The Why and How of Ceding Power to Community Organizations to Achieve Systems Change

There is a window of opportunity to permanently shift the way we show up to support the strategies, vision and leadership of communities that are directly affected by unjust and racist systems.

A growing number of funders are aligning behind movement priorities, breaking the cycle of unbalanced philanthropic power so that communities can set forth their own priorities, grounded in lived experience and local context. In this discussion, we will share how the Fund for an Inclusive California has flipped outdated power dynamics by codesigning a state-wide initiative with community partners from the very beginning, aligning strategies and funding to their priorities, and accelerating systems change by funding power building.

Speakers:

• Jazmin Segura, Director of the Fund for an Inclusive California
• Lety Valencia, Formation Director, Faith in the Valley
• Vy Nguyen, Senior Director of Special Projects and Communications at Weingart Foundation
• Moderated by Lisa Owens, Executive Director, Hyams Foundation

We hope that people who attend will come away with:

• Deeper understanding of how philanthropic efforts can be redesigned to center community organizations’ needs, capacity and movement priorities.
• Examples of how impactful our work can be if we listen and center expertise of community organizations, to be more effective in our partnerships