Community Foundation Summit

Community Foundation Summit

Please join the Massachusetts Community Foundation Partnership (MACFP) for a full day Summit to provide space for all Community Foundation staff to strengthen relationships, learn from each other, and discuss challenges unique to Community Foundations.

Participants will explore topics of interest CF staff, connect with those with similar roles and responsibilities, learn from each other, and more!

The Summit is designed to:

The agenda for the day is as follows:

8:30 – 9:30am – CEO Breakfast

9:00 – 9:30 am – Check-in & Breakfast

9:30 – 10:30am – Welcome from Magdalena Gomez, Poet & Plenary - Rising Above: How Community Foundations Can Help their Communities Find Common Ground

Community Foundations are uniquely positioned to help bridge the divides driven by local, national political and social dynamics.  This conversation will explore practical advice and discussion around how Community Foundations can rise above the noise and help people in our regions find common ground around local issues.

Speakers:  

Alÿcia Bacon, Community Engagement Officer, Equity & Inclusion, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

Sunny Daily, Executive Director, Community Foundation for Nantucket

Christina Turner, Vice President, Programs and Grantmaking, Cambridge Community Foundation

Ed Denmark (Moderator)

10:45am – 12:00pm – Job Function Breakout #1

12:00 – 1:00pm – Lunch

1:15 – 2:30pm – Concurrent Sessions

Elevating the voices and experiences of those who have been historically silenced, misunderstood, or oppressed is critical if philanthropy wants to shift the inherent power imbalance that exists and has existed for hundreds of years in the United States between those with resources and those with far less. Join us for a conversation as we amplify voices of those working in partnership with under-resourced, marginalized and dis-invested communities. You’ll hear of the remarkable work and positive impact on peoples’ lives throughout the Commonwealth, and how you, as community foundation leaders, can be an ally and support that work.

With ongoing conversations pertaining to race, equity, diversity and inclusion, in this program you’ll: 1) hear the origins of each represented fund and why your investments matter, 2) make connections to your own priorities and areas of work, 3) receive data (both quantitative and qualitative) that indicates current funding (and other) gaps and needs and 4) be in a stronger, more informed position to partner with communities of color.

Presenters: Nadia Harden, Chief of Staff, New Commonwealth Fund, Javier Juarez, Director, Latino Equity Fund, Danielle Kim, Executive Director, Asian Community Fund, Scott Knox, Director, Equality Fund, and Alex McCray, Vice President, Member Engagement and Strategic Initiatives, Philanthropy MA 

In this meet-up, participants will have a chance to talk about pain points and best practices for users of Foundant's CSuite, Grants Management Lifecycle and Scholarship Management Lifecycle systems. 

 

The session will include both large group and small group formats to learn from and engage with peers. Users can bring their questions for assistance from the group to identify best practices and/or solve issues.

Presenter: Jennifer Windram, Tech Operations Manager, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

This engaging session will connect the community of colleagues to their own values related to philanthropy with interactive learning and sharing.

Drawing upon their own personal/professional inspirations, participants will be encouraged to imagine and share our own experience/perspective and think through how they can incorporate similar thoughtfulness in conversations with donors.

Presenters: Joanna Ballantine, VP for Philanthropic Services and Nigel Greaves, Director of Development, Community Foundation of Western MA

Essex County Community Foundation’s community leadership work embraces a systems-based approach as a powerful, effective, and necessary catalyst for change. Over its 25-year history, ECCF has cultivated deep relationships in its 34 communities to lift up the innovative work and impact of over 4,000 nonprofits, municipalities, business and community leaders. ECCF’s systems approach accelerates change on critical regional issues and builds a stronger, more resilient, and equitable county.

ECCF’s methodology attracts and deploys philanthropic funds to amplify community-based, collaborative initiatives that address the root causes of systemic social issues and challenges and result in population-level impact. This data-driven and highly collaborative work results in targeted, growth-oriented, long-term (five- to 10-year) philanthropic investments and engagement.

In this session, the presenters will use 2 case studies - Arts and Culture and Digital Equity to illustrate the how to and what of systems change and coalition building. Attendees will be able to walk away with real life examples and ways to imagine implementing the strategy in their own community with practical advice and examples. 

Presenters: 

Karen Ristuben, Program Director, Creative County Initiative and Kate Machet, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Government Relations, Essex County Community Foundation

2:30 - 2:45pm – Break

2:45 – 3:30pm – Job Function Breakout #2

3:30 - 4:00pm – Reflections on the Day and Next Steps

4:00 – 5:30 pm – Networking Reception

About the Network:

The Massachusetts Community Foundation Partnership is a collaborative of 14 Community Foundations throughout Massachusetts, partnering with nonprofit organizations to strengthen their missions, programs and capacities to contribute to and provide a leadership voice toward stabilizing, re-envisioning and rebuilding the nonprofit sector; connecting and strengthening community foundations for greater impact; and working together to deepen impact and lead on critical and common issues facing our communities and Massachusetts. This partnership is fiscally sponsored and managed by Philanthropy MA.