Five ways place-based funders can improve relationships with local governments
By Alicia Kitsuse, The Funders' Network
I am a fan of grappling with issues through candid, small-group discussions, and last month's “Navigating Relationships Between Place-Based Funders and Local Governments” funder forum in Ohio reminded me of why.
Jointly organized by the Greater Ohio Policy Center, Philanthropy Ohio, and TFN, the forum brought 15 Ohio-based funders together with a handful of local elected officials for an honest exchange about creating mutually beneficial relationships that move their city forward. In the process, participants on both sides shared their frustrations about working across the philanthropic and public sectors, explained the constraints and pressures under which they operate, and described what real partnership meant from their perspectives. The virtues of the “safe space for dialogue” are already well extolled in our line of work, so let me just say that the forum affirmed my appreciation for the power of frank conversation to create opportunity for insight and change.
The “Navigating Relationships Between Place-Based Funders and Local Governments” forum highlighted how funders can bring complementary capacities and resources to local government that can enhance local revitalization initiatives and drive places forward. Funding out-of-town site visits to seed new ideas and fresh thinking, providing flexible operating support to foster key economic development efforts, and funding best practices research were all cited as important philanthropic investments in Ohio’s revitalizing cities and counties. However, competing visions between funders and government entities and differing demands and constraints on both parties can also stall progress and derail relationships.
Top Five Takeaways for Funders:
Here are the top five lessons I gleaned for funders looking to build effective working relationships with local officials and advance the revitalization cause.
| Take time to lay a groundwork of respect and trust. These fundamentals of interpersonal capital are local funders truest form of currency. Rather than asserting their priorities or rolling out a big idea, funders can show respect for elected and administrative officials by first asking how their foundation can be helpful, and then engaging officials in a discussion about how city and foundation priorities can be melded. Funders can build trust by collaborating on small-scale projects that show visible results. The forum speakers repeatedly invoked baseball metaphors along the line of “hit a bunch of singles” and “celebrate bunts.” |
| Work with officials to invest in data and expertise. Credible research that provides useful measures and benchmarks for your city or county can provide political actors the back-stop they need to support new initiatives. For example, data from an independent organization can provide an important evidence base to justify directing revitalization funding to certain parts of the city. Similarly, outside consulting groups supported by funders can help provide a buffer for politicians when difficult truths need to be delivered to the public or other city officials. |
| Deploy your storytelling capacity. Local foundations’ biggest asset is their ability to use the various communications tools at their disposal to tell stories that highlight the human impact of investments in the community. Partnering with government officials to lift up key local initiatives can build valuable working relationships while also serving an important public interest. |
| Civic engagement is an option. In situations where reasonable efforts to collaborate with local government have failed funders might consider building public support for new initiatives through civic engagement. Engaging disenfranchised groups and using non-traditional methods of engagement (e.g., involving arts organizations or enlisting youth in conducting outreach) can be especially effective in gaining officials’ attention. |
| Tend to the long game. Funders should also be cognizant of their ability to invest in the long-term civic health of their community through programs that develop public leadership talent and skills. Staying focused on the long game can be especially constructive during periods when relationships with local government are frayed and civic trust is low. |
About the Author
Alicia Kitsuse is Director of TFN's Older Industrial Cities Program.
Partners for Places: How L.A.'s 'Great Streets' is strengthening neighborhoods, one main street at a time
By Danyelle O’Hara, Special to the Funders' Network
Few cities in the U.S. are as defined by their urban streetscapes as Los Angeles: About 15 percent of land in the City of Angels is taken up by roadways, meaning the city has more streets than anywhere else in America.
In 2014, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the first 15 streets that would benefit from the city’s Great Streets Initiative, intended to improve neighborhood gathering places and revitalize key community corridors.
"The Great Streets Initiative is about strengthening neighborhoods one 'main street' at a time," said Garcetti when the initiative was originally announced.
To accomplish this, the city established the Great Streets Studio, comprised of dedicated staff with an office in City Hall tasked with community outreach and project development — and created with the support of a Partners for Places matching grant.
