Foundation Endowments…Activate!: Aligning Investment Strategy with Social Justice Values

Thank you to everyone who joined us! If you missed the event or want to watch it again, you can now view the livestream recording  and access the PPT slides.

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Given the scale of social, economic and environmental crises our communities are facing, it is hopeful to see foundations making bold shifts to their grantmaking. Yet funders committed to justice recognize that grant dollars alone are not enough to manifest the kind of transformation needed to create a better future for people experiencing systemic oppression.

In recent years, the philanthropic field has begun to reckon with the reality that most foundations’ endowments are invested in ways that are out of alignment with their values, exacerbating the very problems that their grant dollars aim to solve. While we’ve seen a promising adoption of impact investing, a practice that intends to generate social and environmental impact alongside financial returns, it is clear that this is just a first step in a much longer journey to leverage the full weight of the endowment toward building a just and equitable future.

What if we were to radically expand our imaginations and envision a truly transformative investment approach that contributes to the creation of local, regenerative and democratic economies that build wealth in the same communities that our grants are supporting, while ensuring that our investments are providing more value than they extract?

Join Northern California Grantmakers and Justice Funders for a conversation with foundation, investment and movement leaders to re-imagine how philanthropic wealth can be managed and stewarded to respond to the urgency that our communities and our planet are experiencing. We’ll hear stories and lessons from forward-thinking Bay Area funders who have begun the journey of transforming their investment strategies, as well as social justice organizations that are creating grassroots economic enterprises and investment funds that inspire a truly radical vision for aligning our investments with our grantmaking strategies.

Regardless of where your foundation is on this journey, you will find practical entry points, gain valuable knowledge and receive concrete resources to spark dialogue and action.

This event is a follow up to State of the Movement 2019 and the launch of Resonance: A Framework for Philanthropic Transformation.

Speakers:

  • Vivian Huang, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
  • Doria Robinson, Urban Tilth / Cooperation Richmond
  • Anthony Chang, Kitchen Table Advisors
  • Sonja Swift, Swift Foundation
  • Rachel Robasciotti, Robasciotti & Phillipson
  • Alexandra LaForge, Arabella Advisors

Refreshments will be served.

RSVP here.

Register for the livestream here.

Date: Thursday, October 3
Address: Northern California Grantmakers
60 Spear Street, Suite 360, San Francisco, CA 94105
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm