Doug Balfour
Although Doug Balfour has had many roles - husband, father, delivery driver, Avon lady, diamond exploration geologist in Namibia, London stockbroker, management consultant, missionary, relief worker and philanthropic consultant - he has consistently followed two main passions: change and collaboration to make organizations effective, and tilting back the scales of justice for the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable.
About Doug
Doug started an international career in South West Africa in 1980 doing diamond exploration in the Kalahari desert working for De Beers. He and his wife joined a Christian mission agency in 1989 with his wife, Anna. They worked with drug addicts in Amsterdam and street children in Bogota, Colombia. In 1991-2, they led a MedAir emergency relief program, following the civil war in Liberia, West Africa. Returning to the UK, Doug resumed his management consulting career for a few years before being appointed to head up Tearfund UK for 9 years, one of the United Kingdom’s largest international aid agencies. There he led a multinational staff of more than 650 people in the implementation of advocacy, relief and development programs through 300 partners in 70 countries.
In 2006, the family moved to the United States as Doug took up the head of Programs role in Geneva Global in Philadelphia. In 2008, he bought the Philanthropic Consultancy in a management buy-out and ran it until 2019, when it was sold to a DC based charity. Doug ran and built Geneva Global into a full-service 56 person, US based, social impact advisory, offering foundations, wealthy individuals and non-profits a broad philanthropic set of services. He is passionate about bringing creative solutions to address social problems and achieving big positive change in the world.
Through his writing and speaking engagements, Doug became a thought leader in the social sector, advocating for a systems-change approach to social issues and for the importance of co-creation between donors and grantees. He has been involved in the creation of many innovative donor collaborations for clients including the END Fund, the Freedom Fund, the Girls First Fund, and others, whilst championing topics such as maximizing social impact, measuring social change, creating sustainable transformation though grassroots organizations, and the positive blending of strategic philanthropy and impact investing.
In 2020, Doug retired from philanthropic consulting and now lives in northwest Florida. He and Anna are using their expertise and experience through pro bono mentoring and coaching of local charity CEOs.