Next year when the Democratic National Convention comes to Greater Boston, we shall be presenting our historically accomplished and influential community not just to our visitors, but also to the nation and the world. It is worth noting that our greatest achievements and contributions nationally and globally, from Colonial times to the present, have been “private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life”–i.e., not our businesses, not our city and state governments, but our philanthropy. Massachusetts has from its very beginning fostered public-spiritedness in its private citizens. All our greatest institutions were privately created for public purposes. Many of the great reform movements of American history – the Revolution, anti-slavery, the women’s movement, conservation, etc, etc.– began here as private initiatives for public good. Our long cultural leadership in scholarship, letters, the arts, science and technology – was, until the last half of the 20th century, effected by private individuals and private institutions working for public good. Our own quality of life here today is owed primarily to philanthropy , and depends on our – including your – charitable giving.