Inaugural Fellow Joins TPF Team

We are delighted to welcome Hannah Saeger Karnei as The Patterson Foundation's first fellow on May 31. It was just over a year ago that TPF explored developing a Fellows Initiative to enhance our commitment to learning and sharing. We studied other programs and approaches, and as always, looked for collaborators.

We worked with Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to design a program that aligned with their interest in strengthening foundation pathways for their graduates and TPF’s goal to share innovative philanthropic principles and learn from these emerging professionals. The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy is the first school dedicated solely to the study and teaching of philanthropy. Since its inception, it has demonstrated a commitment to training and empowering students and practitioners to innovate and lead to create positive and lasting change in the world. This includes its growing master’s program offering students a mix of theory and practice.

We decided to recruit M.A. in Philanthropic Studies graduates as our fellows. We especially valued the liberal arts underpinning and the two-year field work each graduate completes during their studies. Candidates were recruited in the fall and selected early spring.

Hannah shared her decision to spend the next year with TPF: “The Patterson Foundation doesn’t operate in a traditional private foundation sense, and that’s very exciting to me. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for innovation in the philanthropic sector, and I look forward to seeing firsthand how it’s working in Sarasota.”

During her tenure, Hannah will work across TPF initiatives making significant contributions to them. For example, week one she’ll be embedded with the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading summer learning centers. The following week, she’ll do a deep dive with the Margin & Mission Ignition Lab where nonprofits work on developing new revenue sources. You’ll be hearing about her experiences through regular blogs.

Hannah grew up in the Washington D.C. area and graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Human Development. She worked for several software companies with communications and marketing assignments before heading to Indianapolis for the master's program.

Like all TPF endeavors, the Fellows Initiative will evolve. Hannah fully expects to be part of that evolutionary process, she explains: “It’s an honor to be the inaugural fellow and begin to solidify the partnership between The Patterson Foundation and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy so that future cohorts can have the same fantastic development opportunity.“

We welcome Hannah and her husband, Kyle. They’ll be living in the vibrant Rosemary District for a downtown experience. It’ll be a treat to share the areas’ treasures with them.