Race, Place & Power-building: Learn more about TFN's new Inclusive Economies group
By Alicia Kitsuse, Director, TFN’s Inclusive Economies
The transition of the Restoring Prosperity in Older Industrial Cities working group to Inclusive Economies forges new ground in TFN’s community and economic development work. To mark the official rollout of the new name, and a new framework focused on race, place and power-building, TFN’s Inclusive Economies Director Alicia Kitsuse caught up with steering committee members Wendy Lewis Jackson of The Kresge Foundation and Scot Spencer of The Annie E. Casey Foundation for a conversation about how the past informs the future of this expanding stream of work. (You can read the full announcement about TFN’s Inclusive Economies here.)
Older Industrial Cities was one of the earliest working groups to be established at TFN and has been operating for a good ten years. What was the impetus for this transition?
Wendy: One of the biggest reasons for a change or reset was the need to be responsive to our members, who were going deeper in their work in terms of looking at the broader trends that are shaping the field. Part of that was from coming out of the Great Recession and looking at its effects, and recognizing the need to ensure that inequality — particularly racial inequality —was addressed. We also needed a fresh data set to ground our work.
Scot: Building on that, I think it’s important to recognize that the OIC work was organized at a different point in time, before the recession. With the recession, there was a whole new energy and responsiveness to the plight of older industrial cities, and there was a corresponding role for places that had suffered, particularly those associated with the auto industry. But we’ve come to learn and understand that it’s not just place connections that need to be restored, but people connections. So now we’re focused on including people in place in a renaissance approach to shared prosperity.
Economic inclusion is a prominent issue in philanthropy and, more generally, in community development. What’s distinctive about the way TFN’s Inclusive Economies is approaching this area of work?
Scot: Well, for one thing, we’re putting people at greatest disadvantage and distance from opportunity at the center of how we think about inclusive economies, which we believe is the way to ensure broad-based inclusion. We’re intentional about the pathway to achieving inclusion.
Wendy: I’d add that what makes this group significant and relevant is that it intentionally works at the intersection of the economy, racial equity, and place-based practice. Our distinction is in our holistic and data-informed approach to place-based change.
Scot: Also, we’re not limited by geography—either to place size or type, or to an urban, suburban, or rural environment, or native lands. We’re place agnostic, which adds complexity to how we think about solving for place-based problems.
Are there any lessons from OIC that will be carried over into the new group?
Wendy: What will be important is a continued commitment to a few core principles. One is appreciative inquiry and knowledge sharing — the ability to learn together in place. Another is collaboration among sectors, for example through our partnership with the Federal Reserve [through the Federal Reserve-Philanthropy Initiative] and, in our earlier years, our interactions with the federal government. We also want to be sure we have a breadth of place-based funders in our network— funders working at the national, regional, and local levels.
Scot: Agreed. One of the constants of the working group will be our working partnerships. I see our work with the Fed and others continuing, but I also see us forming new partnerships. When we started the OIC work our partners were at the federal level. In the future, it will probably be more about partnering at the state and local levels to find solutions to local problems as they’re playing out in a global context.
So, moving forward, what are the priority issues or challenges you’d like the group to explore?
Wendy: From my perspective, our highest priority is making sure we have a platform for engaging new interests and participants in the working group. I’d also prioritize increasing and expanding communication about what we’re learning and doing in the working group. How do we ensure that learning and action are coupled with stronger communication with the field?
Scot: One of the things of value would be gaining more knowledge of people in places — an understanding the issues of impacted populations that’s goes beyond what we can learn from quantitative research. For example, our recent community-based research with the Fed underscored the importance of listening to all voices, and how much community-level engagement matters to developing interventions that advance economic inclusion. The other issue I’m particularly interested in is how we do this work in a way that doesn’t shy away from policy challenges at the state and local levels. I’d like to focus on working through to core issues rather than on work arounds.
Do you have an elevator pitch for funders considering joining Inclusive Economies?
Scot: What’s most important about this work is that the vitality of our country and the future of our country depends on reducing racial and economic disparities. As funders, we have a role and a responsibility to reduce and eliminate those gaps for people in the United States.
Wendy: We’re about an expanded approach to thinking about place-based practice. This is a group for anyone who is deeply committed to inclusive economies for all, and to ensuring that no one in local communities gets left behind.
About the Author
Alicia Kitsuse, Director of Inclusive Economies
As director of the Inclusive Economies Program (formerly the Older Industrial Cities Program), Alicia leads funders in collective learning, knowledge-building, and joint action that advances shared, equitable, and restorative local and regional prosperity.
Wendy Lewis Jackson, Managing Director, Detroit, The Kresge Foundation
Wendy co-leads The Kresge Foundation’s efforts to revitalize Detroit and to strengthen its social and economic fabric. Her work supports organizations providing economic opportunity for low-income people and addresses the needs of vulnerable children and families.
