a leading voice in the field on issues of collective giving, social justice philanthropy, and broader trends in charity and social change and a regular commentator in the media on these topics in publications ranging from the New York Times, ABC News, and Wall Street Journal to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, NonProfit Times, Alliance Magazine and more. He is a highly-rated speaker and advisor, working with everyone from new donor collaboratives to ultra high net worth families.

Dr. Franklin also serves as a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society and a strategic advisor to the Peterffy Foundation and several individual donors. Prior to his appointment as the Kellogg Chair, he spent five years inspiring people to give big and take more risks with their philanthropy as the Executive Director of Bolder Giving, an organization credited by Melinda Gates as an inspiration for the billionaire Giving Pledge.

He received his PhD in Public Administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where he also held an appointment for ten years as an award-winning adjunct professor teaching about philanthropy and social change. He has been recognized as one of the top young leaders in philanthropy by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, New York Observer, Grand Rapids Business Journal, and Advocate Magazine.