The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy has named Rusty Stahl, M.A. ’00, as the recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award. Stahl is Founder, President, and CEO of Fund the People, an organization launched in 2014 with support from The Kresge Foundation to bring about widespread adoption of talent investing by influential funders and nonprofits.
This prestigious honor recognizes how Stahl’s foundational experiences at the school shaped his innovative approach to nonprofit leadership. Reflecting on his journey, Stahl credits the program for expanding his professional horizons.
“My time studying in the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship and the M.A. program exposed me to an expanse of ideas that were previously closed to me,” said Stahl. “It connected me to an amazing set of scholars, staff, students, and colleagues across the nonprofit sector. All of that has enabled me to do creative work on issues of great meaning to me, and great ramifications to the field.”
Since completing his degree, Stahl has dedicated himself to reforming how nonprofit employees are treated by funders and employers alike. Driven by a decade of cascading crises that have placed pressure on nonprofit workers, he sought to address the burnout and compensation gaps in the field. To move beyond mere recognition of these challenges and bridge this gap, Stahl introduced Staff Operating Support (S.O.S), a new grant concept designed to help grant makers directly address workforce challenges.
Stahl’s commitment to social change is rooted in his childhood, shaped by a family deeply involved in advocacy, nonprofits, and volunteering. His education further expanded this perspective at William Bodine High School, a magnet school partnered with the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Through this collaboration, he attended speeches by world leaders like Colin Powell and Mikhail Gorbachev and participated in a transformative global issues training alongside students from across the country.
While attending George Washington University for his undergraduate degree he served as an AmeriCorps "Learn and Serve" member, serving senior citizens and recruiting other students to do the same. He established the Community Circle, a regular information-sharing gathering of community service chairs from all the student organizations on campus. And he also helped host the Campus Outreach Opportunity League's student service conference at his school.
“Yet despite all this exposure and involvement, I felt clueless about how to turn my few years of campus service into a career of service. I desperately wanted to understand how this field worked and where I might fit,” said Stahl. “It was especially hard as a generalist because I would not enter the field through a traditional issue- or place-based approach. I was frustrated by the absolute black hole of information regarding nonprofit and social change careers available at the campus career center, career fairs, from my advisors, and in academic coursework.”
In his senior year, instead of doing a traditional job search, he sought out post-college opportunities to gain understanding and guidance about the nonprofit world. That’s when he found and applied for the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship at IU. “My fellowship and master's degree in Philanthropic Studies taught me things about philanthropy that most foundation and nonprofit professionals I meet don't know,” said Stahl.
Reflecting on the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award, Stahl shared: “I feel shocked, embarrassed, giddy, and just deeply honored to be receiving this award. There are so many extraordinary and highly accomplished IU Philanthropy alums out there! It signifies that I was lucky to find my way to Indiana University's Philanthropic Studies program right out of college,”
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes significant achievement in the fields of philanthropic research, practice and academic study.
About the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy is dedicated to improving philanthropy and the world by training and empowering students and professionals to be innovators and leaders who create positive and lasting change. The school offers a comprehensive approach to philanthropy through its undergraduate, graduate, Ph.D., PhilD, certificate and professional development programs, its research and international programs, and through The Fund Raising School, Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy, Women’s Philanthropy Institute, and the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Facebook.