Rodel saw a Center for Collaborative Philanthropy as a place that could bring together groups with different ideas, approaches, experiences and areas of expertise who by sharing insights could refine and improve ideas. Developing a successful model for collaboration would demonstrate how working cooperatively rather than individually could achieve lasting and scalable solutions. It could also address the frustrating problem of seeing stunning examples of singular success but insufficient progress in sharing these successful innovations more widely across institutions.
In partnership with the Arizona Community Foundation, Rodel launched the Bert A. Getz Center for Collaborative Philanthropy in 2017. The Center bears his name and honors Bert A. Getz as one of the founders of the Arizona Community Foundation and a member of the Rodel Foundation of Arizona board of directors since its inception.