Event Date: August 5, 2020
Presentation Materials: Recording
Member Beth Tarasawa, Executive VP of Research at NWEA, shared findings from studies about the impact of school closings on student learning, sharing ideas about how individuals and communities can help through this challenging time for education.
Let's Talk About: Educational Impacts of COVID-19
Event Date: August 5, 2020
Presentation Materials: Recording
Member Beth Tarasawa, Executive VP of Research at NWEA, shared findings from studies about the impact of school closings on student learning, sharing ideas about how individuals and communities can help through this challenging time for education.
Let's Talk About: Life in Prison
Event Date: July 23, 2020
Presentation Materials: Recording
Members Anna Debenham and Roby Tenenbaum talked about Life in Prison, drawing on their experiences as volunteers working with people who have been incarcerated through the Insight Alliance. Learn more about their work in Anna’s Ted Talk.
Let's Talk About: Activism in Gun Violence
Event Date: July 9, 2020
Presentation Materials: Recording
Member Heidi Yewman shared her story of becoming an activist on behalf of preventing gun violence. Learn more about her work from her articles from MS Magazine and the Daily Beast (“My month with a gun”), her book “Beyond the Bullet”, and her movie Behind the Bullet.
Let's Talk About: Allyship
Event Date: June 25, 2020
Presentation Materials: Recording | Slides
The premiere of our series featured member Christine Moses, Diversity, Equity & Belonging Champion, who lead a conversation about allyship. She built on the ideas she shared with girlfriends in our e-mail sent during the first week of protests about racial injustice and police brutality.
Read: How to be Anti-Racist articles
Many of us are reading, listening, taking action and discussing issues of race in response to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and actions to address systemic racism and policy brutality in our country. In addition to the resources we and others have shared with members through emails, member Tammy Wilhoite offers two additional resources:
CNN Article How to be anti-racist: Speak out in your own circles by Kristen Rogers
AWAKEN Blog November, 2019 Allyship (& Accomplice): The What, Why, and How by Michelle Kim
2020: How Can Philanthropy Influence Policy?
Although philanthropic dollars are a drop in the bucket compared to government and public funding for our social fabric, philanthropists play a strong role in influencing government to do the right thing. As a collective giving circle we are a philanthropy - how can we leverage our funds, our connections, our collective action to support and advance the change we want in our region? What have other philanthropic leaders and local foundations done?
Read: Philanthropy and Race article
Member Elizabeth Mehren shared a great article from the May 1, 2020 New York Times: In Philanthropy, Race Is Still a Factor in Who Gets What, Study Shows by Paul Sullivan.
And another Elizabeth in our membership, Elizabeth Klein, shared statistics and resources about racial issues in our community that are relevant to our collective action. This material, from Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury’s e-newsletter sheds light on the effects of COVID-19 that are disproportionately impacting communities of color.
Read: COVID-19 & Philanthropy resources
The Chronicle of Philanthropy has assembled a great set of resources to help nonprofits and philanthropies respond to the COVID-19 and continue to operate during these challenging times. Want info on how to manage, lead and communicate during a crisis, or advice on technology solutions and remote work? Read Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak: Resources for Nonprofits by Marjie Glennon, March 12, 2020.
An article about Native American leadership in environmental/climate issues caught our eye,
Protecting the Earth, Protecting Ourselves: Stories from Native America in the Nonprofit Quarterly March 2020 magazine reminds us of the role that Native American communities have been playing in conservation, preservation and environmental justice, and our how we can join together for stewardship.
Read: The Role of Philanthropy in Systems Change article
This year, the ninety-nine girlfriends “learning question” is how can philanthropy influence policy? We’ll be hosting a Discovery Forum in the Spring about this, exploring ways that foundations, collective giving circles and individuals can leverage our resources to advance positive social change. Here’s an article that provides a thoughtful overview and examples of how we can do this. The Role of Philanthropy in Systems Change by Kris Putnam-Walkerly written in 2017.
Read: Board Devilements article
Nonprofit Quarterly article: Board Devilements by the Nonprofit Whisperer for those interested in nonprofit board service.
Member Engagement Series Salons
Can ninety-nine girlfriends give new members a sense of what we’ve been learning about philanthropy, community and social change in the first years of our collective giving? Well, turns out we can! Over the course of three Sundays, Member Education Co-Chair Deborah Edward led new and returning members on three 90-minute learning journeys.
Women Power & Giving: The Recap Salons
In our first years as a collective giving circle, we introduced core concepts about social change, community, and philanthropy to help frame our collective action. Members have asked us to share the takeaways from our first years' workshops and forums so all of us have these ideas in mind. Enter "Women Power and Giving: The Recap" an interactive, information-filled, and fun way to learn and share with other girlfriends before our voting season. These “salons” to be held on Sunday afternoons in October 4:30-6:00 PM. Time for education, interaction, Q&A, and collective thinking about what drives our giving. Join us and register here for one or all!
2019: What is Community Engagement?
Homeless Forum
On Wed May 15th our Member Education Team presented a forum about our local homeless challenges. Marc Jolin, Executive Director of A Home For Everyone/Joint Offices of Homeless Services, and Brandi Tuck from Portland Homeless Family Solutions shared causes and solutions; grantmakers from Oregon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, and Northwest Health Foundation shared their perspectives about how foundations can make a difference on this issue; and all participants had opportunities to think about their own feelings related to homelessness and how each of us can make a difference with regards to this issue. Here are some exemplary resources to help understand how we got to the current crisis nationally and what we can and are doing about it.
2019 Implicit Bias Workshop
Implicit bias is a real thing, and we are working to combat it. Are you wondering if we’re out of our lane here? Well, we don’t think so. Bias can impact who we invite to join ninety-nine girlfriends, who we encourage to lead, and which organizations we deem worthy of a grant–to name a few examples. There are other ways bias rears its ugly head, but these are a few that exemplify the importance of awareness, education, and practice around this subject.
2018: What is Philanthropy and How Do We Fit In?
We introduced members to the basics, trends and hot topics in current US philanthropy and foundations. Environmental grant makers shared social justice perspectives in local grant making. At our discovery forum, participants experienced the challenge of selecting grantees through small group discussions.
Discovery Forum & Community Study Team Reports
2017: What's Happening in Our Community?
We formed five study groups of members to learn more about local challenges and bright spots related to our five focus areas. These groups presented findings at our Discovery Forum. In addition, Chris Grumm led the group in an exploration of ways women give; using the Wiser Giving tools and presenting ideas related to how women use power and influence. Learn what we learned when we explored local realities re arts, education, environment, family/human services, health and wellness.