The Council on Foundations invited chief executives of community foundations of various size, scope, and location to glean understanding from diverse viewpoints for an exchange of ideas to Seattle, WA to discuss ways we can strengthen communities across the United States.
The sentiment for why the Council is convening community foundations was best captured by our host, Tony Mestres, CEO of The Seattle Foundation:
"Our shared challenges and widening gaps, from climate change to economic disparity, seem to be growing faster than our current capacity to address them. Given this moment, our mission as local civic leaders, philanthropic catalyzers, and grantmakers, is imperative. At the same time, the community foundation field broadly is in need of positive disruption and innovation. The challenges we face continue to require more resources, greater collaboration across sectors, and more creative solutions. Could community foundations fill a unique gap in rewriting the playbook for stewarding American society and reimagining our democracy? Given all of the history, wisdom and knowledge each of our organizations brings to the table, how would we collectively reimagine the role of community foundations today? Pushing ourselves to think as innovatively as possible, what would this reimagined community leader take action on in response to the complex challenges facing each of our communities?"
At the conclusion of the roundtables, a series that has spanned Washington DC, Tucson AZ, Miami FL, and Seattle WA, the Council will be issuing an executive summary of the key findings with the field in the spirit of collaboration and collective aspirations.
Goals & Agenda
Our agenda for this Roundtable will explore various topics including: differentiators that help propel the community foundation field forward; the evolving role of community foundations; the importance of centering equity and belonging in the community foundation sector; and strategies to create innovative and inclusive organizational cultures.
Roundtable Resources
These resources were referrenced during the workshop.
Changing the Narrative
Scaling Philanthropy
Centering Equity
Cross-Sector Table and Regional Dashboard
DAFs and Transparency
Subscriptions from the Council
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Additional Sector Resources
Roundtable Notes
Download notes from the event.
Past Roundtables
View recordings from previous Roundtables.
