Trust-Based Philanthropy During Times of Crisis (and Beyond)

About

Hosted in partnership with the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers. As philanthropy in our region and around the country mobilizes to address the COVID-19 crisis, many funders are responding by getting dollars to nonprofits on the ground more quickly. Some funders are converting project grants to general support, reducing or eliminating application and reporting processes, and adopting other practices that reflect the belief that nonprofits know best how to meet the needs of their communities during emergencies. Many are recognizing how the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic amplifies existing inequities in our society, and are centering racial and economic equity in how they respond.

While it’s commendable that so many funders are rising to the moment by thinking differently about how they fund, these practices shouldn’t be reserved for times of crisis.

The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is a five-year, peer-to-peer funder initiative to address the power imbalances between foundations and nonprofits. Join us for this virtual conversation to learn about the principles of trust-based philanthropy, hear from leaders working to implement these practices in their own institutions, and engage in dialogue about what it would take to make trust-based practices rooted in equity and transparency the norm in philanthropy beyond our current moment.

Speakers:

• Hanh Le, Executive Director, Weissberg Foundation
• Philip Li, President & CEO, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation
• Heather Peeler, President & CEO, ACT for Alexandria
• Shaady Salehi, Director, Trust-Based Philanthropy Project