3:45 PM Speed Networking

Join the GPF team for speed networking where you will be matched with another attendee for "6-minute speed introductions" before moving seats to meet another conference participant.

4:30 PM: Plenary: Rethinking Aid: Investing in Local Knowledge - Ventana

The needs of communities and the drivers of poverty are complex and fluid. It is vital that the voices, knowledge, and expertise of those most affected are heard and respected in developing solutions. While the aid sector has made broad commitments to localize aid and put agency into the hands of those closest to the issues, the sector has instead backtracked to a five-year low with only 1.2 percent of international humanitarian assistance going directly to local NGOs in 2021.

It is these smaller, more nimble community based organizations that take risks and act as first responders when crisis strikes and yet they are consistently sidelined in regards to funding. This lack of funding points to a systemic issue within the humanitarian sector–an imbalance of power. When local NGOs are left out of conversations about their own communities but still depend on trickle-down funding from international NGOs, expertise is missed and efforts to be their own advocates impossible.

Hear from those who have direct experience working with donors and NGOs to implement community led initiatives, shifting these power dynamics and further scaling their impact by sharing success stories to others around the world.

SPEAKERS
Degan Ali, Executive Director, Adeso
Fatema Sumar, Executive Director, Harvard Center for International Development
Navyn Salem, Founder and CEO, Edesia
Moderator: Andy Bryant, Executive Director, Segal Family Foundation

5:30 PM: Social Innovation Mixer - Courtyard

Come mix and mingle with local Bay Area social entrepreneurs who are creating change right here at home and scaling it globally. Hear more about their work in an informal setting as you converse with innovators and others in our network at this evening cocktail reception with drinks and bites. 

7:00 PM: Day One Concludes

Day 2: Wednesday, November 2, 2022

8:00 AM: Breakfast - Ventana

9:00 AM: Opening Remarks

9:05 AM: Lightning Talk- Yonis Hassan: A Philanthropy Disruptor - Ventana

Sometimes you need to go big to grab people's attention – as big as an 18-wheeler. Last November Justice Fund made headlines when they parked a semi-truck with the message "'Charitable' Institutions in Canada are Hoarding $85,000,000,000" in front of Toronto's City Hall. The aim was to call out the flaws in Canada's contentious 'disbursement quota'—the minimum amount registered charities are required to grant annually to causes, which at the time was only 3.5 percent. It turns out their big bet worked. Lawmakers proposed legislation to increase that quota to 5 percent in 2023, a change that will release an additional $900 million in funding.

This is all part of Justice Fund's efforts to spur reform in philanthropy. Through their "Move the Money" campaign, they push to hold the philanthropic sector accountable and move more money to those who need it.  Leveraging the abundance of foundation assets to have greater impact will serve the most vulnerable communities, especially during times of crisis, and create transformative change in providing proper access to opportunities and long-term resources. Justice Fund's Co-founder and CEO, Yonis Hassan, joins us to ignite the call for comprehensive philanthropic sector change by starting a conversation about how charitable laws contribute to discrimination and continued oppression of Indigenous and Black communities. He will share their six pillars of philanthropic reform and remind us all that the time for change is now.

SPEAKERS
Yonis Hassan, Co-Founder and CEO, Justice Fund

9:30 AM: Working Groups

Philanthropy's Role in the Return of Indigenous Land - Hawthorn

The accumulation of wealth in the United States - including foundation assets - has been built upon the theft of Indigenous lands and decimation of Indigenous communities. This gives philanthropic institutions, as stewards of wealth, a particular responsibility to engage in restorative relationships with the Indigenous peoples of the lands they occupy. The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led land trust based in the San Francisco Bay Area that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people, developed the Shuumi Land Tax Guidance for Foundations as a model to aid in redistributing wealth to Indigenous communities. Working in deep collaboration with Justice Funders, the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust encourages foundations to give and provides guidance and support to foundations interested in paying Shuumi.

This working group will feature both sides of the Shuumi relationship. Ariel Luckey of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and Des Buford from Justice Funders will ground the conversation with their knowledge and experience from the land trust and funder organizing perspective. Glen Galaich from the Stupski Foundation, a contributor to the Shuumi Land Tax, will share how and why the foundation made the decision to join these efforts in the Bay Area and other regions it operates in. Together they will explore how philanthropy can play an important role, proportional to the resources and power that the sector directs, of entering into restorative relationships and supporting the return of Indigenous land.

