Neil D. Steinberg, 25 Over Fifty-five

TIME WELL SPENT: Neil D. Steinberg has been the top executive at the Rhode Island Foundation since 2008, after stints in banking and higher education in Rhode Island.
 / PBN PHOTO/DAVE HANSEN
TIME WELL SPENT: Neil D. Steinberg has been the top executive at the Rhode Island Foundation since 2008, after stints in banking and higher education in Rhode Island.
 / PBN PHOTO/DAVE HANSEN

25 Over Fifty-Five 2019 Award Winner
NEIL D. STEINBERG | CEO and president, Rhode Island Foundation


NEIL D. STEINBERG SAYS he’s been fortunate in his career to work for three iconic Rhode Island institutions – Industrial National Bank (which became Fleet Bank), Brown University and now the Rhode Island Foundation, where he is CEO and president.

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“I’ve been here for 11 years,” Steinberg said. “It’s the best job I ever had, and I’ve never worked so hard.”

Steinberg, who earned a degree in applied mathematics at Brown University in 1975, said his progression from banking to Brown to the Rhode Island Foundation wasn’t planned.

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Steinberg took the job at Brown in 2004 at the request of then-Brown President Ruth Simmons. He was vice president of development and led a $1.4 billion fundraising campaign. He moved to the Rhode Island Foundation in 2008. His skills at fundraising and managing large institutions made him a good fit.

He said certain management principles have remained the same: “Value people, respect people, listen to people. Take some risks. And be willing to step up and lead.”

And the experience he’s accumulated over his career is a valuable asset.

“You learn from what you did wrong and what you did right,” he said. “I can leverage that experience. It gives you a little more confidence moving forward.”

The Rhode Island Foundation has an endowment of about $1 billion, which the nonprofit has invested. Grants are funded with investment earnings from the endowment.

In 2018, the foundation distributed about $52 million in grants to local causes. For Steinberg, giving a financial boost to organizations and individuals is the best part of his job.

“Every day I am inspired by generous people giving back to their communities, and by nonprofits doing great work,” Steinberg said. He quickly added his colleagues at the foundation, which has 47 employees, to that list.

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