She has served as chair of the Management Committee of the Environmental Grantmakers Association, and as founder and chair of that organization’s “Philanthropy as Stewardship” initiative. She has served on the boards of the Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation and the Spring Foundation for Research on Women in Contemporary Society.
Currently she is a board member of the National Wildlife Refuge Association and the Robert Brownlee Foundation for Environmental Education, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development. She is the Founder of the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health, and Rights and one of the founders of the Peace and Security Funders Group. She participated in both the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and served as a member of the International Committee of the Council on Foundations from 1996-2000. Before entering the field of philanthropy, Edith was an instructor in Biology at Swarthmore College, where she also served as Assistant Dean of Admissions.