The Great Streets Studio team became the central coordinating entity for infrastructure planning and development, bringing together the efforts underway as part of the L.A. Housing Departments transit-oriented Consolidated Plan, the Department of City Planning’s Mobility and Health Elements, the Department of Transportation’s Great Streets Strategic Plan, and the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Metro) massive build-out of a fixed-guideway transit system.
The genesis of its work stretches back to 2011, when the Los Angeles planning commission created the Transportation Corridor Cabinet to consider how to better coordinate around land use, transportation, equity and health issues historically siloed.
The Transportation Corridor Cabinet in turn formed an advisory committee composed of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors, the president of city planning, advisors from community nonprofits and from The California Endowment and the California Community Foundation. Through the various perspectives represented on the committee, a set of strategies was developed to link transportation, land use, and the needs of L.A. communities.
This work was underway at the time of the mayoral transition in LA, so The California Endowment and the California Community Foundation, with support from other funders in Los Angeles, joined with the City’s Office of Sustainability to pursue a Partners for Places grant in 2013 to sustain the Transportation Corridor Cabinet’s work across political administrations.
Los Angeles received a $50,000 grant from Partners for Places, matched by funding from the California Community Foundation and The California Endowment, making a total of $150,000 available to support equitable transit-oriented planning. The funds supported the Great Streets Studio team to coordinate Mayor Garcetti’s Great Streets Initiative.
Ann Sewill, vice president of Health and Housing at the California Community Foundation, said the funding helped ensure that those efforts to connect transportation to issues of equity and health continued. “We saw this grant as a way to highlight this work as a good thing for the new administration, a way to keep the momentum going and deepen it,” she said.
Garcetti, who won the 2013 mayoral election, had highlighted the linkages between transportation, streets, and neighborhoods in his campaign, so it was not surprising when he made Great Streets Studio his first executive directive upon taking office. (Garcetti won reelection in 2017.)
Great Streets Studio has a vision for a transit-oriented Los Angeles that is accessible, affordable, and centered on neighborhoods with great streets as their backbone. To move this vision into action, Great Streets built a system for collaboration, communication, and accountability within city agencies and with community stakeholders. Visioning work started early on by asking L.A. residents how they viewed community access to city programs and resources. This process clarified that many residents shared a perception of city work as “siloed,” with little coordination and communication about resources and investments on community streets. Understanding these perceptions enabled city agencies and departments to develop systems to deliver programs and resources with increased transparency and better alignment with community needs and expectations.
The Green Streets Studio has three major goals:
Empowering: Making L.A. streets the centerpieces of L.A. communities means providing communities with the tools to lead in developing visions for their streets.
Connecting: To implement the changes that communities seek, Great Streets studios connects residents, businesses and organizations to each other and to the tools the city provides, from infrastructure to public art grants, and everything in between.
Developing: When existing city programs or policies can’t meet the needs of Great Streets communities, Great Streets Studio works with colleagues in city government to design and implement new programs.
Photo Credit: Hector Felix Photography
In 2016, the city announced seven winners of the Great Streets Challenge, a program investing $2 million in community-driven initiatives to re-imagine Los Angeles’ iconic commercial corridors. The seven winning projects span from Panorama City to Watts, and from the Westside to Boyle Heights.
As Garcetti says in his message to residents on the Great Streets website: “By reimagining our streetscape, we can create transformative gathering places for Angelenos to come together, whether they travel by car, transit, bike or on foot.”
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About the author:
Since 1990, Danyelle O’Hara has worked with a range of organizations in the United States and internationally to help build capacity in issues related to community economic development, natural resources management, and community change. In West and Central Africa, Danyelle worked with Catholic Relief Services and the World Wildlife Fund and in the U.S., she has worked as staff to the Center for Community Self-Help and The Conservation Fund, and with numerous organizations as a consultant. Danyelle has a Bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a Master’s in international development education, both from Stanford University, and extensive experience in program development and design, program management, and evaluation.
About Partners for Places: A collaborative matching grant program, Partners for Places creates opportunities for cities and counties in the United States and Canada to improve communities by building partnerships between local government sustainability offices and place-based foundations. Partners for Places is led by TFN and our partners at the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. National funders invest in local projects to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being of all residents. Through these projects, Partners for Places fosters long-term relationships that make our urban areas more prosperous, livable, and vibrant. To date, Partners for Places has awarded more than $5 million across North America in this successful matching grant program, leading to more than $10 million in investments.