SPEAKERS
Glen Galaich, CEO, Stupski Foundation
Ariel Luckey, Development Director, Sogorea Te' Land Trust
Des Buford, Network Director, Justice Funders Network
Moderator: Kathryn Gilje, Executive Director, Ceres Trust

The Power of Collective Giving - Cypress

Giving Circles are changing the landscape of philanthropy and diversifying what it means to be a philanthropist. They are a form of participatory grantmaking that enables individuals to come together to multiply their impact, build community and engage more deeply with a specific issue area. Giving Circles are transforming the.act of giving—which is often done individually and reactively—into a collaborative, intentional, joyful, values-based way of engaging with the issues that matter.

Over the last two decades, this practice has exploded in popularity, growing in numbers of more than 2,000 circles with 150,000+ people participating in giving an estimated $1.3 billion in grants. Funding from giving circles is grounded in the premise that communities know what communities need, grants are made as no-strings-attached gifts to organizations that circles select collaboratively.

Philanthropy Together is a global initiative, co-created by hundreds of giving circle and network leaders, to scale and strengthen this movement. Come ready to learn the ins and outs of designing and implementing Giving Circles and democratizing philanthropy in this workshop led by Philanthropy Together.

SPEAKERS
Sara Lomelin, CEO, Philanthropy Together
Isis Krause, Chief Strategy Officer, Philanthropy Together

World Affairs Portal & Kigali Portal: Frontlines of the Climate Crisis - Prince

We live in a world where information sharing and communication is easier than ever. Cross-cultural experiences are a catalyst for more meaningful interactions, which are more authentic and relatable than consuming an academic analysis of international issues. Shared Studios Portals are an immersive experience for building connections across the globe. These physical spaces are tech-enabled to bring internationally dispersed participants face-to-face in life-size form, as if standing next to each other in the same room.

The Portals are located around the world in places ranging from city museums to refugee camps and can accommodate a limited number of participants at a time to engage with counterparts in another Portal around the world. The platform facilitates global connections, builds empathy and explores different perspectives, local nuance, common challenges and potential for coordinated responses to shared challenges. Join us for this interactive experience to connect with another community across the globe. 

Learn more about the complexities of the climate crisis from those on the frontlines. In this immersive conversation with Ineza Grace, founder of The Green Protector and activists from across East Africa. Understand how the climate crisis is impacting various communities, how activists are mobilizing youth in the fight for climate justice, and how they hope to make climate loss and damage finance the top of the global climate agenda.

11:00 AM: Plenary: Bold Giving Practices - Ventana

Radical changes are being made to address the power imbalances inherent in the philanthropic sector. With young donors making a larger effort to redistribute their inherited wealth, practices like trust based philanthropy and spend down foundations becoming more widespread, and donors seeking to invest directly in communities – innovative models are challenging philanthropy's status quo and shifting power into the hands of those philanthropy seeks to serve.

As a spend-down foundation, the Stupski Foundation has committed to investing all of its assets in collaboration with community partners by 2029 to make the greatest possible change today. Their CEO Glen Galaich is committed to using this model to inspire big goals, take more risks, and seek sustainable impact to meet the challenges of today. With the amount of money sitting in donor advised funds at over $160 billion, Jennifer Risher founded #HalfMyDAF in response to COVID with the goal of inspiring donors to move more money out of their donor advised funds and into the hands of those who need it most. By challenging others to join her efforts, $33 million has gone directly to nonprofits who turn that support into immediate action. JustFund, the only nonprofit grantmaking platform developed by funders and organizers of color, was founded by Iara Peng to connect funders directly to organizations. JustFund helps move resources faster while also facilitating greater trust, transparency and accountability.

Global philanthropy and social innovation expert, Dr. Una Osili, will lead this conversation on how these bold, disruptive giving practices can become the new norm in order to advance sector-wide transformation and accountability.

