Today, especially, as the Uprisings and COVID-19 pandemic serve up a meal of uncertainty, ambiguity, complexity, and volatility, social sector leaders are called to invoke resilience as critical to organizational survival. At their best, resilient nonprofits respond to disruptions as breakthrough moments rather than breakdowns, identifying and pursuing new opportunities to learn, evolve, and better serve their communities. Funders retool their grantmaking machinery to meet the need for flexibility, responsiveness, and generosity given rapidly-changing contexts.
So, what alchemy of ingredients best supports nonprofits to survive and even thrive amidst shocks?
New research led by consultants Diana Scearce and June Wang points to to seven crucial characteristics that support organizational resilience.The report surfaces principles and practices for funders who seek to foster grantee-partners’ resilience to meet whatever arises. As we contend with pandemic racism and infectious disease and their ripple effects, come learn how to cultivate the conditions that result in a strong, flexible, adaptable social change ecosystem that’s capable of successfully weathering global disruption of this magnitude.
Please take 5 minutes to complete this survey before the program starts.
Speakers
June Wang, Independent Consultant, CHANGE/D Consulting
June Wang is an independent consultant at CHANGE/D Consulting who brings more than 15 years of experience in the social sector supporting foundations and nonprofits to improve practices. Her most recent work focuses on strengthening nonprofit capacity to implement feedback loops. She supports organizations to use data and experience for learning and improvement and is a seasoned facilitator and project manager. Previously, June served as the Organizational Learning Officer at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and interim evaluation and learning director at The Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. She previously held positions in nonprofit strategic planning, corporate social responsibility, and market research. She has volunteered with Mercy Ships in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, and currently serves as the board vice-chair at Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), which works to dismantle the school to prison pipeline. June has a B.A. in Asian Studies and History from Williams College and an M.B.A. from the International Business School at Brandeis.
Diana Scearce, Principal, Diana Scearce Consulting
Diana Scearce has dedicated her career to helping social changemakers increase effectiveness and impact, in the U.S. and globally. Diana’s independent consulting practice focuses on developing and evolving strategy, research into nonprofit and philanthropic effectiveness, learning facilitation and collaboration support. Diana spent 6 years leading evaluation and learning within foundations, as Director of Learning and Evaluation at the Skoll Global Threats Fund and as Director of Evaluation and Learning at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Before entering the foundation world, Diana worked in social impact consulting as a director at the Monitor Institute and a practitioner at Global Business Network. She has authored several articles on social change, including Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder’s Guide (GEO, 2011), Working Wikily (SSIR, 2010), and What If? The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits (GBN, 2004). Diana received her B.A. from Vassar College, her M.A. in religious studies from University of London’s SOAS, and her Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Other events in this series
-
Session 1: Resilience During Crisis | For program resources, contact registrar@ncg.org
-
Session 2: Love Not Fear | For program resources, contact registrar@ncg.org
Target Audience
This program is open to funders and nonprofits.