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Danyelle O’Hara, Consultant for the Funders' Network
TFN Webinar: What can Sandy and Katrina teach us about putting equitable housing at the forefront of disaster recovery?
By Tere Figueras Negrete, Director of Communications
From hurricanes and floods to wildfires and mudslides, communities across the U.S. and the Caribbean have been battered by natural disasters in recent months. We know that disasters can quickly exacerbate and escalate economic and social disparities for the most vulnerable — including low-income households, fixed-income seniors and people with disabilities that are the least likely to have adequate resources to fully recover. Evacuated families often face considerable financial and logistical hurdles moving back home. Affordable housing, especially for renters, can prove to be scarce. And the desire for a speedy recovery can often overlook or ignore the need to ensure that those efforts to rebuild are equitable and just.
Join us for a Funders’ Network webinar that looks to the lessons learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating toll on New Orleans in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy’s deadly path along the eastern seaboard seven years later. What were the obstacles and opportunities faced while creating equitable housing in the wake of those storms? What important roles did data and storytelling play in these efforts? How can those lessons help funders support recovery in places hit by recent hurricanes — and better prepare communities who may face their own disasters in the future?
Rebuilding and Recovery: Equitable Housing and the Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina
Jan. 23
2 p.m.
Register here.
This is a funders-only webinar. Please register by Jan. 19 to be sure you receive the webinar details.
Speakers:
Amy Kenyon, Program Officer, Equitable Development, Ford Foundation (moderator)
Staci Berger, President & CEO, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey
Luisa Dantas, Director and Producer of Land of Opportunity, a multi-platform documentary chronicling the reconstruction of New Orleans
Adam Gordon, Associate Director, Fair Share Housing Center
Chrishelle Palay, Houston Co-Director, Texas Housers: Texas Low Income Housing Information Service
(Check out this video produced by Texas Housers about the need for data to understand equity impacts.)
About this series:
This TFN Learning Network Webinar is the latest installment of TFN’s Relief, Recovery and Resiliency Webinar Series, which offers firsthand accounts from impacted areas, insight into philanthropy’s role in relief and recovery efforts, and key lessons from funders and others working to build more sustainable, resilient and equitable communities. These webinars are intended to help frame and inform the conversations leading up to the 2018 TFN Annual Conference in Houston, March 19-21.
Listen to the first installment of the series, Uncertain Waters: Disasters and the Needs of Vulnerable Populations, here.
Stay tuned for details on our February and March Relief, Recovery and Resiliency Webinars!
TFN 2018 Annual Conference updates! Keynote speakers, mobile workshops and more
By Tere Figueras Negrete, Director of Communications
TFN's 2018 Annual Conference is fast approaching. Join us in Houston March 19-21 as we welcome national, regional and local funders looking to increase the impact of their grantmaking and create more equitable, sustainable and prosperous communities.
From insightful speakers and in-depth panels to our popular mobile workshops and networking receptions, there are plenty of of opportunities to connect, share and explore.
Register today for TFN's 2018 Annual Conference, March 19-21 at the Hotel ZaZa in Houston’s thriving Museum District. Download our Schedule At-a-Glance to help you plan your visit. Here are just a just a few of our TFN 2018 Annual Conference highlights:
Resilient People, Resilient Places: Spotlight on SolutionsPre-Conference Institute | Monday, March 19 | 9 to 11:30 a.m. |
After Harvey: A Slam Operetta
Since 1983, Writers in the Schools (WITS) has worked hand-in-hand with educators and professional writers to teach students the craft of writing. In the days after Hurricane Harvey, Writers in the Schools’ teachers worked with children at a local shelter to help them express their anxiety through writing. Rukmini, who immigrated to the United States from India when she was 6, was chosen from dozens of applicants competing for the honor of being named the city’s Youth Poet Laureate. |
Mobile Workshops
You'll have a chance to gain insight about flood resilience on a Bayou Greenways bike tour; learn about fence-line communities along the Houston Ship Channel; explore art and equitable development on a Third Ward walking tour; take a trip up Houston's METRORail Red Line; or visit the community of Gulfton, a first stop for many immigrants and refugees, often referred to as Houston's version of Ellis Island. |
Mustafa Santiago Ali, Hip Hop Caucus
He joined the EPA as a student and became a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). He served multiple roles in his 24 years at the agency, including as senior advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization. Ali also led the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (EJIWG), which was comprised of 17 federal agencies and White House offices focused on implementing holistic strategies to address the issues facing vulnerable communities. |
TFN 2018 Annual Conference | A message from our Houston co-chairs
We are thrilled to announce that registration is now open for the 2018 Annual Conference of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN), which takes place March 19-21 in Houston.
