We’re happy to announce that Justin Davis, our program coordinator for the College Bound Brotherhood, has been selected to participate in the 2012 Connecting Leaders Fellowship program of the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE). He’s one of ten African Americans foundation professionals throughout the nation to be inlcuded in this cohort. The fellows program is designed to “promote the professional mobility and visibility” of blacks in the philanthropic sector through personalized executive coaching, mentoring, and learning community discussions. This is a fantastic opportunity for Justin to take his leadership skills to the next level. Believe me, I know – I was a 2007 fellow, and it was a defining experience in my professional development. Please join us in congratulating Justin!

CompassPoint is now accepting applications for the Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color, Central Valley 2011-2012 Cohort.

Launched in 2004 by CompassPoint and the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), the Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color helps organizations from communities of color to raise funds they need in a more sustainable way, through diversity of sources and strong relationships with community donors. With the worsening local and state budget crisis, grassroots fundraising is even more important – to raise money and to galvanize advocacy efforts.

From a Fundraising Academy Alumni, “When I was in the academy I was a new ED who needed more knowledge and skills to raise more money for the Bayview YMCA. Over the last 4 years, we grew the budget from 500K to 5 million. I know that the tools, practice, and confidence building I acquired from the Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color helped to make this happen.”

Participation in the academy includes:
·         8 days of group training
·         15 hours on individual coaching on fundraising strategies
·         Multicultural training setting
·         One year subscription to the Grassroots Fundraising Journal
·         One copy of Kim Klein’s book, Reliable Fundraising in Un-Reliable Times

If selected, your organization will need to pay a participant fee of $500 – $2,000 based on the size of your annual budget.  This represents close to 10% of the total cost to hold the academy, so the other 90% is subsidized by academy sponsors. Please know that there are no additional discounts or scholarships, and that many groups have successfully raised money for this fee as a first step in conducting grassroots fundraising with their board and supporters!

Visit the Fundraising Academy web page to read more about the program.

The Application

Applications to the Central Valley Academy must be submitted electronically no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26. You may access the online application by clicking HERE.

Applicants will be notified of selection decisions by early November.

If you have any questions about the program, please contact Adriana Rocha, Practice Director, at adrianar AT compasspoint DOT org.

CompassPoint’s signature leadership development program, Next Generation Leaders of Color, is now accepting applications for its next cohort which will launch in January of 2012.

How-to-Apply Conference Calls

CompassPoint will be holding two one-hour informational calls about the application process and the program. To register for one of the calls, please email your name, phone number, and time of the call you plan to attend to Marla Cornelius, Senior Project Director.

• October 12, 2011 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm (PST)
• October 19, 2011 from 10:00am to11:00am (PST)

The Application

Applications must be submitted electronically no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 31st. Late applications will not be considered. Applicants will be notified of selection decisions by mid November.

To download the program fact sheet which includes eligibility requirements and a preview of the application, click here.

Click here to begin the online application.

If you have questions, send an email to Erin Lingren.

Eric Marshall of our key partner Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law just shared their new interactive Map of Shame, which “paints the picture of the threat posed by the rolling tide of vote suppression legislation.” This map is a terrific tool to learn more about restrictive legislation (standing and pending) in a large number of states, resources for voters to get required IDs, a petition for voters to push back against voter suppression, and links to state-by-state election rules.

The threat to voter access is REAL – as reported (in a partisan frame) by these frightening accounts in Rolling Stone magazine and the Washington Post. In the next year the Kapor Foundation will continue its nonpartisan focus on Elections Protection to ensure that every eligible voter can participate in our democracy!

Here’s an interesting article sent by our friends at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (who just celebrated their 35th anniversary with a bouyant reception at the Kapor Center). In the NCRP’s latest quarterly journal, Jan Masaoka, a Bay Area doyenne of nonprofit organizational management, offers suggestions for addressing the foundation/nonprofit power differential head-on. Save the occasional snarky wise crack, this is a necessary critique of a troublesome dynamic that lingers in the nonprofit/philanthropic sector.

While we at the Kapor Foundation we do recognize that our relationships with nonprofit grantseekers is “driven by institutional interests and fundamentally about money,” we nevertheless do try to speak sincerely about partnerships – to the degree they’re possible given the presence of financial resources as a “spoiler” of sorts.

And contrary to Masaoka’s last bullet-pointed piece of advice to nonprofits, some of us hate fawning and can smell it coming. Really. Just say no.

Read on.

