New Year, New Opportunities
From all of us here at Philanthropy Northwest, happy new year! We’re looking forward to partnering with you to learn and achieve more in 2019. It may be the dark of winter here in our region, but Philanthropy Northwest is lit up with excitement as we look ahead to everything we're planning for 2019.
- We're gearing up for Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) in Washington, DC in March. Every year the United Philanthropy Forum presents this two-day convening of foundation leaders to meet with members of Congress about key philanthropic issues. Join our Philanthropy Northwest delegation! Contact our delegation captain, Meredith Higashi, for more information.
- Our signature training program for emerging practitioners, Philanthropy Institute, is April 23-24 in Seattle. Register early, this course usually sells out.
- We're taking Grantmaking with an Equity Lens on the road in 2019 to bring methods for designing more equitable programs and grantmaking strategies to our members across the region. Designed for foundation program staff with 3+ years of philanthropy experience, this program assists those beginning to apply equity practices in grantmaking and program development.
- In April, we'll continue our Racial Equity Speaker Series with James Forman, Jr. who is a Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He'll be talking about mass incarceration and its effects on the black population since the 1970s. He recently wrote, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America, which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction.
- SAVE THE DATE! We will be holding our annual conference November 18-19, 2019, preceding the CHANGE Philanthropy Unity Summit, in Seattle, Washington.
Look for new resources from us and The Giving Practice to support your work. In 2019 we will be publishing:
- Trends in Northwest Giving 2019, the next biennial report on grantmaking trends for our region.
- A new report on philanthropy in Indian Country in our region.
- A series of six new tools to help you apply reflective practices to philanthropy in bite-sized, actionable ways.
- Powerhouse Convening: New Doorways to Funder and Community Engagement
- Riding the Wave: Adaptive Business Modeling for Philanthropy-Serving Organizations
We'll have much more information to share with you in the coming months about all of these events and resources so stay tuned for updates!
Kiran Ahuja
CEO, Philanthropy Northwest
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News from The Giving Practice
The Givi  ng Practice is the National Consulting Firm of Philanthropy Northwest. We at The Giving Practice enjoy sharing what we are learning from our work in partnership with clients who are doing transformative work - work that changes people, organizations and the field. Here are three recent examples.
- As part of Group Health Foundation’s launch, The Giving Practice helped the board articulate core values and develop a shared understanding of how equity would become central to their governance and future strategy. We also advised the board on developing a set of equity agreements and we documented their formation and process to become a board that leads with the value of equity.
- We worked with the Christopher Family Foundation in Illinois to clarify their strategy and areas of impact. The family wanted help evolving their giving strategy so we helped the trustees re-examine and redefine their core values and interests and then carried those values into a new grantmaking process.
- We helped The California Wellness Foundation by co-designing and facilitating their grantee convening. We opened the meeting by getting over 200 people to have intimate conversations about overcoming barriers to collaboration, how to best put power in the hands of communities and mobilizing for advocacy.
Philanthropy Northwest membership benefits include one free hour of consulting services with The Giving Practice (plus a reduced rate for additional consultation hours).
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Are you inte rested in diversifying the staff at your foundation?
Do you need help recruiting staff of color and supporting their leadership and development? Are you committed to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and ready to build a pipeline of diverse philanthropic professionals? If so, you may be interested in hosting a Momentum Fellow in 2019. Check out our website for more information about being a Momentum Fellows host site. Contact Erin Thomas if you’re interested.
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Regional Giving and News
Rasmuson Foundation Approves New Awards
Cabins in the wilderness, new ways of working with Alaska’s youth and an assisted living home in the Bering Strait region are among the areas of investment recently approved by the Rasmuson Foundation board of directors. At its biannual meeting, the board approved more than $6.5 million in awards for communities from Unalakleet to Sitka.
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Children at Kawerak Head Start in Nome feel a walrus drum.
Photo courtesy of Rasmuson Foundation.
