Christine M. Morse is Board Chair of Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP), which is composed of two grantmaking organizations: Margaret A. Cargill Foundation and Anne Ray Foundation. Christy has been Board Chair since 2006, and she served as the Philanthropies first Chief Executive Officer until announcing her retirement from the CEO role in 2017.
The Philanthropies carry on Ms. Cargill’s legacy by supporting areas she cared passionately about, with grantmaking across seven domains: Environment, Disaster Relief & Recovery, Arts & Cultures, Animal Welfare, Quality of Life, Teachers, and Legacy & Opportunity. The two entities have combined assets of approximately $6.7 billion, and in 2016 awarded nearly 220 grants totaling $240 million. In December 2015, the Philanthropies achieved a milestone when it marked $1 billion in cumulative grantmaking across the organization’s 20-year history.
Christy was a close friend of Ms. Cargill’s for 15 years. She was instrumental in helping Ms. Cargill realize her personal, financial, and charitable goals. At the Philanthropies, Christy leads each board in developing organization strategies, evaluating funding priorities, and assessing program effectiveness. A hallmark of Christy’s leadership is building highly collaborative relationships internally and with partners and grantees.
Christy’s 30 years of management and financial experience includes more than 15 years as a vice president and controller at Waycrosse Inc., a financial advisory firm for family owners of Cargill Inc. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Gustavus Adolphus College, where she has served on the Business Advisory Council and the Board of Trustees, and in 2016, the College honored Christy with its Distinguished Alumni Citation.