Join funder colleagues in Cleveland this September for a fall convening of TFN’s GREEN and Inclusive Economies working groups in partnership with funders from our Philanthropic Preparedness and Emergency Response Partnership (PPREP).
The convening will bring together funders working at the intersection of climate and environmental justice, community resilience and economic opportunity to exchange ideas, strengthen collaboration and move our work forward during these challenging times. We’ll explore how philanthropy can work together to drive climate adaptation, economic development and community-led solutions.
6:30-8:30 p.m. — Optional No Host Dinner for Funders
8 a.m. — Breakfast and Networking
8:30 a.m. — Welcome, Agenda Review, and Getting to Know Each Other
- Welcome from GREEN and Inclusive Economies co-chairs, and PPREP leaders.
- Greetings from Dion Cartwright, TFN President and CEO
- Break into pairs or triads to get to know each other as people and as funders.
9 a.m. — Opening Speaker: An Introduction to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio
Chris Ronayne, Cuyahoga County Executive
Our opening speaker is the County Executive of Cuyahoga County. Trained as an equity planner, Chris Ronayne has held a variety of important positions in the region that provide a unique perspective on the city and Northeast Ohio, among them planning director for the City of Cleveland and executive director of University Circle, Inc. He is also a three-time attendee at the United Nations Climate Conferences (the COP) as part of a Gund Foundation-led delegation from Northeast Ohio. Chris will ground attendees in some of the key issues and dynamics of the region.
9:45 a.m. — Multi-Issue Approaches to Tackle Climate, Disaster Preparedness and Inclusive Economic Development in Ohio and the Great Lakes
This panel of NGO partners represents important networks and collaborations tackling energy, environmental justice, resilience, and economic opportunity in Ohio and the larger Great Lakes Region. We will ask speakers to share what is motivating and mobilizing their groups to work together and how collaboration is building people power and leading to stronger outcomes.
- Alyssa Johnson, Director of Programs & Partnerships, Power A Clean Future Ohio
- Shalini Gupta, Co-Director, Midwest Environmental Justice Network
- Paul Getsos, Executive Director, United Today Stronger Tomorrow
11 a.m. — Break
11:30 a.m. — Funder Fishbowl Conversation: Pushing Beyond the Chaos: Strategies to Advance Resilient and Prosperous Places
Our funder moderator will set the context for the conversation and invite three funder discussion starters to describe some of their work and strategies advancing resilient, sustainable, and prosperous places to meet this moment. The fishbowl will give attendees a sense of who is in the room and the varied strategies that funders are pursuing. We’ll use prompting questions to ask funders to touch on some key issues identified by our planning committee. The moderator will invite other funders to join the circle and share their work or react to what they have heard, as the initial group rotates out. We will encourage those new to philanthropy or to our working groups to share what is top of mind for them coming into this meeting and to dive into the fishbowl.
Discussion leaders:
- Dominique Mack, Principal, Community Rx (moderator)
- Scot Spencer, Associate Director, Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Ruth Goldman, Executive Director, Merck Family Fund
- Isabel Barrios, Program Officer, Greater New Orleans Foundation
12 p.m. — Networking Lunch followed by Community Leaders Panel
12: 45 p.m. — Community Leaders Panel: Grounding for our Site Visits
Community leaders on this panel will share their work and tee up the context for the afternoon site visits.
1:30 p.m. — Depart for Cleveland Site Visits
This site visit will provide an opportunity to learn about the City of Cleveland’s ambitious plans to reorient around and provide greater public access to the waterfront. We’ll tour waterfront sites, hear how climate resilience and community benefits are being factored into the planning for this oftentimes hidden resource. During the visit, we’ll meet with new leadership at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, positioning the Authority to become a sustainability leader and economic development investor as it implements a major electrification initiative funded in part by federal Clean Port dollars.
The Midline Redevelopment Project and Cleveland’s Site Readiness Fund
The Midline is a signature element of Mayor Justin Bibb’s Cleveland ERA Initiative which seeks to reconnect neighborhoods, create opportunities, and ensure that city residents share in city growth and economic opportunities. The project involves the cleanup and redevelopment of more than 350 acres of formerly industrial and vacant land near Cleveland’s East Side, transforming this property into a mixed-use employment and community district with advanced manufacturing, research and development space, parks and trails. We’ll see how this massive redevelopment is proceeding, how adjacent neighborhoods and residents will benefit in addition to the City at large, and how community residents and other key stakeholders have been involved in shaping plans.