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Idaho Community Foundation Celebrates 30 Years
Courtesy of Jennifer Kronberg
At a recent anniversary bash, the Idaho Community Foundation commemorated 30 years and $120 million in grants and scholarships awarded with a new logo, revamped website and an additional $26,000 raised to increase future grantmaking.
Breaking the Cycle
Courtesy of the Montana Standard
A $150,000 grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation to St. James will allow the hospital to collaborate locally to provide addiction treatment services for pregnant mothers before, during and after their due dates.
2018 Annual Funding Opportunity Grants Total $24 million
Meyer Memorial Trust recently approved $24 million in grants to organizations working throughout Oregon to remove barriers to equity and create conditions in the state where all individuals thrive.
Wyoming Community Foundation Distributes $542,000 Across the State
Courtesy of The Sheridan Press
This fall, the Wyoming Community Foundation granted $542,000 to 64 charitable organizations across Wyoming.
Creative Equity Fund Inaugural Grants
Seattle Foundation and partners infuse $200,000 into 14 organizations building racial justice through arts and culture.
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New Board Members and Staff at Headwaters Foundation
The Headwaters Foundation in Missoula, Montana, announced two new board members, as well as a new community partnerships director, Erin Switalski. The trustees are Penny Kipp, director of student services TRiO at Salish Kootenai College, and Richard Opper a former director of the Montana Department of Health and Human Services. Switalski is the former Executive Director at Women’s Voices for the Earth, a national environmental justice nonprofit.
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New Executive Director at MRG Foundation
Se-ah-dom Edmo, Shoshone-Bannock, Nez Perce & Yakama, is MRG’s new Executive Director. She brings deep experience in community organizing for racial and social justice work across the nation.
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New Report: The Mat-Su Workforce Development Assessment and Plan
The Mat-Su Health Foundation recently released a new report focusing on health and human services workforce development. Among the report’s findings are that Mat-Su jobs in the health and human services sector grew 4.7 percent annually over the last 10 years.
Complexity Is a Synonym for Richness and Growth in Our DEI Journey
By John Fetzer, Northwest Area Foundation
Northwest Area Foundation's (NWAF) Program Officer, John Fetzer, shares his thoughts on how DEI extends beyond philanthropy and affects everyone on a personal level, including himself. This is part 3 of the Northwest Area Foundation's Insights on Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Journey.
New Montana Medicaid Expansion Dashboard
The Montana Healthcare Foundation recently collaborated with Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services to build an interactive online dashboard which provides the first county-by-county snapshot of how Medicaid expansion is affecting health outcomes in Montana. You can see how people in each Montana county are being diagnosed and treated for cancer, diabetes, mental illness and other serious illnesses.
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Events and Opportunities to Engage
In the Next Few Months...
January 16 & January 23, 2019
Funders Census Initiative Briefing Series: Census 2020 Messaging Testing Results
Online
In partnership with the Democracy Funders Collaborative Census Subgroup, this series keeps members updated on the importance of making sure all are counted in the upcoming Census.
February 5
Q1 Pierce County Funders Meeting
Pierce County, WA
Please join us for our first Pierce County Funders meeting of 2019. Our agenda will be posted shortly.
March 11-13, 2019
Foundations on the Hill
Washington, D.C.
This two-day convening brings together hundreds of foundation leaders from across the country to meet with Congress and discuss issues of importance to philanthropy. Philanthropy Northwest leads a six-state delegation each year.
Events on the Horizon...
This comprehensive, two-day educational program was developed by experts in the philanthropic sector, and facilitated by seasoned practitioners. Philanthropy Institute: Practical Skills & Strategies for Emerging Practitioners ( formerly known as Best Practices) is the field’s standardized orientation for individual members who have recently joined the philanthropic sector. Register now to reserve your seat.
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Visit Our Job Bank
Interested in exploring new opportunities or posting a job? Know any strong candidates seeking a career change? Curious about who's hiring? Take a look at the many positions listed in our Job Bank.
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