Bringing a Racial Equity Lens to Foundation Strategy
In response to the racial reckoning in 2020, foundations have sought many perspectives to learn how they can support racial justice, shift power, and more effectively engage communities in grantmaking decisions. Moving beyond the basic practices that many foundations are already incorporating, this workshop will examine how foundations can incorporate a racial equity perspective in their overall strategy setting and implementation planning at both the institutional level and the programmatic level.
Virtual on ZOOM Audio capabilities required; Video requested
Cost
Free for Members Only
Shifting Practices, Sharing Power:
Moving From Vision to Reality
Bringing a Racial Equity Lens to Foundation Strategy session co-led by Dalberg Advisors and Common Future, shares reflections and best practices from the field based on their work with different foundations. Dalberg Advisors has supported several foundations in strategic planning, scenario analysis, and racial and gender equity. Common Future is a national intermediary that has helped more than 60 foundations, at the place-based and national levels, to align their grantmaking and investment portfolios towards mission-aligned, community-led solutions.
Two-thirds of foundations in the US cited “difficulty in predicting future scenarios” as their biggest operational pain point and more than 8 in 10 foundations said that they are “considering new grantees and/or programming areas,” according to a survey of ~250 foundations conducted for the 2020 Shifting Practices, Sharing Power report by Council on Foundations, Philanthropy California, and Dalberg Advisors. Many foundations are also centering racial equity in their work.
To support our members in meeting these challenges, the Council on Foundations and Philanthropy CA are teaming up once again with Dalberg to offer a series of complimentary training workshops for foundation staff.
All three workshops will be interactive, with opportunities for participant engagement and sharing, and practical, with live, small-group exercises.
Each workshop will be led by senior Dalberg Advisors partners with experience working with a wide range of foundations in strategic planning, scenario analysis, and racial and gender equity.
As our world becomes more uncertain, planning for the future becomes more important, but also more difficult. This interactive workshop will introduce fundamental tools used in scenario analysis and risk management and show how foundations can apply these tools to predict how economic, social/political, and environmental changes might affect their grantees and their beneficiaries. It will also provide guidance for making contingency plans to respond to possible dramatic changes in their operating environment.
Many foundations are exploring potential new programs in response to the pandemic, racial reckoning, and threats to our democracy, among many other challenges. This workshop will introduce a structured, efficient process that foundations can use to quickly learn ‘the lay of the land’ in potential new spaces and identify how they can complement – and learn from – the efforts of others as they seek to generate meaningful, measurable impact.
