Writing checks is the easy part of philanthropy. The harder challenge is producing measurable improvement in people’s lives. 

Our mission, laid out a century ago by James B. Duke, is to improve life for the people and communities of the Carolinas through grantmaking. Given the many challenges across our two states, from low college graduation rates to high prevalence of preventable illness, the work before us requires far more than generosity and good intentions. 

It requires strategic vision, strong collaboration and humility to accept that we don’t have all the answers to the many complex problems we face. It takes an understanding that researching, experimenting and sometimes failing are part of the pursuit of excellence. 

Before we make grants, we set our goals and devise strategies to reach them. We seek out programs and initiatives with strong empirical evidence of effectiveness. We make site visits to get a first-hand look at a project’s potential challenges and possible benefits to the community. 

We apply best practices such as those demonstrated by implementation science to make sure programs are put in motion properly. We seek and gather evidence demonstrating whether the project works, and we adjust as needed, driven to continuously learn and improve in collaboration with our grantees and partners. 

The only way you get better at something is if you take the time to assess whether your actions are having the desired effects. And if not, why not? In that sense, even potential failures can offer valuable lessons learned.

Decades ago, I oversaw a grant that supported a five-year, $7 million initiative to reduce shaken baby syndrome in North Carolina. Despite extensive research and planning, as well as strong program implementation and state government support, the effort failed to reduce rates of abusive head trauma in babies. 

A postmortem later pointed out a flaw in how we were evaluating the program’s potential effects on abusive head trauma rates. Researchers also pointed out that the intervention focused on mothers, when men are more likely to be perpetrators. And thirdly, we learned we had overrelied on previous research that didn’t quite gauge the same outcomes we were seeking. 

Producing measurable improvement is hard. But that is what our pursuit of excellence is all about. 

In our 2025 Annual Report, you will read about grantees with whom we share that pursuit. I can speak for everyone at the Endowment when I say how inspired I am by their relentless pursuit of better outcomes.

In my three decades with the Endowment, few aspects of our work have brought me greater joy than traveling to every part of the Carolinas, from the mountains to the coast, to see up close the work of dedicated grantees. 

I recall once in my travels I found myself lost in the N.C. mountains, trying to visit a grantee in a remote rural community, long before GPS devices were common. The paved road turned into a dirt road. Twenty-five miles later I thought for sure I was hopelessly lost, and that the trip was in vain. 

But I eventually found my way. Paths to progress can often be like that — long roads, sometimes rough and bumpy. We wonder if we’re headed in the wrong direction. 

But if we’re determined enough, we reach our destination. We make the connections. And we have a chance to make a real difference in people’s lives.