Fast Forward

The Bush Foundation will be accepting applications for the 2017 Bush Fellowship from August 30th, 2016, through September 29th, 2016. So Bush Leadership Programs Director Anita Patel sits down with MCF to talk about the goals of the program, share ideas on how to approach applying for the fellowship and talks about the work that's been coming from current and past fellows. As Leadership Programs Director, Patel works with a wonderful team to equip, inspire and connect leaders in order to strengthen our region. She brings a significant record of accomplishments to the Foundation, including ten years of developing of a wide-range of leadership and inclusion programs as the vice president for racial justice and public policy at the YWCA of Minneapolis. As someone who grew up and in greater Minnesota and went to high school in Granite Falls (Archibald Bush’s hometown), Patel believes in the talent that lies all across the Bush Foundation region and is excited to invest in the success of our communities.

“We’re going to stay here. But we want to get bigger impact.” On this episode of the Fast Forward podcast, Tawanna Black sits down to talk about the work it takes to build a partnership with the public sect like she has done between the Northside Funders Group and the city of Minneapolis. She discusses how to get at changing the way philanthropy works inside public sector institutions beyond just policy change but also helping reshape how they do grant making. She shares the four levers of the work of the Northside Funders Group, dives into the very real challenges of sustainability and speaks openly about how to keep fear of failing from preventing risk taking. Tawanna is the Executive Director for the Northside Funders Group, a collaborative of 19 corporate, community and private foundations and public sector investors committed to aligning investments to catalyze comprehensive, sustainable change in North Minneapolis.

“Trying to put band aids on things will never work.” John Schwartz Director and Founder of the Voqal Companies A public media advocate for 40 years, John has founded community radio and television stations and brought wireless broadband services to cities throughout the United States. In 1980, John founded KBDI-TV in the Denver area, now known as CPT12. In 1983, he started what is now called Voqal — five non-profit organizations that obtained licenses in the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) band. Utilizing the organizations’ spectrum, commercial operator Clearwire, now a Sprint subsidiary, delivers 4G wireless broadband to most major U.S. cities. In exchange for the use of this spectrum, Clearwire provides the Voqal organizations with royalties, which they allocate to their operations and grant-making efforts. In 1995, John started Free Speech TV, a Denver-based progressive TV network which is seen on DISH Network, DirecTV, Roku and the web. John lives in Boulder, CO. John talks about the work of Voqal to address the “Homework Gap.” He also talks about civic engagement and why political change is vital in making sure everyone has access to good schooling.

“There are aggressive attacks on voting rights that we did not see in the 90s." Judith Browne Dianis is the executive director of The Advancement Project. Judith has an extensive background in civil rights litigation and advocacy in the areas of voting, education, housing, and employment. She has protected the rights of people of color in the midst of some of the greatest civil rights crises of our modern times, including in Florida after the 2000 election and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Dianis joined Advancement Project at its inception in 1999, after serving as the Managing Attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. She is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law, was awarded a Skadden Fellowship, served as a Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar at Florida State University Law School, and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. She was named one of the “Thirty Women to Watch” by Essence Magazine and has written and commented extensively in the media about race, voting rights, and education issues, appearing often on MSNBC, CNN, BET, TVOne and various radio shows. On this episode of the podcast, Dianis talks about where voting rights are today and why she believes the trend of making it harder to vote as something that will continue. Judith talks about her work on the ground in Florida during the 2000 election, what that tells us about today and how she started a voting protection program as a result. Judith also covers communities’ relationships to voter rights laws and shares opinions on potential structural changes to voting in the U.S.

Ruy Teixeira is a Senior Fellow at both The Century Foundation and American Progress. He is also co-director of the States of Change: Demographics and Democracy project, a collaboration that brings together American Progress, the American Enterprise Institute, and demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution. He is the author or co-author of seven books, including America’s New Swing Region: Changing Politics and Demographics in the Mountain West; Red, Blue and Purple America: The Future of Election Demographics; The Emerging Democratic Majority; America’s Forgotten Majority: Why the White Working Class Still Matters; and The Disappearing American Voter, as well as hundreds of articles, both scholarly and popular.

