Who We Are
When the Trust was organized in 1990 we decided to learn as much as we could about the growing problem of homelessness by focusing on our Connecticut cities and towns. Despite the explosion of private wealth in many sectors, it appeared then (and it still does) that too many individuals and families are without that most basic of necessities - a safe and decent place of their own they can call home. Believing that in a healthy society no one should be left behind, we set out to lend support to programs that would alleviate and reduce the damaging impact of homelessness on children, adults and our communities.
From its inception, the Trust has utilized the program service and administrative support of The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), first to do basic programming research and then to help shape its strategic planning and implementation. Under the direction of the Trust board, staff members manage a lively interactive funding process with grantees, researchers, funders and governmental agencies. Melville Trust board and staff are actively engaged in site visits, program evaluations, trouble shooting and technical assistance.
The Trust has been defined by the vision and wisdom of its board: the late Frank Melville and his wife Allen Melville, their son Steve, and their life-long friend and colleague, John R. Gibb. The Trust has also benefited from the enthusiasm and generosity of the late Ruth Berlin and the late Margaret M. Blackwell. Recently, the Trust has welcomed Ruth Melville and Ben Maiden to the board.
Board Members
John R. Gibb
Ben Maiden
Allen Melville
Stephen Melville, Chair
Ruth Melville
Staff and Consultants
Robert Hohler, Executive Director
Aimee Hendrigan, Senior Program Officer
Jason Born, Knowledge Director and National Coordinator, Partnership to End Long Term Homelessness
Alexis Breiteneicher, Campaign Manager
The Melville Charitable Trust
c/o The Philanthropic Initiative, Inc.
160 Federal Street, 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02110
Tel: (617) 338-2590
Fax: (617) 338-2591
mct@tpi.org
Robert Hohler
Executive Officer
Robert Hohler is the Executive Director of the Melville Charitable Trust. He is also a senior fellow at The Philanthropic Initiative, a consulting practice that provides organizational and strategic support to the Trust and many similar philanthropies in the US, Canada and Europe.
Prior to his work with the Trust, Robert headed a consulting company that specialized in building the capacity of nonprofits and increasing their effectiveness. As a specialist in strategic and organizational development, he has been engaged in a wide range of educational, charitable and social justice endeavors. In his career he has served as systems analyst for Harvard University, a director of alumni and development for The Putney School, the first communications director for the Unitarian Universalist Association and the first director of development for Oxfam America.
In his consulting practice he has advised and helped to build support for institutions as varied as the Harvard Medical School, the Institute for Global Ethics and the Nobel prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
He has also written and produced more than twenty film, television and radio programs including the documentaries Cambodia: Does It Have a Future? and El Salvador: No Place to Run.
For many years he served as board chair and president of the Civil Rights Project, Inc. (CRPI): the nonprofit affiliate of Henry Hampton’s Blackside, Inc., producers of the much honored television series Eyes On the Prize and many other distinguished documentaries. After Hampton’s death, he led a national effort that brought the massive Blackside/CRPI production archive to Washington University in St. Louis, where it is being made available to students, teachers and historians from around the world.
Aimee Hendrigan
Senior Program Officer
Aimee’s responsibilities include analysis and review of grant proposals, program and project monitoring, research on regional and national issues, and strategy development. She coordinates activities between and among the range of initiatives the Trust has underway with particular emphasis on neighborhood building.
Aimee has a Masters degree in City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley with a focus on community development. During graduate school she worked at the Fund for the City of New York and Berkeley’s Center for Independent Living. She was formerly a project manager at Santa Barbara County with responsibilities including: community and strategic planning, process improvement, and employee training. Before that Aimee was the Director of Communications at a software company. Aimee received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College.
Jason Born
Knowledge Director and National Coordinator, Partnership to End Long Term Homelessness
Jason manages the Melville Charitable Trust’s ongoing commitment to the Partnership to End Long Term Homelessness. In his role with the Partnership, Jason has spearheaded development of a new website showcasing best practices and strategies for fighting long-term homelessness (http://www.endlongtermhomelessness.org), and is currently working to develop a national network of funders dedicated to ending chronic homelessness in the U.S.
Jason previously served as senior program director at the National Center for Family Philanthropy, where he conceived and developed Family Philanthropy Online, an award-winning, subscription-based online learning center for family foundations, individual donors, and the organizations that serve them. Jason was founding editor of Family Giving News, the nation’s most widely read e-newsletter for family foundations, and of the National Center’s Passages issue paper series. Jason is the author and editor of more than 40 publications on family philanthropy and related topics. Prior to his work with the National Center, Jason was a program coordinator at the Council on Foundations.
Jason holds a Masters Degree in Economics from Tulane University, and a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
Alexis Breiteneicher
Campaign Manager Alexis provides program support for the Partnership to End Long Term Homelessness. She is currently working with Jason to raise the level of support among funders for ending homelessness. She previously worked as a consultant for AIDS Housing Washington, where she provided research support as the coordinator for the United Disability Housing Partnership, a cross disability coalition of housing and service providers. Alexis also has worked for AIDS Housing Corporation, the technical assistance provider for HIV/AIDS programs in New England where she co-authored the first needs assessment of HIV housing in Massachusetts. Previously she worked at the Housing Authority of Thurston County, Washington as a case mananger.
Alexis holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Evergreen State College.