Christine Grumm

Christine Grumm was president and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network (WFN), a global coalition of over 100 women's and girls' funds. WFN members support programs benefiting women and girls through local, national and international grants. WFN advances this movement by supporting these funds through innovative programs and capacity-building expertise.

Grumm is credited with spearheading an ambitious expansion plan in which WFN has begun targeting a development goal of $450 million in assets by 2008. Under Grumm’s leadership, WFN’s membership organizations and assets have blossomed from 70 member groups in 2000 and $150 million in assets to over 100 member groups and $230 million in assets today.

Prior to joining WFN, Grumm served as executive director of the Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW). Under her leadership, CFW increased its grant-making to $1 million annually and completed an endowment campaign surpassing its $5 million goal with a final pledge total of $8 million.

Grumm’s wealth of experience also includes tenure as deputy secretary of the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Switzerland, representing over 55 million Lutherans worldwide and providing emergency humanitarian and long-term development aid, as well as facilitating program planning with the World Council of Churches. Grumm was also executive director of Education Program Associates, a nonprofit public health, education and training organization in Campbell, CA, founded to meet the needs of women, children and families.

Grumm holds a bachelor’s degree in health education and community organizing, as well as a master’s in women’s studies, from Antioch University. She has also received honorary doctorates from California Lutheran University and Lenoir-Rhyne College. She served as an official delegate to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing, in 1995 as an outspoken advocate for women’s reproductive health and is a highly sought after speaker and interview subject on women’s issues, philanthropy and the role of faith-based programs in social change.