Elizabeth Wilder, Executive Director

Grantmakers Forum of New York

Liz Wilder was appointed executive director of Rochester Grantmakers Forum in July 2001. In 2005, under Wilder’s direction, Rochester Grantmakers Forum united with the Funders Alliance of Upstate New York, a broad association of funders throughout the state, to establish the Grantmakers Forum of New York.

A regional association of grantmakers, the Grantmakers Forum unites and educates funders, their advisors, policymakers, and the nonprofit sector to strengthen and promote philanthropy for community benefit. Through the Grantmakers Forum, funders share and increase their knowledge, improve their practices, and address issues of local, statewide and national importance to philanthropy.

Previously, Wilder served for seven years as the chief administrator and donor services officer of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation in Worcester, Massachusetts where she worked with donors and volunteer committees to distribute $2 million in grants each year. 

Wilder was a senior marketing manager with Digital Equipment Corporation for 18 years. At Digital Equipment, she initiated research projects with university partners, created marketing partnerships with software and service companies, conducted market research, developed cost measurement tools for desktop computing, and established and managed an international geographic information systems marketing group.  

Among her diverse volunteer positions, Wilder has served on the board of the NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space , chaired a local Arts Council, and given music lessons at an elementary arts magnet school.

As an advocate for individuals with psychiatric disabilities, she served as president of the central Massachusetts advisory board to the state Dept. of Mental Health where she developed a board assessment tool and led a pilot process to establish statewide citizen monitoring for residential programs.

She currently serves on the Community Impact Division Cabinet of United Way of Greater Rochester, and the business development committee of Coordinated Care Services, Inc. Wilder is a member of the League of Women Voters, Rochester Women's Network, and board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals GEnesee Valley Chapter. A New York State native, Wilder was educated at Smith College and Boston University. She lives in Rochester with her husband Timothy.

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Annual Member Meeting and 20th Anniversary Celebration
September 9, 2008

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