Robert G. Ottenhoff

Robert G. Ottenhoff, a veteran in philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, and entrepreneurship, is the inaugural president and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. CDP seeks to transform how donors think about, respond and give to natural disasters, moving it from reactive response, to one focused on increasing the effectiveness of the private donor’s dollar for the good of affected communities worldwide. It offers information, analysis and reports about disasters in its free Learning Center, and provides tools, expert analysis and strategic guidance in order to maximize contributions to disaster relief. The Chronicle of Philanthropy recognized the launch of CDP as “one of the five high points of 2012.” Prior to joining CDP, Bob spent a decade as president and CEO of GuideStar, an industry leader in the use of providing high-quality data to help donors make better decisions and improve nonprofit practice. He led efforts to develop www.guidestar.org. into a nationally respected, comprehensive source of reports and services on more than 1.5 million nonprofits and built partnerships with many leading corporations and foundations. Before GuideStar, he had more than 25 years of management experience in public broadcasting and hightech companies, including nine years as chief operating officer of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), serving as executive director of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority and founding WBGO-FM, where he served as its inaugural General Manager. He started his media career as the executive producer for weekend tv and radio news programs at WOOD, an NBC affiliate. Bob holds a bachelor’s degree from Calvin College and a master's degree in planning from Rutgers University.