Scot Spencer, Associate Director, Advocacy and Influence, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Scot leads The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s work in advancing community-focused policies, practices and strategies that increase opportunities for children, families and the places where they live and foster their success. Spencer also coordinates Casey’s local advocacy efforts in Baltimore.
About the feature image:
Photos at the top of this post are from Turning the Corner: Monitoring Neighborhood Change to Prevent Displacement, a three-year project guided by the Urban Institute and the Federal Reserve-Philanthropy Initiative, a collaboration between TFN’s OIC working group and the Federal Reserve. The initiative will continue as part of TFN’s Inclusive Economies group.
California’s Hottest Topic: The Housing Crisis and our Collective Response
By TFN Staff
On June 6, funders from across the state of California engaged in a conversation with a journalist, a nonprofit developer and an advocate attorney on Smart Growth California’s webinar, California’s Hottest Topic: The Housing Crisis and our Collective Response. The provided a timely breakdown of the most recent round of bills in the state capitol, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Smart Growth California, an initiative of the Funders' Network, recently posted a recap of this compelling webinar sharing insight from panelists Liam Dillon of the Los Angeles Times, Doug Shoemaker of Mercy Housing,
and Anya Lawler of Western Center on Law and Poverty
Read the full post by Smart Growth California's Kerry Hastings here. For an audio recording of the webinar, reach out to Smart Growth California Director Ron Milam.
#TFNSanDiego
Speaking of California: TFN's 2020 Annual Conference: Bridge the Divide will take place in San Diego March 16-18. We're currently accepting proposals for conference sessions, speakers and mobile workshops,
particularly those that advance TFN’s interdisciplinary approach to equity, economy and environment. Learn more here.
Can evaluations promote equity? Join our next Power Forward webinar to learn more
By: TFN Staff
Funders and philanthropic institutions increasingly embrace equity as core to their work. Yet even among those organizations, evaluation is difficult to examine, revamp and cultivate through an equity lens. Join us for the latest installment of our Power Forward webinar series, Power for Just Practice: How Evaluations Can Promote Equity, 2 p.m. ET Jun 12.
This webinar will examine how funders are deploying new thinking and assets that articulate the value proposition and service paradigm of equity. While not all evaluation approaches are likely to support the shift of power imbalances and reduce inequities, the panel will focus on the principles of Equitable Evaluation and funder practices that support better data, organizational alignments and programs. Discussion will focus on tools and case studies currently being deployed that enhance thoughtful application of philanthropic equity commitments.
Power for Just Practices: How Evaluations Can Promote Equity
June 12 at 2 p.m. ET
Register here
Speakers:
Shamar Bibbins, Senior Program Officer, The Kresge Foundation
Steven LaFrance, Founder and CEO, Learning for Action
Kim Leonard, Senior Research Officer, The Oregon Community Foundation
Moderator
Anna Cruz, Senior Learning and Evaluation Officer, The Kresge Foundation
Please register for this funder-only webinar by June 7 to receive log-in details.
About TFN’s Power Forward series
As part of TFN’s 20th Anniversary in 2019, we’re hosting a series of deep-dive webinars that examine how philanthropy can leverage its collective power across a range of critical issues: policy work, sustainability efforts, economic prosperity, and supporting equity and inclusion in grantmaking. This month we kick Power for Just Practice installment of the Power Forward series, which will feature three webinars focused on embedding an equity lens into organizational practices.
Catch up on the series!
Have you missed a Power Forward webinar? Audio recordings of our webinars are available for download:
February 13: Power for Policy: Restoring Inclusive Democracy
March 13: Power for Policy: Shared Prosperity & Inclusive Economies
April 10: Power for Policy: Media, Messaging & the News
April 23: Power for Policy: Mobility & Access AdvocacyMay 15:Power for Just Practices: Let's Talk Race, Privilege & Philanthropy
Five Cities, Five Sustainability Solutions: Meet our newest Partners for Places Grantees
By Ann Fowler Wallace, TFN Director of Programs
Five cities across the United States will receive more than $920,000 dollars for sustainability efforts that focus largely on empowering and engaging low-income neighborhoods — supporting community-based approaches that address climate impacts, strengthen local economies and improve the well-being of all residents.
The Funders' Network (TFN), along with our partners at the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, is excited to announce the latest grantees of the Partners for Places matching grant program.
These sustainability efforts span both coasts, take place in cities both large and small, and build partnerships between government sustainability offices and place-based foundations.
Milwaukee, Wis., will transform playgrounds at two public schools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, trading slabs of concrete and chain link fences for vibrant, nature-inspired landscapes with green infrastructure features. The project includes adding environmental education components like outdoor classrooms, learning stations, and planter beds, while also providing funding for a new sustainability project specialist for the public school system.
In Evanston, Ill., Partners for Places funding will help the city remove barriers that prevent homeowners and tenants from accessing affordable housing that is energy efficient and climate resilient. The city, which hopes to move toward a net-zero affordable housing standard, will also create an advisory committee made up of local residents, developers, contractors, and architects with sustainability expertise to guide project implementation.
