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The 2023 edition of the NCG Annual Conference was powerful on so many levels. We had 411 folks represent the complete diversity of philanthropy and their nonprofit allies. The theme – mapping a collective future – held deep resonance with participants, and the content received high marks throughout the day.
NCG's Racial Equity Action Institute centers racial equity with an intersectional framework that recognizes the ways race is shaped and informed by class, gender, sexuality, and ability. Learn more about the annual cohort and how to apply here.
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.
Together with Philanthropy California (a statewide alliance of Northern California Grantmakers, SoCal Grantmakers, and Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties), we’re championing a sustainable nonprofit sector by supporting the California Nonprofit Equity Initiative. This package of state bills will support and strengthen the larger nonprofit ecosystem. We’re proud to support this package of bills. Philanthropy has a critical responsibility to advocate for their individual grantees and the larger nonprofit ecosystem. We encourage you to learn more below and use your voice to bring more fairness and equity to government grant-making processes.
2024 promises to be a momentous year for democracy—locally, nationally, and globally. Over 4 billion people are living in countries with major elections this year. In the United States, we will also face familiar but obstinate challenges, including the dearth of local news and youth disaffection with voting and institutions. We will also face challenges that are new in this digital era, namely disinformation turbocharged by generative AI that has enormous power to deceive voters, undermine trust, and destabilize our information ecosystems.
I grew up in a semi-segregated Richmond, Virginia at a time that its heritage as a part of the South was very strong. Realizing the aspirations of those who came before us and the promise of democratic freedoms is my life's work. In a three-decade career spanning nonprofit, government, and philanthropic service, I have never once felt lost for purpose. My life's experience, the gift of a legacy of public service of my family and mentors, and my determination to forge a future that remedies past injustices drive every decision I face.
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