TFN’s annual conferences provide an exciting opportunity to join funders from across North America to explore the strategies and stories that are creating more equitable, sustainable and resilient places to live.
The conference’s lineup of sessions and speakers will let us hear from diverse and thought-provoking voices on issues such as protecting our natural resources, building inclusive economies and incorporating equitable practices into our work.
We are so proud that TFN’s 2018 Annual Conference will take place in our beloved city of Houston, which continues to rebuild and recover following Hurricane Harvey.
This year’s devastating hurricane season — which affected many communities in the Gulf Coast and South Florida, as well as Puerto Rico and islands across the Caribbean — along with recent earthquakes and fires underline the urgency to address the critical issue of climate change and to build stronger and more resilient communities that can withstand and recover from extreme weather events. It also reinforces the need to approach preparation, relief and recovery in a way that is fair and just, especially for the most vulnerable. Houston is an ideal place for these types of conversations, and we look forward to hearing and sharing our respective experiences, insights and lessons learned to help create more resilient communities.
Beyond discussions of resilience, TFN’s 2018 Annual Conference will connect you to other leaders in philanthropy as well as local leaders and key partners to explore a range of issues associated with environmental sustainability, social equity and economic prosperity. The three-day program also features mobile workshops that will give you a first-hand look at Houston’s vibrant neighborhoods and unique approaches to tackling complex challenges, an Eat Here! reception that highlights the best of our local cuisine, and so much more!
We hope you’ll join us to learn, share, and be inspired. For more information, be sure to visit the TFN 2018 Annual Conference webpage.
We look forward to seeing you in Houston!
Sincerely,
TFN 2018 Annual Conference Co-Chairs
Marilu Hastings
Vice President, Sustainability Programs
The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation
Elizabeth Love
Senior Program Officer
Houston Endowment
Partners for Places: New RFP for sustainable projects released!
The Partners for Places matching grants program, which pairs city governments with philanthropy to support sustainability efforts, has released its latest RFP for sustainability projects that promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being for all residents.
In partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities today announced the opening of Round 12 of the Partners for Places grant program.
Partners for Places is a successful matching grant program that creates opportunities for cities and counties in the United States and Canada to improve communities by building partnerships between local government sustainability offices and place-based foundations. National funders invest in local projects to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being of all residents. Through these projects, Partners for Places fosters long-term relationships that make our urban areas more prosperous, livable, and vibrant. The grant program provides partnership investments between $25,000 and $75,000 for one year projects, or $50,000 and $150,000 for two year projects, with a 1:1 match required by one or more local foundations.
Proposals are due Jan. 29, 2018!
Want to learn more about submitting a successful proposal? Be sure to review our guidance documents and other resources:
Partners for Places now accepts proposals for the creation of a community-focused Sustainability, Climate Action, Adaptation/Resilience, or Comprehensive Plan that specifically addresses sustainability or addresses an area identified for performance improvement or implementation for Certified STAR Communities. If your proposal requests funding for the creation of one of these plans, please review our Planning Process Guidance document linked here.
All proposals are scored on how well the projects meaningfully involve the community and key stakeholders in program development and implementation. To review our guidance document on meaningful engagement, click here.
Visit the Partners for Places webpage to view our informational video, download the Request for Proposals (RFP), access our Proposal Form and consult our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.
TFN will host a webinar to answer any questions about the grant program on December 12, at 2 p.m., ET. Register for the webinar here. (A recording of the webinar will be made available through our website for those of you unable to participate.)
Learn more about our most recent round of grantees, announced in November.
Partners for Places general grant program is supported by The JPB Foundation, Kendeda Fund, New York Community Trust, The Summit Foundation, and Surdna Foundation.