San Diego, Calif., which has adopted an ambitious climate action plan that calls for a 50 percent reduction of greenhouse emissions by 2035, will support efforts to empower leadership on climate solutions in low-income communities disproportionately affected by poverty, unemployment and environmental injustice. Partners for Places funding will also help support San Diego’s climate and equity specialist, one of the first municipal roles of its kind among cities nationwide.
Residents of Newark, N.J., will be able to take advantage of a job training and placement program that connects them to opportunities constructing, inspecting and maintaining green stormwater infrastructure projects, part of a larger city-wide effort to help people find full-time positions and family-sustaining salaries, while also addressing flooding threats in the city’s low income neighborhoods.
In Cleveland, Ohio, Partners for Places will help advance one of the cornerstones of the city’s climate action goals: creating a community-wide transition plan to 100 percent clean and renewable electricity by 2050 that prioritizes resiliency, energy security, and green jobs for Clevelanders most in need.
“Transitioning to clean energy is especially important for a city like Cleveland, where half our children live in poverty and where low-income communities and communities of color spend a disproportionate amount of their income on energy-related costs,” said John Mitterholzer, senior program officer for the environment at The George Gund Foundation. “We believe that cities can become leaders in clean energy by advancing social and racial equity, creating jobs, and making our communities more resilient in the face of climate change.”
The funding is made possible through the Partners for Places matching grants program, which has helped foster dozens of new partnerships between local government sustainability leaders and place-based funders across the U.S. and Canada over the past eight years. The matching grant program brings national funder investors together with place-based funders to support local sustainability and climate action projects.
“These projects harness the power of partnership and collaboration,” said Diane Ives, fund advisor for The Kendeda Fund’s People, Place and Planet program. “It’s heartening to see so much innovation and passion as people across government, philanthropy and other sectors work together to make their communities more sustainable, resilient and equitable.”
Partners for Places, led by the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities in partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, will provide $433,790 in funding to these five cities through the grant program. With contributions from local matching funders, a total of $921,540 will be committed to fund sustainability projects in these selected cities.
The program is supported by seven investor foundations: The JPB Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, The Kresge Foundation, The New York Community Trust, Pisces Foundation, The Summit Foundation, and Surdna Foundation. This grant cycle includes $185,000 awarded to two green stormwater infrastructure projects — in the cities of Milwaukee and Newark — designed to advance water-related sustainability goals.
To date, Partners for Places has awarded nearly $7 million across North America in this successful matching grant program, leading to nearly $14 million in investments.
Partners for Places will open a new round of funding for the general grant program on June 3, 2019. The Round 15 RFP will be due July 30, 2019.
The latest Partners for Places grant recipients and their matching funders are:
• Cleveland, Ohio ($50,000): To create a community-wide transition plan to 100 percent clean and renewable electricity that prioritizes resiliency, energy security, and green jobs for Clevelanders most in need. Matching funders: The Cleveland Foundation ($25,000); The George Gund Foundation ($25,000); United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland ($4,000).
• Evanston, Ill. ($125,000): To identify and ultimately remove barriers to achieving affordable, resilient net-zero homes. Matching funders: The Chicago Community Trust ($100,000); Evanston Community Foundation ($25,000).
• Milwaukee, Wis. (75,000): To promote equity and sustainability in Milwaukee Public Schools with natural schoolyards and outdoor classrooms, green infrastructure, and a new sustainability project specialist. Matching funder: Fund for Lake Michigan ($123,750).
• Newark, N.J. ($110,000): To establish a training and jobs placement program for residents to access green stormwater infrastructure construction, inspection, and maintenance opportunities. Matching funders: CareerWorks: Greater Newark Workforce Funders Collaborative ($85,000); Victoria Foundation ($25,000).
• San Diego, Calif. ($73,790): To build community voice and action among communities in Southeast San Diego in implementation of the City of San Diego's Climate Action Plan. Matching funder: The San Diego Foundation ($75,000).
About Partners for Places Partners for Places
A joint project of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Partners for Places is a successful matching grant program that improves U.S. and Canadian communities by building partnerships between local government sustainability leaders and place-based foundations. National funders invest in local projects developed through these partnerships to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy and well-being for all residents. Through these investments, Partners for Places fosters long-term relationships that make our communities more prosperous, livable and vibrant. For more information on Partners for Places, visit www.fundersnetwork.org/partners-for-places.
About the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) is a mission-driven network of grantmakers across North America, working to inspire, strengthen and expand funding and philanthropic leadership that yield environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, and economically prosperous regions and communities.
About The Urban Sustainability Directors Network
The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) is a peer-to-peer network of local government professionals from cities across the United States and Canada dedicated to creating a healthier environment, economic prosperity, and increased social equity. Our dynamic network enables sustainability directors and staff to share best practices and accelerate the application of good ideas across North America.
