Welcome to Grit With Grace

Grit, Grace, Growth, and Gratitude are the overriding principles I do my best to apply in both my professional and personal life. I inherited these principles from my mother — an elegant, dignified woman — and my father — a compassionate, devoted World War II veteran. Whether advising families on best governance practices, helping philanthropists align their portfolios with their values, or sailing with my beloved husband and dog, I aim to make the 4 Gs my fundamental tenets.

Read the Blog

city skyline — Blog

My little soapbox. I have a lot to say, and as anyone who’s met me knows, I like to say it. In my Grit with Grace blog, I write articles on impact investing, uncertainty in the markets, the money/happiness conundrum, and much, much more.

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ocean beach at sunset — Podcast

I hate podcasts — so my marketing coordinator challenged me to launch one. In pared-down, curated episodes, “To Grit with Grace” shares the stories of adversity and perseverance — grit and grace — that have defined and shaped my guests’ lives.

Listen

electric pole at sunset — Reading LIst

Great books have accounted for many of my life’s turning points. From behavioral psychology to impact investing to tales of unbelievable human resilience, explore some of my all-time favorite titles. The quest for knowledge never ends!

Explore

beach at sunset — My Favorite Quotes

Don’t take it from me — take it from my many, many heroes. These are some of the valuable quotes that have served me as an advisor, and as a human being.

Quotes

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.

– Winston Churchill

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.

– Charles Dickens

Happiness; we don’t know what it means, how to measure it, or how to reach it, but we know extremely well how to avoid unhappiness.

—Taleb

It takes a noble person to plant a seed for a tree that will one day provide shade to those whom he may never meet.

– Unknown

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have too much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in the first place.

– Andrew Carnegie

It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.

– Albert Einstein

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all.

– J.K. Rowling

The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.

– Phillip Fisher

The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.

– L.P. Hartley

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

― Søren Kierkegaard

Grit With Grace With These Featured Blog Posts

In Grit with Grace, Randy hopes to show how to embody the 4 Gs — Grit, Grace, Growth and Gratitude — and to demonstrate the ways that the 4 Gs have contributed to a fulfilling personal and financial life.

Grit With Grace

Featured

Where Ice Meets Fire

Another year, another stack of dog-eared pages and marginalia. This year, my reading list drifted across icy landscapes, Cold War shadows, lost ships, and unforgettable women.

Enduring impact: How a long-term donor builds a lasting legacy

Margo Alexander is one of Acumen’s earliest funders and has served on our board for more than two decades. We caught up with her to explore the longevity of her support and how planned giving can help cement a philanthropic legacy.

Hello darkness, my old Friend: Summer Reading, 2025

I have written before about my Russian heritage and fair skin, my love of the cold and the snow, and my general dislike of the summer, the beach, and summer beachy reads.

Future-proofing generosity: the case for Planned Giving

We spoke with Acumen Partner Randy Kaufman about why making an estate plan that includes Acumen should be a priority and how to get the next generation involved in charitable giving.

Download Randy’s Reading List

The financial world, and those who analyze it, are always evolving. Over the years, I have read a great many books that have made me rethink and refine my personal and professional goals. For those among you with a similar thirst for knowledge, I’ve compiled a sampling of my favorites.

Reading List

Here are a few of Randy’s Current REads:

IsaAc’s Storm

The true story of the deadliest hurricane in history, Isaac’s Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great, uncontrollable forces of nature.

Flash Boys

In Michael Lewis’s game-changing bestseller, a small group of Wall Street icons realize that the U.S. stock market has been rigged for the benefit of insiders.

Adrift

A riveting firsthand account by the only man known to have survived more than a month alone at sea, fighting for his life in an inflatable raft after his small sloop capsized only six days out.