What Works! is the Mitchell Kapor Foundation’s annual convening that highlights successful approaches used by our grant partner organizations and provides a forum for practitioners to network and strategize.

This year’s convening focuses on the College Bound Brotherhood.  What Works! participants will learn from selected youth-serving practitioners and local educators about effective college-readiness strategies for young black men.  Presentations will be conducted by leaders from current College Bound Brotherhood grant recipients.

CONVENING OUTLINE
(a final agenda will be posted by October 10)

8:00am – Check-in & Continental Breakfast
9:00am – Opening Plenary, Welcome and Purpose, Introductions
9:30am – College Bound Brotherhood Overview
10:00am – Benefits of Corporate Sponsorship
11:00am – Recruiting and Retaining African American Males
12:00pm – Lunch (provided)
1:00pm – Parental Involvement
2:00pm – Striking a Balance between Academic Programs and Sports
3:00pm – Fundraising and Establishing a Network
4:00pm – Closing

There is a small registration fee of $20, paid online or at the door (cash only).

The David Brower Center is easily accessible from the Downtown Berkeley BART.  Parking is available at the Oxford Garage just below the David Brower Center. Enter on 2161 Kittredge St. between Shattuck and Oxford.

Click here to register!

EPIP Bay Area is excited to bring Trista Harris, co-author of “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career” to San Francisco for a dynamic workshop on building your professional development pathway and goals to achieve the career of your dreams!

About the Workshop:

In this information-packed workshop, you will learn six ways to advance your career, including expert tips on how to:

• develop expertise
• build a strong network
• establish a great personal brand
• practice authentic leadership
• plan for balance
• move on up

The workshop will be followed by a reception with the author.

About Trista Harris:

Founder of EPIP Minnesota and Executive Director of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice, Trista is a leading voice for Generations X and Y and seeks to create professional development opportunities throughout the sector. She has been featured on CNN, and her work has been covered by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the New York Times, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, Career Builder, and numerous social sector blogs. She writes about generational change in the foundation field in her blog, New Voices of Philanthropy and is an international speaker on working across generations to create social change. Trista is also the Vice-Chair of the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy Board of Advisors.

About the Book:

Top nonprofit bloggers Rosetta Thurman and Trista Harris have co-authored the first book of its kind to offer career advice beyond just getting your foot in the door of a nonprofit organization.

Do you feel stuck in your nonprofit career? Unsure how to take that next step? “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar” is an accessible, do-it-yourself map of how to navigate the nonprofit sector and gives you the tools that you need to move from entry level to leadership. This book is designed for professionals who want to build meaningful and rewarding nonprofit careers. “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar” is based on the authors’ experiences as well as interviews with nonprofit rockstars who have supercharged their careers. You’ll learn how to develop meaningful nonprofit experience, build a strong network, establish a strong personal brand, achieve the elusive work/life balance, and move on up in your career.

Event Details:

October 12, 6:30 – 9 pm
Reception to follow

Hub San Francisco
901 Mission Street, Suite 105, San Francisco

Tickets available NOW via Eventbrite.

$15 EPIP Members (includes free copy of book “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career”)
$20 Non-members
$10 Non-member pre-purchase of book

We’re proud to share that Mitch was just inducted into/onto the Entrepreneurs Walk of Fame at MIT last Friday. Check out his blog post here. Congrats, Mitch! (Love his serene look and peace symbol socks!)

The Mitchell Kapor Foundation is looking forward to celebrating 15 years of inspired work and impact by the Ella Baker Center, as well as to celebrating this year’s Ellas award winners, Favianna Rodriguez (among other things, the artist responsible for the murals at the Kapor Center’s Oakland site), APEN (a Kapor Foundation key grant partner), and Akaya Windwood, President of the Rockwood Leadership Institute.

We hope to see many of you there!

Ella Baker Center’s Anniversary Celebration and Award Ceremony

This year’s Ellas will feature a Community Reception, Art Exhibit of works by Favianna Rodriguez, our Awards Dinner, the announcement of the 2011 Van Jones Scholarship Winner, and much more.

WHEN: Thursday, September 22, 2011. 6:00 – 9:30 PM
WHERE: Oakland Marriot City Center, 1001 Broadway, Oakland

The 2011 Ellas also marks our 15th Anniversary of giving people the skills and opportunities to work together to strengthen our communities so that all of us can thrive.

The Annual Ella Awards Dinner will honor social change leaders whose inspiring and ground-breaking achievements build community strength and promote peace, justice and opportunity. People-powered action, driven by hope and the belief thatthings can and should be better, is how change happens.