Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D.
We are excited to announce that this year’s Commencement Keynote Speaker is Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and President of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. He is an internationally recognized leader in philanthropy, an influential author and an inspiring and thought-provoking speaker; he has published more than 75 works on philanthropy and social justice. Dr. Carson is uniquely qualified to address our students and their families and community at large because he understands the importance of an education and the importance of a mission driven university like NHU. He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia, a four-year private and very prestigious Historically Black College founded in 1867. Morehouse has had a long and rich tradition of producing American leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King and other notable African Americans. We are honored to have Dr. Carson address NHU’s class of 2009. Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized leader in philanthropy. An influential author and an inspiring and thought-provoking speaker, he has published more than 75 works on philanthropy and social justice.

Emmett serves as the first CEO and president of the new Silicon Valley Community Foundation which resulted from the historic merger of Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Peninsula Community Foundation. With $1.5 billion in total assets, the community foundation is one of the largest in the nation and is dedicated to advancing civic engagement to address the most challenging problems in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Prior to his appointment, Emmett served for 12 years as president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation, where he pioneered community initiatives to address the region’s most challenging social issues, and increased assets from $186 million to over $600 million. Previously, Emmett served as the first manager of the Ford Foundation’s worldwide grantmaking program on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. His seminal research at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies on Black giving helped to establish ethnic philanthropy studies.

Emmett serves on several nonprofit boards including the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, Northern California Grantmakers and Southern Education Foundation. He is a past chair of the Council on Foundations and has received numerous nonprofit leadership awards, including recognition by The Nonprofit Times as one of the 50 most influential nonprofit leaders in the United States, and honorary doctorates from Indiana University and Morehouse College.

Emmett received his Ph.D. and a master’s in public administration in public and international affairs from Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree in economics, Phi Beta Kappa, from Morehouse College. He is married to Jacqueline Copeland-Carson, Ph.D. and they are the proud parents of Yetunde, who is a college student.