Philanthropy is often thought of in grand terms: think the universities, libraries, and performing arts centers bearing names like Carnegie and Rockefeller, for example. 

But anyone — even a college student or recent graduate — can be a philanthropist, says Bryant University trustee and newly appointed Rhode Island Foundation board chair Ann-Marie Harrington ’86. 

“Philanthropy is literally ‘the love of humanity,’” says Harrington, referencing the Greek playwright Aeschylus, who coined the term in the 5th century B.C. “You don't have to be super wealthy to be a philanthropist and give back to your community.” 

And as Harrington has shown in the nearly four decades since she passed under Bryant’s Archway, charity and personal success often go hand-in-hand. 

“If you look at some of our most successful Bryant grads, they are all giving back to their community in some way,” she says. “They’re serving on a board, they're volunteering, they're sharing their wealth and contributing financially.” 

In December 2024, Harrington was elected to a three-year term as board chair of the Rhode Island Foundation, a community foundation with $1.5 billion in assets and more than $80 million in annual grantmaking. 

“I've always been absolutely fascinated by philanthropy, but community foundations have always been endearing to me because they are funded by the community,” she says. “It's not a family foundation. It's not a corporate foundation. The first $10,000 contribution that someone gave in 1916, that principal is still with us, which is cool.” 

A native Rhode Islander, Harrington grew up in Providence and North Kingstown, leveraging her competitive nature and hard work into an athletic scholarship at Bryant after playing varsity volleyball and basketball in high school.  

Harrington earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bryant and a master’s degree in social work from Rhode Island College. Her early career included stints at Rhode Island Kids Count and Youth Pride RI, nonprofits that advocate for children's well-being and LGBTQ+ youth, respectively.  

Founder and former CEO of Embolden — an award-winning digital marketing and technology firm whose clients included 200 community foundations, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies — Harrington got her start as a business owner in true entrepreneurial fashion: She taught herself web design in the early 1990s, using her Mac Plus computer and HTML gleaned from the Netscape Navigator web browser to create some of the first websites that met the specific needs of nonprofit organizations. 

After selling Embolden to a private-equity company in 2014, Harrington leaned further into charitable and philanthropic works, joining the Rhode Island Foundation board in 2015 and becoming a Bryant trustee in 2020. She has volunteered as a mentor for startup companies and as a judge for Bryant’s Innovation and Design Experience for All (IDEA) program, which builds a foundation for hands-on collaboration and entrepreneurship for first-year students. 

Community foundations, which Harrington described as “a vehicle that anyone can use to turn their generosity into good,” are especially attractive for the next generation of philanthropists — even those with currently modest means — she says. 

“The cool thing about the world that we're in now is that this generation, Generation Z, wants to give back,” she says. “The thing that was really refreshing to me — and I absolutely love every interaction I've had with current Bryant students and alums — is that they have a community mindset we probably hadn't seen in other generations. They want to be successful. They want to be heard. But all of them are community minded. It is embedded at the ground level.” 

“Generation Z wants to give back ... They want to be successful. They want to be heard. But all of them are community minded. It is embedded at the ground level.” 

Harrington is an unabashed fan of the Ocean State. “I was born in Rhode Island. I went to school here through undergrad and graduate school. I started a company here,” she says. “I’ve traveled a lot around the country for my job, and there's no place more beautiful.”  

Evangelizing for Rhode Island is part of the board chair’s job, but it’s a message she particularly wants to deliver to Bryant students and recent grads as they chart the course of their careers. 

Education, health, and economic mobility have traditionally been the “three pillars” of the Rhode Island Foundation’s work, says Harrington, but a recent statewide community listening tour is underpinning a new five-year action plan that focuses on several new priorities: climate action and civic and cultural life. The plan is centered on increasing representation and a sense of belonging, while ensuring fair access to resources and opportunities for people of all identities, experiences, and physical and cognitive abilities. 

“Research shows that, right now, people may not trust the media, they may not trust politicians, but they trust their neighbors, and that’s a huge plus for us in this state,” says Harrington. 

Among the attributes of a healthier, better-educated, upwardly mobile, and more diverse state is creating a welcoming environment for new businesses and entrepreneurs, including Bryant alums, whether they have roots in Rhode Island or not, she says. 

“I think the state of Rhode Island is growing its startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem,” says Harrington. “Back when I was starting my company, the community was certainly there, but there wasn't a lot of opportunity across the board from local, state, and federal government or within the business community.”  

Today, resources like the life sciences, green economy, and entrepreneurship programs clustered at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Providence make it more attractive for people who come to Rhode Island for school to stay in the state, start a business, buy a house, and build a life, she says. 

“When you add Bryant to that mix, there's definitely cross-pollination that can happen,” she says. “To have the new Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center (BELC) at Bryant is phenomenal. There's a huge opportunity to grow entrepreneurship, not only at Bryant, but also in the state.” 

“To have the new Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center (BELC) at Bryant is phenomenal. There's a huge opportunity to grow entrepreneurship, not only at Bryant, but also in the state.”  

Harrington views the state’s underdog mentality and compact size as strengths.  

“When you're smaller and you're one degree of separation from a lot of people, you can get work done a lot quicker,” she says.  

Plus, the Ocean State is a good fit for a generation that values connection and accomplishment equally. 

“Success to me isn't just wealth,” says Harrington. “Success is giving back to the community and living with purpose.”