Reimagining Wealth with Roots in Trust and Regeneration
Table of contents
Kate Symondson
This story is part of the Architects of Impact series, highlighting stories of innovation that demonstrate how our Community is mobilizing to ensure a world that works for all people and the planet.
For Kate Symondson, philanthropy begins with relationships, like how we show up for family, for land, for community. As the head of philanthropy of her family’s U.K.-based foundation and a board member at Forward Global, Kate is part of a new generation of philanthropic leaders reshaping not only how money moves but also how trust, accountability, and care are built into that movement.
From Discomfort to Intention
Rather than starting her philanthropic journey with a master plan, she leaned into the sense of discomfort and urgency that she felt. During the COVID pandemic, Kate and her family realized that using a Donor Advised Fund on an as-needed basis felt too passive given the critical moment. “It felt irresponsible not to use our money more intentionally,” she says. That insight led to the formation of their family foundation, which today blends familial and non-familial governance, investment, and values-aligned giving.
Those early days were bumpy. “When we first started using language like ‘trust-based philanthropy,’ my family was concerned that that approach came at the cost of rigor. It felt too vague, like we were giving away money to just anyone,” she says. What shifted the dynamic was centering human relationships.
Trust as a Working Practice
Kate and the foundation committee leaned into the idea of relational giving, or a more human, present, and narrative-rich approach to philanthropy. That meant funding impact but supporting grantees at catalytic moments while sitting with the risk that comes with uncertainty, moving beyond neat metrics, and championing stories that don’t always fit into a logic model.
This shift transformed the foundation’s approach and reshaped its structure. Kate brought in both family members and professionals from the investment side of the family office into the foundation’s governance. The result was a more integrated, more accountable practice where philanthropic decisions were in honest conversation. “Having someone from the investment side at the table added rigor and mutual respect. It wasn’t about compromise. It was about coherence,” she says.
That coherence across values, sectors, and identities is what drew Kate to Forward Global, where she now serves on the board. “I was looking for a community that speaks my language,” she says. “People who see philanthropy not just as a function but as a culture of accountability, creativity, and care.” Forward Global offered her the kind of peer connection she had been trying to build inside her own family’s practice: a space where trust is a strategy, not just a sentiment.
Stewardship, on the Land and Beyond
Increasingly, Kate’s work and life converge not in boardrooms but in the fields of England. She supports her partner, who is establishing a regenerative farm in the countryside. They raise rare-breed sheep and cattle, sell locally and directly to customers, and participate in biodiversity restoration schemes. It’s an extension of how she sees stewardship.
“We want to farm in a way that puts more back into the land than we take out. It’s a slower, more thoughtful kind of care, one that mirrors how I approach philanthropy,” she says. Being present and bearing witness is part of how she understands impact.
This commitment to presence is what Kate wants to share more widely, especially across the U.K. and Europe. “British philanthropists often feel like outliers. It can be lonely, and it can feel risky to do things differently,” she says. Her goal is to help change that by building constellations of support, not just stars.
Kate sees Forward Global as a fertile ground where values are the seeds for impact. The Community brings together people who care deeply about systems change and understand the power of relationships. She’s now focused on expanding that spirit within Europe, helping others find the confidence and community to take bolder, more meaningful steps in their giving.
Kate’s work is rooted in long-term thinking, in letting stories drive strategy, and in building community that feels safe and nourishing. Whether she’s investing in a farm, rethinking philanthropic governance, or helping a grantee navigate a complex moment, she moves with the same quiet principle: know the people and know the place, and then build from there.
Embed: [Listen to this interview with Kate on Philanthropisms]
