As my fellow Exponent Philanthropy staff, colleagues, and board members continue on our journey to actively embrace equity, inclusion, and diversity I find myself, as a funder, thinking about things differently. Each new seed of insight doesn’t cause an immediate seismic shift in my grantmaking, but is a catalyst for cleaning my glasses, opening my... Read More
I was driving my daughter to her summer job, and we were sharing: Thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams. I went first. “I had a dream last night that a large snake rose from the laundry basket. buy xenical online plasticsurgerycenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/jpg/xenical.html no prescription pharmacy ” Not being a snake person in any way-shape-or-form, I was still shaken... Read More
On a Friday in February 2015, I invited 24 organizations to apply for funding in response to letters of inquiry our foundation had solicited. The next day, our board held a retreat to evaluate the foundation’s grantmaking outcomes over its first 5 years. We knew the board wanted to talk about how to increase our... Read More
COVID-19 is keeping me awake at night. I am completely overwhelmed with information and uncertainty. As a foundation with only one staff member located in Monterey, California, I knew that we could do something to support our community, but I also knew that we didn’t have the financial or human resources to do anything dramatic... Read More
To make an outsized and lasting impact in their communities and issue areas, grantmakers must be intentional about equity and inclusion within their boards, governance, and funding efforts. The journey towards equitable grantmaking is not merely about ticking boxes; it’s a transformative process that demands introspection, learning, and action. While adopting equitable grantmaking practices serves... Read More
As practitioners, advisors and consultants to funders, conveners and conductors of community collaboration, we have observed collaboration and collective impact in communities across the country. From our on-the-ground experience, we have seen it done well, and not so well. The first of this two-blog series provided several guideposts for how funders can better see the... Read More