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I’ll be the first to acknowledge that I’ve arrived as NCG’s CEO on the shoulders of many others that came before me. Two of the strongest shoulders belong to my first professional mentor and a heavyweight in philanthropic circles, Joe Brooks. During my seventeen years as a work partner and friend at The San Francisco Foundation and then PolicyLink, I learned more from him than I could ever adequately describe. He had a habit of saying things that were increasingly profound the more you thought about them. One of those sayings was, “how much do you need to know to act?”, often dropped in a setting surrounded by other foundation colleagues where he was about to propose bold action to engage some of the Bay Area’s most vexing social challenges
Working in racial equity and social justice in the philanthropic sector is challenging because the “personal is political,” and there often feels like no break from our 9-5 roles. We don’t get to take off our skin or the grief we feel in our bodies from the years of oppression of racism that our people have endured.
Recently, Dwayne Marsh, CEO of Northern California Grantmakers, and I were reflecting on how many foundations in our memberships are looking to change direction and move toward racial equity. In an ice-bucket-style challenge, Dwayne posted his thoughts and then tagged me with the question, “How best does philanthropy choose courage in the face of the unprecedented complexity the moment offers?"
This past week, Joe Brooks joined the ancestors, bringing to a close a powerful life and career whose impact extended deep into Bay Area philanthropy, and well beyond. Joe’s legacy in this field is vital and active through the dozens of leaders whose lives he touched in more than five decades of public service – including my own.
NCG is excited to announce Kirin Kumar (he/him) as its Director for Climate and Disaster Resilience. As a part of the Strategic Initiatives team, Kirin is an integral member of Philanthropy California’s disaster response team.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - The Bay Area Census Funders Collaborative (BACFC) is pleased to announce more than $3.3 million in grants to nearly 130 nonprofit community-based organizations to promote Census 2020 education and outreach efforts and minimize the chances that residents of the nine-county Bay Area region will be left out of the census count.
How can philanthropy best strengthen organizational resilience? To find out, Alan Kwok spoke with Ana-Marie Jones, who has spent her career transforming organizations with her leadership on readiness, preparedness, and disaster response. Read the Q&A below to learn more about our work internally and with our state-wide membership.