Main Street Cafe & Books has scheduled author and philanthropist Bill Somerville to speak and sign books 5:30-7:30 p.m. May 21 at the cafe, 134 Main St., Los Altos.

In “A Conversation with Bill Somerville,” Somerville, founding president of the Philanthropic Ventures Fund, will offer a candid critique of the foundation world.

Somerville, author with Fred Setterberg of “Grassroots Philanthropy: Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker” (Heydey, 2008), said that with nearly 67,000 foundations sitting on billions of dollars – and with complete freedom to decide how the money will be spent – the philanthropic sector can improve.

“In ‘Grassroots Philanthropy,’ I draw from more than three decades of experience as a foundation executive to provide a diagnosis of why philanthropy often fails to meet its promise. More important, I try to offer an action plan to make it fleet, effective, flexible, courageous and fun,” Somerville said. “I aim to provide vivid success stories and frank appraisals of failures. In short, I hope to engage the face, voice, and most of all, the human heart of philanthropy.”

Somerville brings nearly 50 years of experience in non-profit work, including 17 years as executive director of the Peninsula Community Foundation. The large upper peninsula foundation recently merged with Community Foundation Silicon Valley to form Silicon Valley Community Foundation, with headquarters based in Mountain View.

For more information, visit www.mainstreetcafeandbooks.com or www.venturesfoundation.org/publications/grassrootsphilanthropy.