While foundations have lost around $200-billion in assets last year, the economic recession and the Obama administration present an opportunity for grant makers to innovate and forge new relationships with federal, state, and local governments, said Steve Gunderson, the chief executive of the Council on Foundations.

Speaking on the first day of the council’s annual conference, Mr. Gunderson said there is an opportunity today to “transform philanthropy’s role in society.”

“We are at a place in time unlike any other in our recent history,” he said.

To help curb the economic fallout and assist other national problems, President Obama has called for greater collaboration with the nonprofit world — and foundations need to respond, Mr. Gunderson said.

He expects new “public-philanthropic partnerships” with the administration to improve American schools, expand job training, and help the poor gain access to adequate health services.

As a sign of this, he said the council has expanded its Washington advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. While the organization has traditionally tried to influence congressional panels that work on tax policy, it is now working with committees that oversee federal spending, education, and other issues.

He suggested grant makers take a similar lobbying approach with state and local legislatures.

He also said the council would be working more closely with other associations of grant makers and charities, like the Philanthropy Roundtable and the Independent Sector. The tough times require that the nonprofit world “seek unity in our message,” he said.

While the recession and other pressing problems, like the threat of a flu pandemic, may be cause for concern, Mr. Gunderson said he is optimistic about the future and the positive role foundations can play in it.

Quoting Ralph Smith, chairman of the council’s board of directors and executive vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in Baltimore, he said: “You know, we do not schedule leadership moments.”