All posts in Philanthropic Sector

As we prepare to close up shop at the Kapor Foundation and celebrate our debut in our new skin as the Kapor Center for Social Impact, we wanted to conduct a thorough analysis of what we’ve learned from the terrific community of organizations we’ve worked with since our program areas launched in 2007.

Attached please find our Green Access and VoICE retrospective papers. Many thanks to Judi Powell of Seven Hills Philanthropy for her meticulous work in shaping our learnings, which were gathered from final reports, internal analysis, and interviews with community leaders.  We are distributing the reports through our professional affinity associations: Funders Committee for Civic Participation, Bay Area Justice Funders Network, and Neighborhood Funders Group. We hope that you, as funder peers and community colleagues, will find them to be instructive and even inspiring!

Download the Green Access Program Retrospective here.

Download the Voting Integrity & Civic Engagement Program Retrospective here.

One of my favorite events in philanthropy concluded this past weekend – the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) Annual Conference. Several colleagues from the philanthropic and nonprofit sector, ABFE Fellows (I’m class of 2011), and allies from across the country converged in the city of Chicago to assess our call to action to improve conditions affecting black communities in America. This year’s theme  focused on coupling innovation with investment as a means to delivering greater impact through individual and collective efforts.

Chicago served as a fitting city to hold such a convening as its black community has been plagued by high unemployment rates (top five in the country), low high school graduation rates and highest dropout rates (55% and 42% respectively), and strings of highly publicized acts of violence among black men, women, young adults, and children. I think we can agree that blacks in Chicago are living with and experiencing trauma ad nauseum. (more…)

We’re excited to share our video summary of the 2012 year! Many thanks to everyone involved in making this happen – both the video and the accomplishments of the past year!

To view the list of 2012 grant recipients by program area, click here.
To view the video in our YouTube channel, click here.

The Common Counsel Foundation’s Grassroots Exchange Fund (GXF) provides  grants to small community-based groups seeking to meet face-to-face with other grassroots organizations, to build collaborative campaigns, and to benefit from technical assistance opportunities. GXF will start accepting applications again on the first Monday of February (February 4).  This small grants program is designed to support networking and collaboration between grassroots social change and environmental justice organizations throughout the United States.  Potential grantees can check out Common Counsel’s website for guidelines and an application.

Just wanted to loop back around with everyone; we’ve received a few eager inquiries about our2013 grantmaking priorities. As we’ve mentioned before, we’re in store for some major changes as we shift our focus to tech-driven strategies and tools that further social justice/social impact. Once ready, we’ll announce the changes here on our website and Twitter account, so please check back with us in mid-February for updates.

I love that the Presidential Inauguration falls on the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday. Rather than pontificating on the vision and promise that these two leaders represent, I’m simply going to challenge myself to use this day as a jumping off point for the next year of social justice work, as related to Dr. King’s legacy, and the next four years of social impact efforts in the age of President Obama. What can we individually and collectively accomplish in the next year/four years? Let’s go! Best wishes for a powerful, peaceful, and (broadly defined) prosperous 2013.

Photo from theSoulPitt.com

This Friday, Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy (BABIP) will be hosting their annual State of the Race Conference along with a reception to follow, Celebrating Black Philanthropy Gala. The theme of this year’s conference is “Politics, Power, and Philanthropy: A Bay Area Perspective”. Featured conference speakers include: Dana King, CBS News Anchor; Timothy Alan Simon, Public Utilities Commissioner; Carol Burton, Executive Director of Centerforce; and Nwamaka Agbo, Campaign Director of the Ella Baker Center. The “Celebrating Black Philanthropy” gala reception will feature a presentation and book signing by Valaida Fullwood, celebrated author of Giving Back: A Tribute to Generations of African American Philanthropists, as well as an awards ceremony honoring local African Americans for their philanthropic efforts.

• WHEN: Friday, October 19th, 2012
• WHERE: the historic One Leidesdorff building in San Francisco
• TIME: 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

To learn more about the event and purchase tickets, please click here.

This past week in New York the Open Society Foundation hosted its Innovation & Impact Forum for Black Male Achievement, “What Winning Looks Like: Investing in What Works”. This one-day convening took a deep DIVE into the state of black male achievement and its future, and was organized by the hard-working folks at OSF’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement.

The morning kicked off with Mayor Michael Bloomberg taking the stage and candidly expressing why the city of New York was deepening its investment in black male achievement as well as why he was making a personal investment of $30 million (via Bloomberg Philanthropies) in this campaign.
Following Mayor Bloomberg was a panel discussion, which included George Soros, founder of Open Society Foundations; Geoffrey Canada, CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone; Dr. Robert K. Ross, President and CEO of The California Endowment; and Alexis McGill Johnson, Executive Director of American Values Institute. The panelists engaged in a rich dialogue on why this particular issue resonated with them and what they considered as the next steps to improve the outcomes for black males.

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Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein were honored at Hidden Villa‘s 16th Annual Josephine and Frank Duveneck Humanitarian Awards Dinner on Saturday, September 22nd featuring Hidden Villa’s “beyond organic” produce and pasture-raised meats and honoring four outstanding humanitarians in the community. Over 300 people attended the dinner and celebrated the Duveneck family legacy and rallied community support for the important environmental and social justice work taking place at Hidden Villa and beyond.  The other award recipients included Rue Mapp, IDEAL Scholar alum and Outdoor Afro founder; and Bill Somerville, President and Founder of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.

Photo: Hidden Villa

What does social innovation mean today and what did it once look like? This is the question many have been discussing across sectors lately which has led to some thought-provoking answers and observations about shifting priorities and approaches. Co.EXIST recently sat down with top Corporate Executives, including Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of Seventh Generation and YouTube’s, Hunter Walk amongst others at the U.N. Social Innovation Summit 2012 to discuss the changing nature of social innovation. The growing trend is to blur the lines between the business, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors to develop innovative approaches and lasting partnerships that address social issues and encourage positive social change. Below are a few excerpts from Co.EXIST’s video:
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