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We want to extend our deepest gratitude for Alan Kwok for serving as NCG’s and Philanthropy California’s Director of Climate and Disaster Resilience for the past four years. Alan will transition to the new role of Senior Advisor beginning February 2023. Underscoring NCG’s deepening commitment to advancing equity in climate and disaster resilience, we will be growing the team, bringing on a new Climate and Disaster Resilience Director to continue the work.
First, let’s get honest about the historical context we are operating in. Philanthropy exists as a result of capitalism and was formed through centuries of slavery, colonization, and displacement. The systems are designed to extract resources, privatize wealth, and centralize power and control of said resources. The systems are successfully doing exactly what they have been designed to do.
Climate change is here to stay. Although what’s needed seems endless as the impacts will worsen in the coming years, I am hopeful. Since joining the sector four years ago, I have seen an increasing number of funders exploring new ways to address climate change.
The recently finalized “public charge” rule forces families to choose between basic necessities, such as food, housing, and health care, and their future. NCG is proud to join 25 other California foundations in signing a letter urging the entire philanthropic community in California to join us in our recommitment to creating the inclusive California we know is possible, and to support advocacy and direct services organizations fighting to create safe and thriving communities across our state in the face of this new “public charge” rule. Read the letter, below.
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
When we announced a few years ago that NCG would be taking up racial equity as a central part of our work we received praise, and we also encountered some skepticism. Many cautioned us that everyone seemed to be “getting into equity” and that we’d better be sure we had something distinct to add. We have taken that to heart.
Three weeks ago, the two of us stepped into our new roles as acting Co-CEOs of Northern California Grantmakers. That was the same day the world learned we would need vigorous hand-washing and distance to protect each other and everyone in our community from a new rapidly spreading virus. A most unusual start in our roles. But, then again, these are most unusual times.