SPEAKERS
Glen Galaich, CEO, Stupski Foundation
Jennifer Risher, Founder, #HalfMyDAF
Iara Peng, Founder and CEO, JustFund
Moderator: Una Osili, Associate Dean for Research and International Programs, Lilly School of Philanthropy

12:00 PM: Lunch

1:00 PM: Working Groups

Realizing Transformative Change through Gender Equity - Hawthorn

Gender inequality is everywhere, hardwired into mindsets, societies, and systems, slowing progress on every issue. To date, philanthropy has largely missed the opportunity to support feminist movements, especially feminist movements led by Black, Indigenous, Migrants, Workers, and other marginalized communities. In 2017, less than one percent of total foundation giving, and in 2018, less than one percent of gender-focused international aid was directed to women’s rights organizations. Shake the Table and the Bridgespan Group collaborated to develop “Lighting the Way,” a report and research brief that shares practical guidance on how to find and fund constituency-led feminist movements. Bridgespan’s research shows philanthropy has ample ability to give—potentially six billion dollars over five years.

In this session, we will dive deeper into the five recommendations for donors that surfaced from the research. We’ll discuss the defining characteristics of feminist movements, how they accelerate social change, what it means to take a feminist lens to a problem or solution, and how power dynamics change and shape the issues we are all working on. Join us for a conversation on our research and the work we can all do to advance gender equity and realize transformative change.

SPEAKERS
Hilary Pennington, Executive Vice President of Global Programs, Ford Foundation
Tynesha McHarris, Co-founder, Black Feminist Fund
Moderator: Nidhi Sahni, Partner and Head of US Advisory, Bridgespan

Redesigning Partnerships: Supporting Local Collective Action - Cypress

Policy and funding around development, humanitarian support and peacebuilding are unequal and not fit for purpose. Despite global commitments to re-target international development assistance to local actors, including the Grand Bargain and recent USAID commitments to shift 25% of funding, the localization agenda has seen slow progress, with less than 1% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) going directly to local actors in the Global South. If local actors are going to realize a central role in leading and owning development efforts in their communities, mechanisms to leverage more funding from bilateral and multilateral agencies – who account for over 93% of ODA - are key. Philanthropy has a critical role to play in helping to unlock Official Development Assistance by using its patient and flexible investments to test and amplify new ways of working.

Join a conversation with leaders from donor agencies and Global South civil society to redesign partnerships to better advance community led development. We will explore how we can shift policy and funding structures to support local civil society efforts and discuss how we can do more to support local leadership in policy and practice.

SPEAKERS
Peter Laugharn, President and CEO, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Courtenay Cabot Venton, Executive Director, Share Trust and Co-lead, The Local Coalition Accelerator
Monica Nyiraguhabwa, Executive Director, Girl Up Initiative Uganda
Donald Steinberg, Expert Advisor to the Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
Fanta Toure-Puri, Director, Girls First Fund

Minority Leaders in Philanthropy Forum - Woodridge

We maintain a unique position to convene key thought leaders in the philanthropic space and can do so for groups that traditionally have not had spaces to connect. With many promising changes currently taking place in the philanthropic sector, there is a more diverse leadership field and an increase in decision makers that have shared life experiences with, and are more reflective of, the people and communities they aim to serve.

Building on the idea of peer-to-peer learning with common goals and different perspectives, we invite minority leaders and allies in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors to gather together to exchange experiences and ideas. Sharing lessons and wisdom will foster a stronger network, and in turn communicating these learnings to others will enhance the sector overall.

SPEAKERS
Una Osili, Associate Dean for Research and International Programs, Lily School of Philanthropy
Philip Yun, President and CEO, World Affairs and GPF

World Affairs Portal & Mexico City Portal: Activism to Adaptation - Prince

We live in a world where information sharing and communication is easier than ever. Cross-cultural experiences are a catalyst for more meaningful interactions, which are more authentic and relatable than consuming an academic analysis of international issues. Shared Studios Portals are an immersive experience for building connections across the globe. These physical spaces are tech-enabled to bring internationally dispersed participants face-to-face in life-size form, as if standing next to each other in the same room.

The Portals are located around the world in places ranging from city museums to refugee camps and can accommodate a limited number of participants at a time to engage with counterparts in another Portal around the world. The platform facilitates global connections, builds empathy and explores different perspectives, local nuance, common challenges and potential for coordinated responses to shared challenges. Join us for this interactive experience to connect with another community across the globe. 

