Recognized in the top 10 by Buffalo/Niagara’s Business First’s Power 200 Women in 2023, Alice Jacobs is known for her innovative approaches to philanthropy and her experience in leading strategic thinking for non-profit organizations. As an Innovation Philanthropist and Strategist. Alice formed the Innovation Philanthropy Initiative in 2019, to promote creative thinking in non-profits and to encourage individuals to frame philanthropy around innovation. By emphasizing diversity and risk taking, the Innovation Philanthropy Initiative works to create a platform for transformative social change.
The current Board President of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Alice led the seven-year historic transformation and campus expansion, encompassing a $230 million capital campaign, the largest such campaign for a cultural institution in the history of Western New York. She was the driving force of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility (IDEA) initiative, strategic planning, various fundraising events, and the establishment of a National Council.
Alice is a founding board member and Chair Emerita of the WNY Women’s Foundation. She led the transition of a fund to an independent Foundation and initiated the organization’s focus on women’s leadership, co-founding ALL IN WNY which aims to move the needle on gender equity in the workplace. Recently, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo turned to Alice, a board member, to lead their Strategic Planning process, seeking to maximize their impact on education, racial equity, the environment and arts and culture. She is honored to sit on the 5/14 Memorial Commission, creating a legacy for the victims and their families of the 2022 racist tragedy at the Jefferson Avenue Tops Market. In early 2023, when New York State Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes asked to partner with Alice in support of the new Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, Alice and the Majority Leader co-founded and co-chair the WNY Women Making History Committee, establishing an inclusive organizing model that the Smithsonian Institute is replicating across the nation. As well, Alice along with her family, supports a number of important organizations such as Say Yes Buffalo, The United Way, and FeedMore of WNY.
Alice has received the BBF Women of Influence Award, as well as numerous years on the BBF Power 250 lists and has been honored for her Leadership in the Arts by the NYS League of Women Voters. She received a BA from Colgate University and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania. She evolved her career to focus on community work, serving on numerous boards, and returning to school for an MS degree from SUNY Buffalo State in the field of Creativity and Change Leadership to inform her work. Originally from the New York City area, Alice has since made Western New York her home, residing in East Aurora, with her husband and dogs. The Jacobs have two children who have launched into the world to begin creating their own pathways to impact.