leadership

LOWELL WEISS
President, Cascade Philanthropy Advisors, Inc. 

Lowell Weiss has spent more than three decades working to spark social change across a broad array of local, national, and global issues. At Cascade Philanthropy Advisors, he provides personalized guidance to donors seeking to deepen their impact and achieve greater purpose, meaning, and joy. He is a proud member of the Leap Ambassadors Community, a group of top nonprofit and philanthropic leaders committed to making high performance the norm in the social sector. 

Previously, he served in a leadership role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Among his many responsibilities, he served as staff director of the internal team responsible for providing Bill and Melinda Gates with insights on how to make highest and best use of Warren Buffett’s historic gift. Prior to the Gates Foundation, he served as director of the chairman’s office at the Morino Institute, dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk children in the National Capital Region. 

As Special Assistant to the President in the Clinton White House, Lowell traveled extensively with the President, wrote more than 150 speeches for him, and served as a key communications strategist. He previously wrote speeches for Vice President Al Gore; wrote a New York Times bestselling book with political consultant James Carville; and served as an editor at The Atlantic. He has published articles, in his own name or as a ghostwriter, in The New York Times, TIME, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The New Republic, U.S. News & World Report, Washington Monthly, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovation Review, El País, Grist, Mongabay, GatesNotes, and Elle. He graduated in 1990 from Amherst College with high honors. 

Lowell is an active volunteer. He serves as vice president of the Northwest School’s board of trustees; started a program that engaged more than 1,000 federal employees in tutoring public school students in DC; and led a successful citizen initiative to strengthen Washington State’s law on distracted driving.

Lowell and his wife, Kristin Thompson, live on Vashon Island, WA—a ferry ride from Seattle. They have three adult children. When Lowell is not working or volunteering, he can be found kayaking in Quartermaster Harbor, toiling in his little wood shop, playing funk on his bass guitar, or barbecuing just about anything on his Big Green Egg.