Philanthropic practice

The leadership of America’s nonprofit sector isn’t very diverse, as American Nonprofit Academy emphasizes, but among other organizations working to change that reality is the African American Board Leadership Institute (AABLI).

An interesting and critical eye on philanthropy can come from different perspectives and that is what “Liberate Philanthropy,” a blog series, published on Medium, precisely does.

After a yearlong process of introspection and conversations with grantee partners, the Surdna Foundation recently announced its refined program strategy, "Radical Imagination for Racial Justice."

The Rockefeller Foundation views impact investing as a core aspect of its strategy. Describing the concept as "investments made with the intention of generating both financial return and social and/or environmental impact," Saadia Madsbjerg, managing director of The Rockefeller Foundation, wrote: "We see traditional asset managers as bringing to the table something the traditional impact investing community has thus far lacked: scale."

In its 2017 annual report, the George Gund Foundation focuses on "arts as political activism," making the case for how the presence of artists as activists is more prominent than ever.

Last November, the Walton Family Foundation and Ford Foundation announced they committed $6 million over three years to support creative solutions to diversify curatorial and management staff at art museums across the United States.

“The board meeting is not going well. (...) To the consternation of some board members, the executive director suggests that increasing staff diversity is a top priority.” One exasperated member says to the executive director, “You want to spend your time on that? We have so many more-pressing problems!”

In light of challenging times, Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, examines the role of the courageous leader and the power to make change happen within the philanthropic field and our own culture.

Stories can make us connect in unsuspected ways. A piece by the Stanford Social Innovation Review makes the case for the power of stories to make, prop up, and bring down systems.

Borealis Philanthropy launched the Racial Equity in Philanthropy (REP) Fund, a funding effort of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The inaugural round of grants totaling $14 million over three years will support 19 philanthropy-serving organizations committed to advancing racial equity within the sector through research, learning opportunities, and the dissemination of best practices, according to Philanthropy News Digest.