For additional information and media inquiries, contact: Tere Figueras Negrete, Communications Director at the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, tere@www.fundersnetwork.org
Securing Safe Drinking Water For All
By Juliet Christian-Smith, Program Officer, Water Foundation (via HEFN)
This post originally appeared on the Health and Environmental Funders Network blog. TFN is a co-sponsor of HEFN's April 9 webinar, Activity On Tap: Looking Across The Drinking Water Landscape.
Growing up, my family spent a week every summer on a small island off the coast of Maine reliant on cisterns for fresh water. Water was closely rationed, and showers were scarce. The daily ritual of filling up two pitchers of water for use throughout the day piqued a life-long interest in the limits of our fresh water resources. My passion for all things water eventually grew into a profession as I went on to get a Ph.D., focused on water resource management.
For years, I studied the intricacies of America’s water systems – from the complex laws and regulations that govern how we move and share water to how climate change is creating more violent floods, droughts, and fires. My training as a scientist encouraged me to constantly question underlying assumptions and my passion led me to connect my research to the experiences that directly touch people’s lives.
Now, at the Water Foundation, I use that training and passion to work with creative, ambitious, and thoughtful partners every day to advance lasting water solutions that are informed by science and by the most urgent needs facing communities across the country.
We all need safe, affordable, and reliable drinking water to survive. But in the U.S. today, millions of families and children wake up each morning to toxic, undrinkable tap water. The problem is widespread—touching urban and rural areas alike—but disadvantaged communities continue to be ones most likely to have contaminated water in their homes and schools. Unsafe drinking water is not only a public health crisis but also a reflection of deep inequities and underinvestment in poor communities. Where a person lives and how much money they have can determine whether they get water that is safe and clean.
In this environment, it is not surprising public polling consistently shows that polluted drinking water is among Americans’ greatest worries and highest priorities, cutting across ideology and political affiliations. In 2019, public officials are prioritizing drinking water in their own agendas.
Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin, for example, in his first State of the State Address, said that 2019 will be the “year of clean drinking water.” New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy in his address asked for federal help replacing old pipes. Governor Gavin Newsom in California, kicked off his tenure with a visit to a rural Californian community struggling with clean, affordable drinking water. And, just this past month, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform environmental subcommittee held a hearing to investigate pervasive PFAS contamination.
Philanthropy Can Help Support Sustainable And Equitable Drinking Water Solutions
In the wake of the Flint, Michigan, drinking water crisis and the work of organizations like HEFN, a growing number of funders have begun to recognize the often-hidden public health crisis of unsafe drinking water. Yet, many also voice uncertainty on how best to solve the problem, especially when water policy is traditionally viewed as overly complex and intractable.
To help funders understand the current and emerging threats to drinking water—and solutions they can pursue to tackle both immediate problems and root causes, the Water Foundation recently developed an introductory guide, Securing Safe Drinking Water for All. In the guide, we cover how unsafe drinking water threatens public health as well as offer specific philanthropic interventions that can get to the heart of the challenge.
Key philanthropic interventions that are identified in the guide include:
- Diversifying water leadership,
- Building capacity of small water systems,
- Encouraging investment in drinking water treatment and infrastructure,
- Supporting more comprehensive water testing,
- Supporting structural changes to improve water affordability, and
- Championing climate-smart water supply solutions.
Funders are invited to preview the report during the April 9 webinar, “Activity on Tap: Looking Across the Drinking Water Landscape,” cosponsored by the Biodiversity Funders Group, Environmental Grantmakers Association, the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, Grantmakers In Health, and HEFN. I will be moderating a discussion where expert speakers -- Radhika Fox, US Water Alliance; Tom Neltner, Environmental Defense Fund; and Nse Witherspoon, Children’s Environmental Health Network --- will discuss three hubs of activity around drinking water. Click here to read more and register for the webinar today.
As funders, we have the ability and opportunity to drive and scale meaningful solutions to make sure every family has safe drinking water. Please join me on April 9 to learn more about the drinking water landscape and to strengthen connections among other funders for us all to make a difference.
Juliet Christian-Smith is a senior program officer at the Water Foundation with more than a decade of scientific research and policy analysis experience in addition to expertise in water, climate and sustainability issues. She came to the Water Foundation from the Union of Concerned Scientists where she helped lead water and climate work as a senior climate scientist. She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley.
