roger and vicki sant CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT, RESPECTIVELY, THE SUMMIT FOUNDATION WHEN DID YOU START YOUR PHILANTHROPIC ODYSSEY? Roger Sant: Back around 1990 we realized that our start-up company [AES Corporation] might do pretty well, so we established a fund at the Community Foundation and later a family foundation [the Summit Foundation] which has now become our principal foundation.. HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO SUPPORT? Vicki Sant: If we both don’t agree on something we don’t do it — and that even includes the art that we’ve purchased over the years. I especially like to support causes relating to women and girls and Roger is interested in the environment and climate change issues. WHAT ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN LATELY? Roger Sant: I recently chaired the search committee that chose Gianandrea Noseda as the new music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and am now chairing a committee tasked with bringing the NSO to the top level of orchestras around the world. I am also doing what I can to have a carbon tax enacted globally.Vicki has taken a very special interest in helping develop a girls school in Kenya established by Kakenya Ntaiya. HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CONTINUE YOUR PHILANTHROPY? Roger Sant: We have been so impressed with our children (Shari, Michael, Lex and Ali) that we decided not to give away all of our funds during our lifetimes and let them carry on our foundation. Besides our traditional work on coral reefs and empowerment of girls, they and their spouses are leading our efforts to radically change the sustainability of U.S. cities. Also, our son Lex is spearheading our impact investing, which is a fascinating journey. WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU BOTH? Vicki Sant: We both feel we have a lot of work to do, so we will continue to actively work in the fields of girls and women and the environment and climate change through our foundation and as board members of other NGO’s like Vital Voices, the Brookings Institution, the World Wildlife Fund, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the D.C. College Access Program and the World Resources Institute. We will also continue to support the National Gallery of Art, the National Symphony, the Phillips Collection, the Anacostia Waterfront Trust and the National Geographic among others. 36 www.summitfdn.org
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