“Impact investing is a practice and it’s something you get better at or you get more comfortable with.” Elizabeth McGeveran joined McKnight in 2014 as Director of Impact Investing. She is responsible for the Foundation’s $200 million commitment, investing in businesses and funds that are building the low-carbon economy, improving the water quality of the Mississippi River, and contributing to a thriving, sustainable Minnesota. This portfolio represents 10% of the Foundation’s $2 billion endowment. McGeveran also provides Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) expertise and evaluation across the entire endowment. On this episode, Elizabeth talks about the McKnight Foundation looked at ways to leverage their assets and say their endowment's market earnings as an underutilized resource. She talks about the process the board went through to assess potential shifts in alignment, describes the Midwest Climate and Energy Program and the Carbon Efficiency Fund.

Susan Voigt is Program Manager at the Medica Foundation. Before joining the Medica Foundation, Ms. Voigt was employed by several nonprofits, start-ups and IBM. As someone who has lived on the grantee end of incorporating evaluation into the work and is now on the funder side, Susan has real insights about how evaluation tools can and should be used as tools for learning rather than just accountability. In this episode, Susan also talks about Common Shared Metrics as a big picture idea and explains the idea of Field of Practice evaluation.

"We're trying to get the funding closest to the people who are most impacted by these social and economic issues." Carolyn Link is executive director for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation. In her role, Carolyn oversees all operations and strategic direction for the Foundation. On this episode, Carolyn talks about changes to a grant application process and how it can alter who you're welcoming in and how funder/fundee collaborations are perceived. [email protected]

With decades of experience in the civic sector, Marcia Ballinger and Lars Leafblad work with foundations, nonprofits, and higher ed institutions to help them make important decisions about leadership hires. In this episode of the podcast, Ballinger and Leafblad talk about what organizations need to think about when recruiting new leadership and how they can pull in various stakeholders.

“One of the best signs of a financially healthy nonprofit is a nonprofit that ends their operating year with a surplus.” Kate Barr has been making meaning out of financial information and strategies for decades, with stints as an arts administrator, a bank executive, and as Executive Director of Nonprofits Assistance Fund. Her goal is “to help people connect the dots between mission and business model.” In this episode of Fast Forward, Barr talks about how funders consider which organizations they elect to collaborate with or support. Barr also explains the challenges with a one-size-fits-all approach to evaluating whether or not an organization qualifies for funding. And she breaks down the idea of Core Mission Support. Plus, in addition to using the Nonprofit Assistance Fund’s website, Barr also recommends reading the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Nonprofit Quarterly. https://nonprofitsassistancefund.org/

Bush Foundation Communications Director Dominick Washington joins us to explain what he calls “Whole Pig” philanthropy, a way of trying to have an impact at every level and part of an organization. He also talks about how his political and nonprofit background informs his philanthropic work and the ways he thinks about partnerships and cross-sector relationships. He also talks about using budgetary systems as models for other operations and how to encourage a culture of collaboration within an organization.

MCF President Trista Harris shares her take-aways from a training at the Institute for the Future and a look at where philanthropy is headed. She also talks about what hover boards mean to philanthropy.

Ho Nguyen is a Program Officer at PFund. She was formerly the Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator with Pro-Choice Resources and has been actively engaged in anti-racist work and social justice strategies for over a decade. Ho’s background is in housing, homelessness and poverty, working to ensure that all people and families have access to safe and affordable housing. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the MN Coalition for the Homeless.

Leah Goldstein Moses founded The Improve Group in 2000 with a vision to improve programs and organizations that impact the world. In this conversations, we talk with Leah Goldstein Moses along with The Improve Group’s Research and Evaluation Director Jennifer Obinna about how grantmakers can and should be using evaluation in their work. Leah and Jennifer talk about best practices in evaluation, the importance of thinking through how evaluation aligns with your identity as a foundation, building evaluation capacity, how to decide when to bring in outside help for evaluation and what to do with evaluation data once you’ve captured it. They also talk about keeping realistic expectation for the outcomes of investing in evaluation and share why their personally passionate about their work. http://theimprovegroup.com/

Eagle Heart holds an Master’s in Business Administration; a Bachelor’s of Arts in Mass Communications, and a Bachelor’s of Arts in American Indian Studies. Sarah is a 2014 recipient of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s “40 under 40 Award”, which recognizes emerging Native American leaders who have demonstrated leadership, initiative and dedication and made significant contributions in business and/or their community. Sarah is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. This past September, Sarah Eagle Heart became CEO of Native Americans in Philanthropy

Beth Zemsky a community organizer, educator, psychotherapist and organizational leader. In this interview, Beth talks with Alfonso Wenker about her multidisciplinary approach to intercultural organizational development.

