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A virtual convening featuring Governor Gavin Newsom in conversation with state water leaders.
The personal is political. These past two years have made that abundantly clear. NCG’s Leadership, Culture, and Community team also knows that the professional is often deeply personal.
Imagine an East Oakland where Black children and families are not only surviving but flourishing. In this vibrant and inclusive community, every individual can reach their full potential and contribute to the greater good. RiseEast is a 10-year collective effort to make deep and lasting improvements in the well- being of Black children and families in East Oakland, with initiatives that are direct reflections of the hopes and needs of the people who live here.
As we mark another Black History Month and celebrate Black futures, there is an urgency for us to address the existing divisions in our country and create solutions that move us closer towards our vision of a strong, inclusive, multiracial democracy with Black communities at the center. Some of the barriers we continue to see in communities across the nation include attacks on voting rights, biased immigration policies, blatant displays of white supremacy and white nationalism, and a decline inequitable economic opportunities.
Last week we celebrated Black futures and explored how we achieve a multiracial democracy that centers Black people. Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) and California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF) have been scheming to bring something to philanthropy for a while. More than 200 folks joined us to have some challenging conversations about the legacy of systemic racism, how it impacts today, and how we turn the corner and build a democracy that serves us all.
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
The Funding Strategies to Accelerate Power-building Cohort is learning and collaboration community of practice that will help philanthropic grantmakers sharpen their power-building strategies by engaging in 501c(4) and complementary 501c(3) funding. A core premise is that these types of grantmaking strategies (which NCG calls “c4-aligned funding”) can accelerate movement building and systems-change goals, strengthen our democracy, and advance racial equity.