Meet with activists using technology for social justice in Mexico City. From teens developing apps to educate youth on climate and preservation, to the use of YoutTube to advocate on behalf of families with missing children, these youth activists are reshaping how we use technology in the service of social justice, cultural life and mobility.

2:30 PM: Plenary: Health Equity in the Midst and Wake of COVID-19 - Ventana

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the cracks in our systems which fail to reach the most marginalized. BIPOC and low-income communities disproportionately face unhealthy environments and encounter barriers in access to care which result in poorer health outcomes. The pandemic has only further exacerbated these long-standing disparities in health and put marginalized communities at greater risk. Health inequities are directly correlated with the systems of power and oppression that have created a reality in which zip codes determine life expectancies.

In order for philanthropy to effectively engage with well-being holistically and make a meaningful difference towards health outcomes, funders must name and redress the power imbalances and structural causes at the root of these inequities. With leaders from the public and philanthropic sector, we'll explore how philanthropy must invest in addressing the root causes of health disparities and racial injustices by directing resources to communities enduring long-standing imbalances in care. How can philanthropy create a culture of solidarity, and work in collaboration with both governments and communities to create a society in which everyone can thrive?

SPEAKERS
Chet Hewitt, President and CEO, Sierra Health Foundation
Ayanna Bennet, Director and Chief Health Equity Officer, San Francisco Department of Public Health's Office of Health Equity
Isabelle Kamariza, Founder and President, Solid' Africa
Moderator: Lili Farhang, Co-Director, Human Impact Partners

3:30 PM: Break

4:00 PM: Plenary: Amplifying People-Powered Change - Ventana

We live in an era defined by crisis, but also great promise. The effects of climate change, economic inequality and racial injustice are daunting, but in the midst of these challenges, there's a vibrant, visible resurgence of social movements. Communities are rising up against entrenched economic and political power that result in injustice. Shifting power, achieving a just democracy and building an economy that works for everyone will come from the power of collective action.

But it will not be possible to achieve lasting social change without a much greater investment in community organizing from philanthropy. Born out of community organizing in support of the DREAM Act, Carlos Saavedra founded the Ayni Institute, a social movement incubator that also provides resources for funders to strategically fund movements, spurring large-scale social change by injecting resources at key moments to enhance their reach. With a background in philanthropy and worker organizing, Carmen Rojas is head of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, a leader in the space of movement funding and steadfast in their mission to shift the balance of power in society. They'll share their insights into how funding social movements can amplify the impact of social justice and how people-powered strategies can prevail against staggering concentrations of power by recalibrating the balance to those on the ground leading the march for progress.

SPEAKERS
Carmen Rojas, President and CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation
Carlos Saavedra, Executive Director, Ayni Institute
Moderator: Catherine Addo, Founder, Racial Equity Practice and Senior Strategy Director, Purpose

5:00 PM: Plenary: Lightning Talk: Nemonte Nenquimo: Indigenous Forest Defender

Nemonte Nenquimo is a prominent Indigenous leader from the Ecuadorian Amazon, who is fighting to protect her ancestral territory, culture, and way of life. In 2019, Nemonte led her people’s historic legal victory against the Ecuadorian government, protecting half-a-million acres of primary rainforest from oil drilling and setting a precedent for Indigenous rights across the region.

She is a member of the Waorani nation, legendary hunter-harvesters of the southcentral Ecuadorian Amazon, whose communities cover roughly 2.5 million acres of some of the most richly biodiverse and threatened rainforest on the planet. Nemonte co-founded the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization, Ceibo Alliance, and its partner Amazon Frontlines, to protect Indigenous lands and livelihoods from resource extraction within their territories.

The Waorani people’s resistance continues to inspire frontline Indigenous communities across the Amazon and beyond as a powerful example of Indigenous-led action against fossil fuel extraction. Nemonte was instrumental in developing her people’s multi-faceted campaign, which ultimately defeated the Ecuadorian government in court and galvanized Indigenous resistance to the auctioning of Indigenous territories to foreign oil companies. Nemonte will join us on stage with a call to action in defense of the Amazon and for Indigenous sovereignty.

SPEAKERS
Nemonte Nenquimo, Co-Founder, Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines

5:30 PM: Cocktail Reception - Courtyard

6:30 PM: Dinner - Ventana

8:00 PM: Conference Concludes