Cover Peggy Dulany, fourth-generation Rockefeller and founder of Synergos (Image: courtesy of Peggy Dulany)
Peggy Dulany, fourth-generation Rockefeller and founder of Synergos (Image: courtesy of Peggy Dulany)
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Peggy Dulany—fourth-generation Rockefeller and founder of Synergos—has spent four decades building one of the world’s most influential philanthropy networks and placing inner work, collaboration and trust at the heart of impact
When Peggy Dulany was four or five years old, she was riding a train from New York City to Tarrytown, where her family had a home. It was a summer day, the windows were open, and the train emerged from underground in Harlem.
“People were sitting in their windows,” she recalls. “And I was saying, wait a sec, they have trains going by all the time. This is not fair.”
It was, she says, “an early moment when I realised not everybody has the same privilege, and that bothered me.”
Dulany, who is a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family, did not yet have the language of philanthropy, justice or systems change. But the image stayed with her—through high school, through later experiences living in Brazil and working in favela water settlements, and through the gradual realisation that the world was structured in ways that advantaged some and excluded many others.
“All these experiences made me realise that the world is not exactly just and I wanted to do something to try to offset that injustice,” she says.
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A different vision
Above Dulany at a Global Philanthropists Circle meeting (Image: Christine Butler)
Dulany at a Global Philanthropists Circle meeting (Image: Christine Butler)
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Born into one of the most recognisable names in global wealth, Dulany’s path might easily have followed a conventional arc of cheque-writing and board memberships. Instead, she has spent nearly four decades building something quieter—and arguably far more radical.
Dulany’s initial commitment was to education and in her early twenties she ran an alternative public high school for dropout students, believing at the time that this grassroots work would define her life’s work.
The pivot came when she began working with her father, the late David Rockefeller, on the New York City Partnership (now the Partnership for New York City)—an ambitious effort that brought together labour, business, government and civil society to address the city’s challenges.
“That was when I began to think there may be more strategic ways to do it,” she says. “Given my background and my access I realised that I should take advantage of the connections that I had and the opportunities to try to do something a bit more at a strategic level.”
In 1986, Dulany founded Synergos with a clear premise: that lasting social change requires not just money or policy, but trust; not just leadership, but self-awareness; and not just collaboration across sectors, but courage across divides.
See also: “Passing on wealth isn’t merely a numbers game; it’s a battle against human nature”
Bridging the gap
Over the decades, Synergos has facilitated large, multi-year partnerships at the invitation of governments addressing issues from child malnutrition in India to maternal health in Namibia and pioneering education initiatives across Latin America and Africa. Yet alongside these projects, another insight emerged.
Time and again, progress hinged less on technical expertise than on people—specifically, on leaders who could move between worlds.
“They’re able to reach out across vertical divides and horizontal divides,” Dulany says of what Synergos came to call bridging leaders. “And that actually has become our principal focus—promoting the capacity to reach out across divides to solve problems.”
If somebody has not resolved some of their obstacles to being the best, most courageous person they can be, then they probably won’t dare reach out across the divides and/or they won’t be trustworthy to other people
These leaders share an ability to convene, to listen, and to work with difference rather than against it. But that capacity, Dulany realised, could not be trained solely through strategy or skills.
“If somebody has not resolved some of their obstacles to being the best, most courageous person they can be,” she says, “then they probably won’t dare reach out across the divides and/or they won’t be trustworthy to other people.”
This realisation led Synergos into what has since become its most distinctive contribution: inner work.
Turning inwards
Since 2004, Synergos has been running retreats for members of its Global Philanthropist Circle, a carefully curated network of families and individuals committed to long-term impact, which Dulany and her father founded in 2001. The retreats are not framed as therapy or spirituality, but as a leadership practice—one designed to help people show up differently in complex, high-stakes environments.
“You can’t force it on people,” Dulany says. “But most people have some longings… and often as people reach midlife, they begin to long for the things that they had to give up.”
The retreats typically take place in natural settings, such as the wilderness, away from daily demands. Participants dance, read poetry, meditate and work in small groups, so they “get bonded to each other and they start to build trust,” she says. “Becoming vulnerable and looking inside at what may be preventing you from being your best self becomes something that’s not something you dread.”
You come out of it feeling really renewed and much more open, more curious than judgmental
Dulany first came across this process while working on malnutrition in India where those involved went on a retreat in the Himalayas and instead of focusing on malnutrition, they looked at what was their purpose in life. “They spent four days fasting, three days alone, just meditating and reflecting on that question, and when they came out, first of all they were very bonded with the group. They were very creative, because it created a field of energy, and they shared their stories and then began thinking about solutions.”
Dulany herself then attended a similar retreat. “It totally blew me away,” she recalls. “It was a remarkable experience.” She went to attend about 15 more retreats before she began guiding them herself.
“You come out of it feeling really renewed and much more open, more curious than judgmental,” Dulany says.
For many, the impact endures. “Most of our members do it once, and it has a lasting impact over time,” she says, supported by annual reunions, check-ins and ongoing peer connection. Others find themselves continuing and doing retreats in various forms on a regular basis, “to keep them in that state of being steady and compassionate and open and productive.”
Philanthropy’s future
As philanthropy matures across Asia, Synergos’ approach is drawing increasing interest—particularly among families navigating intergenerational wealth and responsibility.
Synergos’ Global Philanthropist Circle is structured as a family membership, and many Asian members participate across generations.
Dulany sees networks—of which there are an increasing number, particularly in Asia—as essential, not only for pooling resources, but for aligning influence. “It’s an opportunity for people to get together and find ways to collaborate rather than just each going in a different direction,” she says. “Not only with their financial resources but with their influence and their connections and their advocacy and their skills to really try to improve things.”
It’s an opportunity for people to get together and find ways to collaborate … not only with their financial resources but with their influence and their connections and their advocacy and their skills to really try to improve things
After 40 years at the intersection of wealth, influence and purpose, Dulany remains notably modest about what she and Synergos can offer. “We definitely don’t have all the answers,” she says. “It’s always mutual learning.”
Yet Synergos has become a leading example of a philanthropy network, particularly regarding the inner work piece.
For anyone keen to find their purpose and give back, Dulany advises: “Find what your true passions are, because you want to be doing it with your full energy. Secondly, look at what other people are doing in that direction, so that you are not just reinventing the wheel. And third, see who are the groups or individuals that you can collaborate with—because you can have more impact if you do it with others who may complement your skills or your strengths or your resources.”
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Rachel Duffell is regional content director for Power & Purpose, including Front & Female, and former regional content director for Tatler Dining. She is a journalist and editor who has been covering people, gender, impact, leadership, culture and lifestyle for more than 15 years.