Arriving early? Check out our pre-conference events at #TFNMiami
By Tere Figueras Negrete, Director of CommunicationsThe Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) is excited to bring our 20th Anniversary Conference back to Miami, the site of our first conference, March 18-20.In addition to our conference lineup of thought-provoking speakers and sessions, we also have a host of before and after #TFNMiami, including several deep-dive learning opportunities, our popular Sunday Night at the Movies and our first-ever PLACES 10th Anniversary Equity Bash.You're welcome to come a little early in order to take advantage of the pre-conference events listed below. (With the exception of the PLACES 10th Anniversary Bash, these events are included in your conference registration, although please note separate RSVPs are required for some events.)Program update: Registration for our Wednesday post-conference tour, Anchoring Change: The New Civics of Miami's Next Economy has reached capacity and is now closed. If you'd like to be placed on a waiting list in case a spot becomes available, please contact Alicia Kitsuse. |
| Sunday, March 17 |
| When Waters Rise 2.0: Equitable Recovery and Resilience Sunday | Noon to 4:30 PM Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay Climate risks pose an existential threat to coastal communities around the globe. Sea levels are rising at alarming rates, coastal land is subsiding in certain areas, and storms are becoming more intense and more frequent. This greater risk of disasters can mean catastrophic losses, especially for those who are socially, environmentally, and economically vulnerable.In June, the Greater New Orleans Foundation launched the When Waters Rise Initiative with an initial convening that brought together community foundations and place-based funders from Rhode Island to Texas to discuss local funders’ roles in contributing to equitable disaster recovery, rebuilding, and long-term resilience.Please join When Waters Rise 2.0 to further explore how place-based funders and community foundations can support equitable disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts grounded in resiliency. Please visit our conference agenda for more information Note: Registration is free but is limited to 40 participants and requires separate registration. Please register via this link. For questions about the convening, email Ella Delio; for problems with registration, email Kristen Craig. |
| PLACES Alumni Gathering Sunday | 12:30 PM - 5:30 PM Miami Beach Community Church |1620 Drexel Ave. | Miami Beach |
| Reimagining the Civic Commons Sunday | 4 PM – 5 PM Knight Foundation | 200 S. Biscayne Blvd, Suite 3300 | Downtown Miami Reimagining the Civic Commons fosters engagement, equity, environmental sustainability and economic development by revitalizing and connecting civic assets. This national initiative is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation, as well as local partners. Projects in Akron, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, and Philadelphia seek to demonstrate how strategic investments in parks, libraries, trails and community centers can connect people of all backgrounds, cultivate trust and counter the trends of social and economic fragmentation in cities and neighborhoods.Learn more about Reimagining the Civic Commons at this event, hosted by the Knight Foundation. Speakers: |
| TFN Welcome Reception Sunday | 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay Connect with fellow funders, TFN President & CEO Pat Smith, and members of our Board of Directors. We especially welcome first-time conference attendees to join us as we kick off TFN’s 20th Anniversary Conference. |
| Sunday Night at the Movies Sunday 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay Throughout the 1970's, an epidemic of fires consumed the South Bronx, reducing entire blocks to rubble, covering neighborhoods in a permanent haze of smoke and destroying 80 percent of the area’s housing stock. Decades later, Bronx-born filmmaker Vivian Vazquez set out to pursue the truth in Decade of Fire, uncovering policies of racism and neglect that still shape our cities.Presented in partnership with the Wyncote Foundation and The Kendeda Fund, our Sunday Night at the Movies will include a screening of the film as well as a conversation with Vazquez. |
| PLACES 10th Anniversary Equity Bash 8 PM - Midnight Boombox 3456 N. Miami Avenue We'll celebrate 10 years of TFN’s PLACES with our first-ever Equity Bash. Come dance the night away, Miami-style. Join us at Boombox lounge in Midtown Miami, located between the Wynwood and Design District neighborhoods.Note: Requires a separate ticket. Tickets for this event can be purchased when you register for conference. This event is open to all TFN PLACES Fellows and Alumni, TFN conference attendees and guests. |
| Monday, March 18 |
| Pre-Conference Institutes 9 AM - 11:30 AM Miami Marriott Biscayne BayWe're offering two Pre-Conference Institutes this year! Check out our #TFNMiami Agenda for speaker updates. Power for Storytelling: Raising Voices, Driving Change, Creating a Sustainable Future: Explore collaborative approaches to storytelling that are developed in partnerships with local communities. Through stories and case studies, film clips and dialogue, this institute will explore the power that film and communications media can bring to communities, building a renewable, equitable and resilient economy that works for all. Power for Policy: Opportunity Zones, Equitable Development and Philanthropy: In 2017, Congress created a new tool for tax incentive to attract long-term private sector investment in low-income neighborhoods across the country: Opportunity Zones. This policy creates a fundamental question for those concerned with racially equitable and inclusive economic development: Will this policy be a tool for displacement and gentrification that extracts wealth from communities, or will it authentically connect residents with new businesses, jobs and housing that emerge from Opportunity Zone investments?We’ll explore how national philanthropic leaders and others are using their collective resources to influence how this new federal program unfolds, and ensure outcomes are truly equitable. |
| About Our Conference |
| Join us for TFN’s 20th Anniversary Conference in Miami, March 18-20, to explore how we can turn ideals into action.Our conference theme: Power Forward, a call to action for philanthropy to leverage the sector’s collective power to create communities and regions that are truly sustainable and just — work that has taken on new urgency as we face increasingly challenging times. |
| Our Venue TFN’s 2019 Anniversary Conference: Power Forward takes place March 18-20 at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, located in Downtown Miami across the bay from South Beach and a short hop to neighborhoods like Wynwood and Little Haiti.Call 1-800-295-1421 for reservations and mention the FUNDERS’ NETWORK to receive the conference rate of $249 plus tax per night. Or you can book online here. |
