(n.) a force or influence that advances progress toward an improved condition
Providing forward momentum.
Tailwinds Charitable Foundation is driven by duo Kate and Ross Dworman.
Ross, with his extensive financial expertise, brings a data-driven approach to philanthropy, ensuring impactful investments.
Kate, passionate about on-the-ground efforts, fosters meaningful partnerships with nonprofits, understanding their challenges firsthand.
Together, their unique blend of financial acumen and heartfelt commitment fuels Tailwinds’ mission to empower underserved youth.
Tailwinds Charitable Foundation goes beyond a grantor/grantee agreement. We understand the holistic needs of nonprofits, offering flexible funding that prioritizes not just program costs but also development, fundraising, and staffing. This innovative approach empowers our partners to build sustainable futures, not just deliver specific programs. We believe investing in our partners’ internal capacity translates to long-term impact for the children served.
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Kate Dworman pursues opportunities with nonprofits to create immediate and sustainable solutions for children facing poverty, homelessness, hunger, and the instability often found in the foster care system. Holding a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Management, Katie works alongside nonprofits to improve internal operations, streamline projects and programming, and brainstorm creative solutions to help achieve the organization’s mission. Her background in stringent due diligence, financial analysis, lobbying, institutional fundraising, and specific expertise in strategic and succession planning has ushered Tailwinds Charitable Foundation into a new chapter of strategic giving. Katie believes that through a focus on partnerships with nonprofits rather than a hierarchical grantor/grantee relationship, a more collaborative spirit can exist providing positive momentum for growth and impact.
An addition to child welfare, Katie is committed to protecting the planet through wildlife and wildland conservation. She is a fervent advocate for biodiversity preservation and keystone species health, specifically focused on the protection of gray wolves in the Northern Rocky mountain states of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Katie frequently travels to support nonprofits operating in these states and devotes a tremendous amount of personal energy to this cause; adamant about hands-on help in the field whenever the opportunity arises. Most recently, Kate has devoted time to educating government officials, public figures, and the private sector on wildlife coexistence methods. She has partnered with nonprofits committed to research seeking out successful and innovative solutions for ranchers who share the land with apex predators, like the wolf. Closer to home, Kate volunteers her time with the local land conservancy, caring for the native habitat and assisting with wildlife tracking and survey research as well as community outreach.
KATE DWORMAN
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Ross Dworman is a Los Angeles-based investor and manages his family office. He invests in both liquid and illiquid assets, including stocks, bonds, commercial real estate and private equity, through various corporate entities and family trusts. Combined, these entities control a diversified portfolio of alternative assets and liquid investments.
After graduating from University of Pennsylvania, he worked on Wall Street with Salomon Inc. and Odyssey Partners before forming RD Capital, which ultimately acquired, managed, and redeveloped real estate throughout the Eastern United States. Under Mr. Dworman’s leadership, RD Capital went on to become Acadia Realty Trust, a NYSE company which today has a $3 billion market capitalization. In addition to Acadia Realty Trust, Mr. Dworman also formed several companies over the past two decades that invested in approximately $2 billion of assets.
With a long-held interest in philanthropy, Mr. Dworman was a Trustee of the Jackson Laboratory from 2007-2012 and the Vice Chair of its Finance Committee. Today, Mr. Dworman is also a Director of Tailwinds Charitable Foundation and Progress Charitable Foundation, two family organizations that provide millions of dollars in support of underprivileged children, medical research, and conservation efforts.
In his free time, Mr. Dworman enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, flying his Cessna Citation Jet, and keeping physically active as a former tennis champion and triathlete.
ROSS DWORMAN
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Ira Wolff received his B.A. from Yale University and J.D. from New York University School of Law. After a career in law and business, he entered the field of philanthropy in 2008, helping family foundations to develop and implement their strategic objectives.
IRA WOLFF
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Laura Smith Roethe holds degrees in German and Vocal Performance from Chapman University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Her involvement with the nonprofit world dates back to 2012, when she worked with the country’s largest private adoption agency counseling birth and adoptive parents. In 2017 she began working with Tailwinds Charitable Foundation, a private family foundation supporting nonprofits that work closely with children in underserved communities; she now serves on its board and as its secretary. Laura‘s background working with populations of women and children in need has led her to advocate for aid to unhoused populations and families and children who lack support from a largely-nonexistent social safety net. She believes strongly that every individual deserves respect and acknowledgement of their humanity, regardless of situation and background. When not working with Tailwinds, Laura’s passions lie in the classical music world and she can be found singing in the US and Europe’s finest concert halls and lending her voice to film soundtracks of Hollywood blockbuster films.