This year's Council on Foundations (CoF) Annual Conference was held in Philadelphia. I was in town for the annual board and membership meetings of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) but am again blogging about the Conference as a virtual attendee through the blogs and tweets of others.
Saturday, April 9
- Congratulations to the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) on its 40th Anniversary Celebration. You can read about the event on the Philanthropy 411 Blog: Promoting Intergenerational Leadership & Racial Justice in Philanthropy.
Sunday, April 10
- Congratulations to Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) on its 10th Anniversary. See Letter to COF Conference Attendees.
- Opening Plenary - Are You Meeting the Challenges of Today's Philanthropy. See The Chronicle of Philanthropy article: Grant Makers Discuss How to Meet Today's Challenges.
Monday, April 11
- Morning Plenary - In Decline or Just Shifting? The News Media and Philanthropy, Arianna Huffington. See The Chronicle of Philanthropy article: Huffington Post Founder Says People Crave Involvement, Ability to Take Action. Her closing message: get enough sleep!
- Face, Tweet, Link Your Way to a True Social “ROI”, Beth Kanter. See Social Media and Grantmaking Session at Council on Foundation’s Conference.
Tuesday, April 12
- Morning Plenary - Philanthropy and Pluralism: Diversity that does not Divide, Amb. James A. Joseph. See Diversity That Does Not Divide.
- Lunch Plenary - Philanthropy on Trial (video to be posted shortly - can't wait to see this!). See also Philanthropy on Trial: Are We Living Up to Our Mission? From Twitter: quoting Gara LaMarche - "We are too focused on charity instead of systemic change. We avoid risk."
Some Great Tweets (MTs):
- Often we congratulate ourselves for collaborating. Must keep in mind: collaboration is a means, not an end. Shawn Dove
- With no one else to hold us accountable, who in the end will? - LaMarche
- Most social movements, like the LGBT movement, have nothing to do with big philanthropy - LaMarche
- The problem is systemic, not individual. So the remedy must be systemic. - LaMarche
- In the things that matter, philanthropy has been present and engaged, not MIA. - Ralph Smith
- Diversity of viewpoint for foundation funding priorities should be protected. - Smith
- As a manager I prized order. As a leader I risked chaos. It is time to risk again. - Joseph
- When process is more important than people, we lose the diversity battle - Joseph
- Diverse communities don't just happen, they require planning and then action from those plans - Joseph
- The first rationale for diversity is its role in strengthening democracy. - Joseph
- Growth of philanthropy driven by middle America, donor-advised funds and community foundations. - Steve Gunderson
- There are twice as many donor-advised funds as foundations today. - Gunderson
- The importance of telling story supported by data not the other way around - Rinku Sen
- Moving from view of racism as individual, intentional, explicit to also being social, unintended, structural - Sen