4:30 p.m. — Return to Hotel for Free Time
6:30 p.m. — Reception and Dinner
8 a.m. — Breakfast and Networking
8:45 a.m. — Welcome and Introductions
Reflections on Monday’s program and site visits.
9:15 a.m. — Opening Panel: Working in Tandem, Not in Silos
We will invite funders from each of our sponsoring groups to share how they are working in tandem, across sectors, busting silos. Speakers will share how their work benefits from connecting with and learning from peers, where they see biggest opportunities in face of policy/funding setbacks, how they work across sectors and value of doing so.
- James Hardy, Deputy Director, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Ben Passer, Midwest Climate Program Director, McKnight Foundation
- Karla Twedt-Ball, President & CEO, Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
- Paula Sammons, Program Officer, W. K. Kellogg Foundation (moderator)
10:30 a.m. — Break
10:45 a.m. — Panel Two: Harnessing Energy and Momentum
This panel will examine funder strategies, initiatives and investments related to three key areas of work: investing in narrative and storytelling, mobilizing around AI and data center developments, and new financing and ownership models in face of public funding reversals. We will offer deep dive small group conversations on these topics following lunch and provide an opportunity for funders to pitch 1-2 other topics for small group conversation. We will ask panel speakers to help facilitate the small group conversations.
- Narrative and Storytelling Approaches and Success Stories
- Mobilizing Around AI and Data Centers
- Grim fiscal realities and hostile political landscape breed invention and innovation in financing and ownership models.
12 p.m. — Networking Lunch
1:15 p.m. — Funder Proposed Small Group Deep Dive Topics
- Narrative/storytelling co-laboratory
- Mobilizing around AI and data centers
- New financing/ownership models
- Funder-proposed other ideas
2:30 p.m. — Debrief, Reflections, where to go from here…
3 p.m. — Farewells and Adjourn
The Fall Convening will be followed by a post-meeting gathering of TFN’s peer community of funders working in conservative places and a group dinner. Please reach out to ann@fundersnetwork.org if you would like to learn more.
3:30 p.m. — Funders Working in Conservative Places Meeting
Registration is open to donors, staff, directors and trustees of all grantmaking institutions.
We are seeking to create an intimate gathering of funders with the goal of learning, sharing and facilitating strategic conversations about where philanthropic resources can have the greatest impact.
Newcomers welcome! Join us if you are already engaged with TFN’s GREEN, Inclusive Economies, or PPREP working groups — or are looking to learn more about us.
Registration is open to donors, staff, directors and trustees of all grantmaking institutions.
- $300 for members
- $500 for non-members
TFN is committed to making our events accessible to all participants. Please let us know what accommodations you require.
If you have any questions about accessibility accommodations please reach out to Hazel Paguaga at hazel@fundersnetwork.org or 786-309-9029.
As part of TFN’s ongoing commitment to fostering a safe and welcoming environment where everyone can fully participate, the exact location of the convening and hotel block will be shared only with registered attendees. We kindly ask that you do not post or share this information publicly or on social media.
If you have any questions about our event safety practices or logistics, please contact us at events@fundersnetwork.org. We’re happy to help.
THANK YOU
Thank you to our funder planning committee for their ideas, guidance and assistance in planning this meeting:
- Alejandra Hernandez, The Kresge Foundation
- Dominique Mack, CommunityRx
- Joe Heitz, Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
- Paula Sammons, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation
- Treye Johnson, The George Gund Foundation
Our Working Groups
TFN’s GREEN working group — which stands for Green, Renewable, Efficient, Equitable, Now — brings together funders committed to supporting community-led climate solutions and addressing environmental and climate injustice.
GREEN provides shared learning, alignment and action spaces for funders to more effectively support communities and regions that are sustainable, prosperous, healthy and just for all people
TFN’s Inclusive Economies working group brings place-based funders and related partners from across the sector together to build working relationships, advancing understanding of practices and policies that lead to inclusive prosperity and taking joint action that drives the field forward.
We apply a three-part focus — race, place and prosperity — to economic growth and development. A particular goal is connecting people and neighborhoods of color to employment and wealth-building opportunities through investment, systems change and policy reform.
PPREP, which stands for Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Partnership, was created to provide resources for community foundations to build their skills and leadership capacity in order to be better informed and prepared should a natural disaster strike their community.
PPREP is about strengthening the relationships between community members and organizations to maximize their impact in preparing for and recovering from disasters. Given the disproportionate health, economic and social impacts of disasters on low-income communities and other vulnerable populations, PPREP works to embed an equity lens into the cohort’s learning about preparedness, response and recovery practices and policies.