Grappling with Global Threats from Within and Without

June 14 | 12:00-3:00 p.m. ET

Global grantmaking is more important and urgent than ever before. However, to address crises around the world, foundations working internationally must adapt to overcome new threats to their work and ensure the safety of their nonprofit partners and the well-being of their staff. As a result of inhospitable regulations and historically ineffective methods of working internationally, global funders often face an uphill battle to achieve their missions and support their partners. Join us for this Leading Together 2021 preconference session as we examine the most pressing challenges facing global funders and the communities they support, and how foundations can work more effectively across borders.

Agenda

American foundations have a long history of working internationally and the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of philanthropy that extends across borders. Hear remarks about the importance of global solutions to global problems grounded in cross-national partnerships.

Speaker: Peter Laugharn, President and CEO, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

The past year has seen reckonings on racial equity and the state of democracies around the world. But there has also been a reckoning within global philanthropy over who holds the power and the imbalance inherent in how we’ve practiced grantmaking internationally. How do we rethink the power and equity in global giving?

Speaker: Yvonne Moore, President, Moore Impact & Managing Director, Moore Philanthropy

This session will offer perspectives from experts on philanthropy and civil society in India and Brazil, two countries still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they think philanthropy can help.

Speaker: Andre Degenszajn, Executive Director, Instituto Ibirapitanga; Ingrid Srinath, Director, Centre for Social Impact & Philanthropy, Ashoka University

From new laws restricting foreign funding, to anti-democratic movements around the world, and a new wave of climate protests, the last two years have seen unprecedented threats to civil society. Engage with experts and activists about how philanthropy can address these challenges in the immediate and long-term.

Moderator: Natalie Ross, Vice President of Resource Development & Strategic Opportunities, Council on Foundations

Speakers: Lysa John Berna, Secretary General, Civicus; Lily Liu, Legal Associate, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Atti Worku, Co-CEO, African Visionary Fund

The majority of global philanthropic flows are from predominantly white countries intended for work in predominantly non-white countries. This reality has shaped how foundations have operated internationally for decades and has created an imbalanced status quo. This panel will dive into the racist practices that exist in global philanthropy and offer ways for foundations to shift power to local organizations.

Moderator: Jenny Hodgson, Executive Director, Global Fund for Community Foundations

Speakers: Deborah Doane, Partner, Rights CoLab; Nicolette Naylor, International Program Director, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice, Ford Foundation; Shannon Paige, Scoville Peace Fellow, Peace Direct