| RegistrationRegistration is open to donors, staff, directors, and trustees of all grantmaking institutions. Visit our Power Forward webpage for more information. |
Hear the untold story of the Bronx's 'Decade of Fire' at #TFNMiami's Sunday Night at the Movies
By: TFN Staff
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The Funders’ Network is proud to feature Decade of Fire at this year’s Sunday Night at the Movies on March 17, kicking off TFN’s 20th Anniversary Conference: Power Forward in Miami. |
Throughout the 1970's, an epidemic of fires consumed the South Bronx, reducing entire blocks to rubble, covering neighborhoods in a permanent haze of smoke and destroying 80 percent of the area’s housing stock. Black and Puerto Rican residents were blamed for the devastation even as they battled to save their neighborhoods. Decades later, Bronx-born filmmaker Vivian Vazquez set out to pursue the truth, uncovering policies of racism and neglect that still shape our cities. The resulting documentary,
Presented in partnership with the Wyncote Foundation and The Kendeda Fund, our Sunday Night at the Movies will include a screening of the film as well as a conversation with Vazquez. She'll join us in Miami to discuss the film, which confronts the racially charged stereotypes that dehumanized residents of the South Bronx in the 1970’s, and rationalized their abandonment by city, state and federal governments. “Growing up in the South Bronx, I often heard that we, the blacks and Puerto Ricans, do not know how to take care of our neighborhoods. That we are to blame for its problems, the reason our neighborhoods turned to rubble and ruin,” said Vazquez, whose film recalls how her neighbors came together to resist – and rebuild. “Now, I am sharing their stories, for the sake of people who work for justice today.” |
As communities across the United States face the increasing threats of displacement and gentrification, Vazquez and the team behind Decade of Firehope the stories told in the film have resonance beyond the Bronx: shedding light on the systemic practices and beliefs that are at the root of these housing issues, while showing how communities can generate solutions from within. |
“These unsung heroes put everything on the line to keep their blocks and neighborhoods intact. I want to let the world know what they did, how they did it and why it means everything to us today.” Go deeper: NPR's Latino USA recently featured Decade of Fire. Check out the full story here. Sunday Night at the Movies, presented in partnership with the Wyncote Foundation and The Kendeda Fund, takes place at 6:30 p.m. March 17 as part of TFN’s 20th Anniversary Conference: Power Forward. Join us for pizza, popcorn and other movie-friendly treats. The event is included in your conference registration – no additional RSVP needed. |
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About Our Conference |
Our VenueTFN’s 2019 Anniversary Conference: Power Forward takes place March 18-20 at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, located in Downtown Miami across the bay from South Beach and a short hop to neighborhoods like Wynwood and Little Haiti. Call 1-800-295-1421 for reservations and mention the FUNDERS’ NETWORK to receive the conference rate of $229 plus tax per night. Or you can book online here. |
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Join us for TFN’s 20th Anniversary Conference in Miami, March 18-20, to explore how we can turn ideals into action. Our conference theme: Power Forward, a call to action for philanthropy to leverage the sector’s collective power to create communities and regions that are truly sustainable and just — work that has taken on new urgency as we face increasingly challenging times. |
RegistrationEarly Bird registration ends Feb. 15! Registration is open to donors, staff, directors, and trustees of all grantmaking institutions. Visit our Power Forward webpage for more information. |
Join us for a LIVE podcast taping! 'Healing Justice' comes to #TFNMiami
By: TFN StaffDo you love podcasts? We certainly do! That's why we're excited to host a live, interactive taping of the Healing Justice Podcast at TFN's 20th Anniversary Conference in Miami, March 18-20. |
The Healing Justice Podcast is an audio project that seeks to democratize access to inspiring stories, leaders, and practices — and create a virtual campfire around which we can gather to share tales of victory and pain, visionary ideas and generative debates. The podcast's team hopes to equip social justice leaders with practices for healing, sustainability, and resilience in their lives and work. In its first year alone, the podcast has been downloaded more than 500,000 times worldwide. You can find the conversations and practices they share on Apple Podcasts, RadioPublic, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. The Healing Justice Podcast team will join us immediately prior to our evening Eat Here! event on March 19 to record an episode titled Food, Justice, and Healing. One of TFN's signature conference events, Eat Here! is a strolling dinner featuring local farmers, providers, and chefs who place a special emphasis on health, community, and sustainability. |
This year's Eat Here! takes place at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex, located in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood — a hub for much of South Florida's Haitian diaspora and other Caribbean communities. Join TFN and the Healing Justice Podcast to explore our own food stories, hear from food justice leaders, and be part of an interactive, live podcast taping. The podcast taping and Eat Here! event are both included in the conference registration — no separate RSVP is required. Register for #TFNMiami today! |
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About Our Conference |
Our VenueTFN’s 2019 Anniversary Conference: Power Forward takes place March 18-20 at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, located in Downtown Miami across the bay from South Beach and a short hop to neighborhoods like Wynwood and Little Haiti. Call 1-800-295-1421 for reservations and mention the FUNDERS’ NETWORK to receive the conference rate of $229 plus tax per night. Or you can book online here. |
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Join us for TFN’s 20th Anniversary Conference in Miami, March 18-20, to explore how we can turn ideals into action. Our conference theme: Power Forward, a call to action for philanthropy to leverage the sector’s collective power to create communities and regions that are truly sustainable and just — work that has taken on new urgency as we face increasingly challenging times. |
RegistrationEarly Bird registration ends Feb. 15! Registration is open to donors, staff, directors, and trustees of all grantmaking institutions. Visit our Power Forward webpage for more information. |
Storytelling in times of trauma: How the Houston Flood Museum gives voice to Harvey survivors
By Bao-Long Chu, Program Officer, Houston Endowment
Stories and storytelling are powerful tools. Stories can help a community explain who they are, what they want and why it matters.
