Don Cipriani

Don Cipriani is Ignite Philanthropy’s Director and a determined advocate for children’s human rights. Driven by the injustices that his students faced in educational and juvenile justice systems, and by the sexual violence his childhood friends experienced in the community, he believes that lived experience leadership and organizing hold the power to redeem the greatest inequities.

Don previously served as the founding Director of the Communities for Just Schools Fund, enlisting nearly 20 donors to support the strongest youth and community organizing in the U.S.A. to ensure positive school climates that foster all students’ success. Over the preceding decade, Don researched, evaluated, trained, and advocated on children’s rights, advising UNICEF and other international organizations in South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, the South Pacific, and North America. Earlier in his career, Don was a classroom teacher and a lobbyist for education, youth development, and juvenile justice reform in the U.S.A.

Don earned a Ph.D. in Law from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Maryland, and Bachelor’s degree from Drew University, and is fluent in Spanish and Italian. He is the author of Children’s Rights and the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: A Global Perspective (Routledge, 2009), and is based in Florence, Italy.

“Beyond Ignite, I am a very fortunate partner, a blessed father of two, a loving son, an intimate friend of Jim Foley’s, and I straddle family and cultures between Italy and the U.S.A. My Grandmother Aida and Great Aunts Mary (Maria), Grace (Grazia), Jo (Giuseppina) gave me my earliest matriarchal lessons on tomato sauce, the way around the kitchen, and life.”

Preferred gender pronouns: he/him/his