Making It Stick: From Disaster Response to Long-Term Institutional Change

About

At a time of crisis and change, philanthropy is responding to community needs in an unprecedented way. Foundations are unrestricting grants, listening and responding to urgent needs, seeking out emerging efforts to support, and even increasing their payouts. Not coincidentally, many of these disaster response tactics are core principles of trust-based philanthropy, which takes an intentional, sustained approach to addressing the inherent power imbalances between nonprofits and funders. The question, however, remains: As more and more foundations see the value in trusting the leadership and guidance of nonprofits on the frontlines, will these trust-based practices sustain for the long haul? And what is the work of foundation executives and trustees in paving the way for a trust-based future?

In this session, hosted in partnership with the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, we’ll hear from the CEO and Board Chair of the Headwaters Foundation in Montana who have intentionally built a trust-based culture within their organization and throughout its grantmaking practices. We’ll hear from them about the work of building and operationalizing a trust-based culture, the ongoing dialogue it requires, and how that can inform the roles and responsibilities of CEOs and trustees.