After a disaster, stories provide a way for people to feel that they have control over the world, see patterns where there is chaos, and meaning where there is randomness. Storytelling after trauma can help survivors to get on a path toward healing and to resurface from loss onto a new shore.
In 1954, my parents – along with nearly one million northerners – took to the rain-soaked roads from Hanoi and fled south when Vietnam was partitioned by the Geneva Accords. In 1975, my family was airlifted out of Saigon two days before the fall of that lush city. We were spared from joining the estimated 1.5 million boat people who fled Vietnam, many of whom took to the open sea in makeshift boats.
Moving from loss to loss, my parents told stories to build hope and grit in us. I am a poet because I believe that collecting and amplifying their stories is critical for my family. Our stories are not unique, but my telling gives us a voice. The post-war stories and poems from colleague writers of my generation, those who have crossed oceans, grown up in America and been fed by storytelling, have filled bookshelves for many years.
In the early morning of August 27, 2017, my parents faced another loss – they were rescued and carried through two feet of water inside their house onto a skiff. Hurricane Harvey’s relentless rain had inundated theirs along with thousands of other homes across the upper Texas coast. Their rescue was one of many that was carried out by a fleet of resident responders from makeshift boats. The images of the volunteer flotilla began to merge with those of boat people in my head.
The idea to collect Harvey stories began in conversations, even before the water receded, with my program officer colleagues as we were discussing how to support vulnerable communities. Providing a platform to gather and amplify stories about what it means to survive as a Houstonian, especially to elevate the voices of those not often heard, aligns with our priority of equitable arts engagement and our recognition that stories can build civic attachment and empathy.
Houston Endowment funded the Houston Flood Museum (HFM) based on a concept by Rice University creative-writing professor Lacy M. Johnson, a memoirist who writes about justice and life after trauma. HFM exemplifies the synchronicity of grantmaking and a grantor-grantee relationship in which shared goals, trust and empathy translate resources into impact. (Read more here and here about its evolution.)
Not a traditional brick-and-mortar museum, HFM is an online, community-driven platform. The museum opened its virtual doors in August 2018 with current exhibitions that contain nearly 1,200 artifacts – a wide range of personal photographs; commissioned art; satellite images; letters from students, videos and podcasts from Houston Public Media; essays in Spanish and English; recorded meditations from Rothko Chapel; and written and performance poetry, including “A Poem for Houston” by Houston Poet Laureate Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton. Beyond the perspectives from elected officials, local heroes, civic and nonprofit leaders, the goal to elevate the voices of everyday Houstonians is fully realized with stories Gloria, Edwardo, Erika, Briana and many others.
As my parents taught me, stories after a disaster do not have an expiration date, thus the work of collecting is ongoing for HFM. Through partnerships with Harvey Memories Project, a consortium of 30 librarians, archivists and data scientists (representing Rice University, University of Houston, Houston Public Library and Harris County Public Library), and several literary and visual arts groups such as FotoFest, Inprint, Writers in the Schools and Writespace, HFM is working in communities to acquire artifacts. New exhibitions are anticipated periodically.
HFM represents a fresh approach to acquisitions and accessibility, which has generated interest from the field of museums. The Jefferson County Memorial Project and Smithsonian National Museum of American History recently contacted Johnson, who leads the project with an advisory board of community stakeholders, to learn more about HFM. Research shows that many small history museums struggle with dwindling visitation and revenues; outsized expenses from maintaining historical assets; and diminished relevance in the face of demographic change and competing interests. Currently, Houston Endowment supports a capacity-building project from the Texas Association of Museums that aims to encourage a cohort of small local history museums to consider and implement "alternative futures," which may include a model like HFM.
