“Change requires more than money. It demands knowledge of what works and what does not. The most significant contributions of philanthropic foundations arise from a unique blend of innovation, insight, and public engagement. Timely knowledge is, in fact, the true ‘currency’ for creating social change. Foundations are well positioned to act as honest brokers of solutions, helping to advance new approaches and share them with the people and institutions that can benefit from them.”
Christine DeVita (President of The Wallace Foundation)
The story of The Wallace Foundation began in 1922, when DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace founded Reader’s Digest. The “little magazine” soon became a global phenomenon. Guided by a vision to bring knowledge into every household, Reader’s Digest was not merely a source of entertainment; it was a compact and accessible treasury of human understanding, published in over 20 languages and distributed in more than 70 countries, once holding the largest circulation of any magazine in the world. The success of this “little magazine” enabled the Wallaces to pursue an even greater aspiration: to expand access to knowledge and opportunity through the arts, education, and youth development. Following the death of the founders in the 1980s, the family’s charitable funds were unified—paving the way for the establishment of The Wallace Foundation in 2002.
Reader’s Digest Magazine
DeWitt và Lila Acheson Wallace
Reader’s Digest magazine
The mission of The Wallace Foundation is “to foster equitable and dynamic communities by promoting progress in the arts, education leadership, and youth development.”
Throughout nearly three decades of leadership, Christine DeVita demonstrated that the power to create change lies not in financial resources, but in knowledge that is distilled, validated, and shared to strengthen systems and advance the common good. In its early years, The Wallace Foundation supported hundreds of initiatives in education and the arts. Although these grants carried humanitarian value, the resulting projects were often fragmented, lacked depth, and did not generate sustained impact.
From those early setbacks, Christine DeVita came to a crucial realization: philanthropy cannot stop at funding—it must aim to create authentic and lasting effectiveness. Under her leadership, the Foundation underwent a sweeping transformation, shifting from dispersed giving to focused investment built on research, evaluation, and continuous learning. Over time, The Wallace Foundation emerged as a “social laboratory,” a place where ideas are tested, refined, and scaled, powered by the strength of knowledge.
In reality, many of the Wallace Foundation’s most valuable lessons were learned through failure. A prime example is their effort to reform education, when the foundation invested heavily in curriculum development, equipment, and extracurricular activities, hoping to raise learning outcomes in public schools. However, the results fell short of expectations. Student performance showed no significant improvement, and new initiatives quickly faded once funding ended. At that turning point, the Wallace team realized they had targeted the wrong “leverage point.” Improving education quality could not start with curriculum or facilities—it had to begin with school leadership. Principals needed support to become visionaries, capable of inspiring teachers and maintaining a positive school culture. Without capable, motivated leaders, reform efforts easily dissolve. Recognizing this, the Wallace Foundation changed strategy and launched the Leadership Academy Initiative. This program focused on building capacity for school principals and education managers. It did not simply offer intensive training in school management, but also helped them learn how to become transformational leaders—those who drive change rather than merely handle daily administration. The results were striking. Hundreds of struggling schools turned around. Principals’ leadership skills improved noticeably. Student achievement saw lasting gains. Drawing from this experience, the Wallace Foundation shaped a new philosophy of action: to change a system, start with knowledge and people.
Under DeVita’s leadership, the Wallace Foundation cultivated a unique learning culture: learning from one another to advance together. Each year, grantee organizations were invited to join learning forums, where they shared experiences, discussed strategies, exchanged ideas with experts, and learned from mistakes. DeVita believed that when knowledge is shared, its value multiplies, and this is the most sustainable investment in philanthropy.
Clearly, the Wallace Foundation is not just a funder—it is an “honest broker of social knowledge.” The foundation creates an environment to discover and nurture new ideas by connecting researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for direct dialogue. Every project has clear objectives, transparent data, and specific measurement systems to ensure knowledge is not just generated, but also applied and shared. In DeVita’s view, philanthropy is not just about giving, but an ongoing journey of knowledge creation, collaboration, and persistence. As she once said: “Every dollar loses value if it is not invested with knowledge. But the right idea, a timely lesson shared, is an invaluable asset that can drive change far beyond the limits of money.” The foundation is also committed to objective evaluation and critique. Every staff member is expected not only to excel professionally, but also to continually ask: “Will this investment truly make a difference?”
The story of Christine DeVita and the Wallace Foundation shows that philanthropy requires not only compassion but also intellect. When knowledge is placed at the heart of giving, every investment becomes a seed of change, every failure a lesson, and every action a step forward in the journey of unlocking human potential.
Source: A Passion for Giving: Tools and Inspiration for Creating a Charitable Foundation, 2012