I'm blogging live from the philathropy 2.0 event sponsored by the Case Foundation, EPIP, and 3rd Wave. Packed, hot, techie. About to break a sweat hot.
Just a quick observation. In today's session on faith and feminism, the director of the Women's Funding Network, Chris, pushed me to present my small group's discussion points. Although the rest of the group urged her to speak, she clearly indicated that she wanted me to present because I am an emerging voice in the feminist movement.
This is not the only time this has happened. Today, in the session I co-designed, Luz gave way to Charles and Trista to allow them airtime. This level of collegiality and respect for the voices of young people in philanthropy is new to me. Just by creating it as a focus area of the summit and by hearing leadership frame the conference on Sunday, people are already taking action.
We are not just here to learn, existing leadership is not just here to teach. It is an exchange.
Jollification in the Caribbean
Each year ABFE hosts the James A. Joseph lecture as a tribute to ABFE's co-founder. The event highlights an emerging leader, this year the honoree was a fabulous ABFE Fellow Wendy Lewis Jackson from the Kresge Foundation.
The lecturer was Carrolle Perry Devonish, Executive Director of the Anguilla Community Foundation, the fir5st and only charitable foundation in the country. She talked about an Anguillian concept "jollification", which she defined as cheerful giving to your neighbor. An example is a whole neighborhood coming together to help someone pour a concrete floor. Through the act of helping you get to spend time with your community and you know that if you ever need something, your neighbor will be there for you. A community foundation is no more than a method to make jollification a financial resource as well.
He call to action was for more grantmakers to share their skills and talents with the African Diaspora, especially with communities that are translating their long held practices of neighbors helping neighbors into formalized philanthropy models.
Dispatches from the COF Conference
I got to the hotel on Saturday and to say that it is a large conference center would be a massive understatement. The atrium is probably 14 stories tall and has a small neighborhood of houses scattered inside the lobby for good measure. I have been joking that the Gaylord just built around homeowners that were unwilling to move and then they turned their houses into gift shops.
They are still working on signage for the massive convention center so I have decided to think of getting to sessions as more of a zen-like journey of discovery as I walk aimlessly through the center's massive hallways trying to figure out if the Maryland Ballroom is near the Woodrow Wilson ballroom. I would leave a trail of New Voices of Philanthropy promotional postcards but I am afraid (or hopeful) that the many next gen staff that are here would pick them up and I would be lost again.
A great group of current and future philanthropic powerhouses are providing conference coverage (we already have great posts from Tracey, Melissa, and Jasmine) so check back often for the latest conference dirt or relevant learnings (however you prefer to frame it).
Social Justice Philanthropy: Where is the Movement?
On the heels of what will be one of the biggest gatherings in a long time of established foundations in the U.S., the field of philanthropy continues to be called into question. Where are philanthropic dollars going? Who are philanthropic dollars benefiting? Is change a real goal of these dollars? If so, what does that change look like?
The Council on Foundations is kicking off its annual conference in a big way on Sunday, May 4th, just a heartbeat away from America’s capital at the Gaylord National Resort on the National Harbor in Maryland. “Philanthropy’s Vision: A Leadership Summit,” is intended to attract many of the philanthropic leaders that help to shape the future of philanthropy. With new and interesting tracks on issues like diversity and inclusiveness, generational leadership, and rural philanthropy, it appears that this conference may broach the conversation and many values of social change in a way that has never been seen before.
But for those CEO’s, program officers, thought leaders in the philanthropic field who think, work, fund, and behave in ways that always embrace social justice values, they are not so sure how deep conversations may go. In an effort to maximize the seemingly prime opportunity to take advantage of issues like diversity, community change, and looking beyond to the next generation, the Social Justice Philanthropy Collaborative is holding a reception to help organize like-minded leaders in the field. This reception will help individuals NAVIGATE the conference, BUILD relationships and commitment, and STRENGHTEN the network of progressive funders and allies.
At a time where societal change is outpacing the ability to respond alone to community needs, it is imperative that every foundation and organization working within the field of philanthropy come together to network, strategize, and build collaborative action to truly achieve real change. This reception marks a pivotal moment of reinvigorating the movement.
So, in a hallway near you, COF participants, look for folks with the buttons, the stress balls, the candy, and the social justice guide to navigating this Summit so you can see where the movement is.
Go to www.changingfunding.org for more information!
Special Guest Blogger Melissa Johnson, Field Director
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP)
Where's the fire?
At a conference last week, I asked a panel of new foundation leaders what surprised them the most about the philanthropic field. Kate Wolford, the new President of the McKnight Foundation had a very eloquent answer that gave me pause. She said that when she was a nonprofit CEO everything was always pressing and urgent. There was a yearly budget to be raised and programs that needed to be run effectively or else the organization might shut down or the people that they were serving would not be reached. She said that she was most surprised about the lack of urgency in the philanthropic field. I was a little shocked at first because we are all working on very pressing social issues and are under the pressure of constant deadlines. But, when you step back and look at it there really is no true sense of urgency in the field. There is no budget to be raised (community foundation aside), no stockholders that will pull their support, no constituents that won't vote for you again if you tick them off. Foundations have the leisure of time. This can be an asset when you are working on long-term community issues that need long-term solutions. But this can be a detriment when that lack of urgency turns into apathy.