If you worked in foundation communications in the past thirty years, chances are that David Morse helped you – directly or indirectly. At the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and then the Atlantic Philanthropies, David helped advance the field of strategic communications like few others. Many of the modern concepts of communications strategy were born in his office or through the work of his consultants.

David sits down with Eric to talk about the legacy of Frank Karel, his predecessor at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, how the field has developed over time, and he’ll give you a chuckle when discussing the freedom that working for a limited life foundation affords.

We recorded this conversation earlier in the year, so if you want to buy him a drink to ask him about the old days, you’ll have to go to Norway to do it – David has hung up his flak jacket and now sips aquavit on the fjords.