Why do stories matter to communities, and why should funders support storytelling? The answer lies in media scholar George Gerbner’s quote: “Whoever tells the stories of a culture defines the terms, the agenda, and the common issues we face.” If we follow this assumption, then whose stories we hear is intertwined with all the pillars of our work to advance equity and enhance vibrancy. Equitable stories are essential to a healthy, sustainable and just society.
About the Author
Bao-Long Chu oversees grantmaking for the majority of the Houston Endowment's arts and culture portfolio. Prior to joining Houston Endowment in 2015, Long was associate director of the literary-education nonprofit Writers in the Schools (WITS) where he developed his extensive background in literacy, arts, and community engagement and worked in collaboration with a wide variety of Houston-area institutions and organizations, including Art League Houston, Houston Grand Opera, Texas Children’s Hospital and University of Houston Moores School of Music. Long has also written and presented extensively on writing pedagogy, the connection between art and the refugee experience, and non-profit programming. Originally from Vietnam, Long earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and psychology from Houston Baptist University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. His poems and essays have been published in several anthologies, including The New Anthology of American Poetry: Postmodernisms 1950-Present and From Both Sides Now: The Poetry of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath. His libretto for HGO’s East + West initiative, Bound, premiered in 2014. Long has served on the boards of DiverseWorks and Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts.
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Dr. Judith Monroe of the CDC Foundation: Strong partnerships and flexible resources can save lives
By Dr. Judith Monroe, President & CEO of the CDC Foundation
TFN's Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Partnership (PPREP) recently held a convening in Oklahoma City, Okla., for the members of the PPREP learning cohort to explore the ways public policy and public organizations influence disaster readiness and recovery and hear from leading voices in the public policy arena. Among the participants in the convening was Dr. Judith Monroe, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation, who joined representatives from FEMA, the USDA and the the U.S. Small Business Administration on a panel addressing how public policy impacts federal agencies.
When you’re in the middle of an emergency, it’s not the time to exchange business cards. That advice, which I’ve heard many times, seemed particularly relevant at a regional Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Partnership (PPREP) meeting in early November.
At the event facilitated by the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy with support by the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, I was honored to serve as a panelist, and fascinated by the strong relationships and thoughtful dialogue among the learning cohort of community foundations and grantmakers from the ten-state Midwest region.
It seemed particularly fitting that this meeting took place in Oklahoma City, one of the top U.S. areas for tornadoes, which we learned more about on a visit to Oklahoma’s National Weather Center. There, researchers leverage predictive analysis tools and techniques to improve forecasting for dangerous weather events to protect us all.
In terms of health protection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plays a crucial role in supporting state and local partners to help communities prepare for any health crisis, whether chronic or acute, natural or manmade. And although I served in a leadership role with CDC for six years and have interacted with CDC from a number of angles over the course of my career, at the meeting I was representing the congressionally-created independent CDC Foundation.
People often ask me why a large agency like CDC needs a foundation. The reality is that for any federal agency, even during emergencies, there are challenges with federal dollars tied to appropriations and restrictions that can limit the ability to act quickly. Immediate, flexible resources can fill gaps to enhance the implementation of policies and to save and protect lives during times of crisis. In our 23-year history of managing approximately 1,000 CDC-led programs, we have learned that strong relationships and partnerships are crucial to helping CDC tackle some of the world’s toughest health challenges at home and abroad.
As just one example, following the devastating 2017 hurricanes, the CDC Foundation served as an integral partner to CDC, the Puerto Rico Department of Health and the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health in implementing response and recovery activities aimed at shoring up and restarting critical public health infrastructure.
We worked with CDC to carry out a territory-wide vaccination campaign in Puerto Rico for more than 110,000 people; restored partial lab capacity at the Puerto Rico Department of Public Health by shipping over 3,200 lab specimens to CDC for partial testing; supported over 300 displaced people from the U.S. Virgin Islands who sought medical treatment in the Southeastern United States by addressing requests for travel support, over-the-counter medicine and transportation to treatment; and funded construction of a mobile clinic to deliver much-needed vaccines, health screenings and clinical services to the residents of U.S. Virgin Islands.
These are just a few instances of support for CDC that would not be possible without our philanthropic and private-sector partners.
And while the Foundation’s tagline is “together our impact is greater,” that statement is much more to us than a tagline. Each day, in the hundreds of programs we manage domestically and globally, we strive to live out that statement because we strongly believe people, groups and organizations have a greater positive impact and can accomplish more together.
The collaborative mindset that we apply in our work is also front and center among my Midwest colleagues, who clearly have a deep understanding of challenges in their region—and are committed to working together on an ongoing basis to create stronger, more resilient communities in the wake of disasters.
About the Author
Judith Monroe, MD, is president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. Over her career, Monroe’s professional focus has centered on the intersection of primary care and public health. Prior to joining CDC in 2016, Dr. Monroe served as director of CDC’s Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support for six years, and also previously served as state health commissioner for Indiana from 2005 to 2010. She was president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials from 2008 to 2009 and has served on numerous national advisory committees and boards.