“My life has been focused on a deep belief that education is a liberating force in human development.” Trista sits down with MN Partners President and CEO Dr. Eric Jolly for a conversation about his transition from decades spent working in academia and the non-profit sector to the world of foundations. Dr. Jolly talks about the unique role community foundations play in Philanthropy, the outpouring of support he's received from the sector, where MN Partners is as they celebrate 75 years and where they're headed. He also shares his vision for the field of Philanthropy and recommends the book "Social Determinants of Health."

Terri Ann Lowenthal is a nationally recognized expert on the census and a consultant specializing in the census, the federal statistical system and the use of data for policy purposes. Lowenthal is currently part of The Census Project, a nonpartisan collaborative of census stakeholders supporting the census and other vital Census Bureau programs. Go to censusprojectblog.org for her excellent writing on the subject. In this interview, Terri Ann Lowenthal talks about the importance of the Census and the American Community Survey. She gives examples of how the collected data is used and talks frankly about how and why certain legislators and politicians are trying to disrupt data collection and the Census overall.

Molly de Aguiar directs the Geraldine Dodge Foundation’s media grants, while also directing Dodge’s communications initiatives. She’s working at the intersection of grantmaking, communications, media, and community building. In this interview, Molly talks about tools and the ways grantmakers can tell their own stories as well as the stories of their grantees. Go to www.grdodge.org to see some of the initiatives Molly refers to. And come hear her speak at the MCF annual conference on October 28th and 29th in St. Paul.

Akhtar Badshah is the founder and chief catalyst of Catalytic Innovators Group. He led Microsoft’s global community investment and employee program for 10 years. Akhtar will be speaking at the Minnesota Council on Foundation’s Annual Conference, giving our closing keynote presentation the afternoon of October 29th. The last day to register for this year’s conference is October 16th. Go to www.mcf.org/2015conference for more details. In this interview, Akhtar Badshah talks about impact investing, mission-driving corporate giving, and the importance of putting a face and name to the communities grantmakers serve.

Trista sits down for a wide-ranging talk with Paul Williams, president and CEO of Project for Pride in Living. Topics they discuss include the need for grantmakers viewing communities as assets, the importance of scale in making a real impact, and Paul's wish for philanthropy to create greater leverage with government.

Trista speaks with Jenny Harms, network manager at the national Council on Foundations. They discuss the benefits of infusing regional foundations like MCF with ideas from across the country, and let MCF members know what Jenny will be up to in the coming months and how to get in touch.

MCF's Bob Tracy talks to George Cheung about Joyce Foundation's democracy strategy, the meaning of civic engagement grantmaking, and resources grantmakers can use to learn more.

Mary Jane Melendez of General Mills Foundation talks to Trista about the General Mills approach to grantmaking and its work with Hunger-Free Minnesota.

Chris Cardona, director of philanthropy at TCC Group and speaker at the 2014 MCF Annual Conference, speaks to Alfonso Wenker about how philanthropy can be made more accessible to underserved communities.

In her role at the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, Trish hears a lot about what young people in the sector need to develop their leadership skills. She talks with Trista about the five most important things organizations can offer. She also goes into the work YNPN has done with Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy to bridge the divide between foundations and nonprofits.

Phil talks with Trista about effective practice in philanthropy, tools The Center for Effecitve Philanthropy offers, and advice for what foundations can do when they're interested in starting down this path.

Mark tells Trista about Margaret A. Cargill Foundation's Relief and Resilience program, its focus on lower-attention events that don't typically receive much philanthropic support, and its interest in engaging local community members as key partners.