A selection committee comprised of foundation representatives and urban sustainability directors will make grant selection decisions on behalf of Partners for Places, and awards will be announced on May 3, 2018. If the RFP and FAQ documents don’t answer all your questions, please contact Ashley Quintana at ashley@www.fundersnetwork.org or Ann Wallace at ann@www.fundersnetwork.org for more information.
How to strengthen funder-grantee relationships: New report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy
A new report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy explores how funders can strengthen the all-important connections to grantees, and the key role program officers play.
Relationships Matter: Program Officers, Grantees, and the Keys to Success sheds light on what constitutes a strong funder–grantee relationship, as well as what nonprofits say it takes for funders to foster such relationships.
The newly released report includes interviews with 11 program officers who earned top marks, including Elizabeth Love of the Houston Endowment, who is also co-chair of the TFN 2018 Annual Conference in Houston.
"Her first year as an environmental program officer at the Houston Endowment was spent in the field with nonprofit leaders, public officials, and community members learning about the issues and the barriers to making change, as well as the players who might be positioned to move the needle, she said. It was a steep learning curve," according to a story about the report in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
"What the grantee brings is knowledge, expertise, boots on the ground that can help advance those goals," Love told The Chronicle. "I always try to acknowledge our respective roles and emphasize that we as the funder don’t have deep subject expertise that the grantee does."
The other program officers featured in the report:
- Jamie Allison of the S.H. Cowell Foundation
- Caroline Altman Smith of the Kresge Foundation
- Irfan Hasan of the New York Community Trust
- Jackie Hausman of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation
- Sarah Lovan of the McKnight Foundation
- Emiko Ono of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- Stacy Parker-Fisher of the Oak Foundation
- Nicholas Randell of the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation
- Teresa Rivero of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Graciela Selaimen of the Ford Foundation
To our funders, with thanks and gratitude
Dear funders,
While we feel this way all year at TFN, in the spirit of Thanksgiving I want to take a moment to express gratitude for our network of funders and partners dedicated to unraveling society’s most difficult problems, be it environmental injustice, irresponsible growth or inequitable policies, and whose work may often feel thankless. Now more than ever, we see that philanthropy can be relied upon to bring together the right people, ideas and resources to find solutions to those problems.
I’m also exceedingly grateful to the TFN team — our community of staff, contractors, and board of directors — who work so diligently to ensure that our network continues to thrive and grow.
Especially in a year where it seems every news cycle brings a story of unimaginable loss or a startling reminder of the deep-seated divisions we face as a country, it is heartening to be surrounded by people who are dedicated to supporting the important work of building communities that are more equitable, sustainable and resilient. Not just for some but for all.
We thank you for the work you do today — and every day.
What are we learning about in December?
What are we learning about in December?
We have two upcoming webinars that may be of interest to our funders:
Impact Investing Where It Matters Most
10 a.m. PT, Dec. 5
Join Smart Growth California for a funders-only video conference on the challenges and opportunities for impact investing in low-income communities and other communities in which it is typically harder to deploy capital. You'll hear from The Kresge Foundation about their work investing in climate resilience and water as well as The California Endowment about the upcoming launch of the Freshworks 2.0, a program-related investment for healthy food access. Register here.
Speakers include:
- Judi Larsen and Amy Chung, The California Endowment
- Cat Howard, Northern California Community Loan Fund
- Jalonne White-Newsome, The Kresge Foundation (and a 2017 TFN PLACES Fellow)
- Moderator: Katherine Pease, Director of Impact Investing, Cornerstone Capital Group
Greenspace Conservation in Metropolitan America: Partnerships That Benefit People and Nature
3 p.m. ET Dec. 12.
Join TFN's monthly Learning Network Webinar to learn more about the promise of landscape conservation within metropolitan areas, the Metropolitan Greenspace Alliance's national efforts, and the role of funders in this movement. This webinar is organized by TFN's Intermountain West Funder Network. Register here.
The conversation will include:
- Deborah January-Bevers, President and CEO of Houston Wilderness
- Michael Wetter, Executive Director of Intertwine Alliance
- Claire Robinson, Founder and Managing Director of Amigos de los Rios
- Peter Pollock, Manager of Western Programs at Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, who will moderate the call.