NFG Newsletter
Getting grounded for 2022: NFG’s January 2022 Newsletter
I began 2022 taking comfort in the seemingly little — but deeply meaningful things — a hug from my son, a good laugh with friends, a walk after school drop-off. These comforts help me ground myself, as I set my intentions for the year and for our collective work at NFG. When I became NFG’s…
Read MoreSaying ‘no’ and rest as resistance: NFG’s December 2021 Newsletter
At the beginning of this month, Neighborhood Funders Group hosted our final Member Connection Call of 2021. These calls are informal virtual spaces for grantmakers to truly connect and co-conspire; if you haven’t joined one yet, we hope that you will in 2022 — register here for our next call on January 26! On this…
Read MoreLooking back & what’s ahead: NFG’s November 2021 Newsletter
As we’re approaching the end of the year, our team at Neighborhood Funders Group has begun reflecting on the many ways we’ve been organizing with funders to move more money to racial, gender, economic, and climate justice. In this month’s newsletter, you’ll find our highlights from 2021 and a glimpse of what to expect from…
Read More2021 November Amplify Newsletter
AMPLIFY FUND Neighborhood Funders Group Dear friends, Here at Amplify Fund, we believe that taking action together yields the most fruitful results. As a collaborative of 17 funders we are focused on: Nurturing and strengthening the conditions necessary for BIPOC communities to build power; and Organizing funders so we shift what and how we fund.…
Read MorePhilanthropy’s horoscope for care + liberation: NFG’s October 2021 Newsletter
I’ve been on NFG’s staff team since July 2019 — popping into your inbox (whether you knew it was me or not) as one of the behind-the-scenes creators/writers/editors of our monthly newsletters and other communications pieces. In addition to being NFG’s Director of Membership and Communications, I’m a puppy parent, an avid car camper, a…
Read MoreConnect & co-conspire with us: NFG’s 2021 September Newsletter
As a proud partner of CHANGE Philanthropy, NFG is excited to come together for the 2021 Unity Summit — the largest convening of progressive philanthropy! Join us for the virtual & live Unity Summit experience from October 25-28. The Unity Summit will continue November 1-5 with a week of interactive experiences. This year’s format will offer live…
Read MoreWhat Philanthropy can Learn from Labor Organizing: NFG’s August 2021 Newsletter
I am so excited to join NFG’s Amplify Fund team. Amplify, a funder collaborative, has organized local, regional, and national funders to distribute over $8 million in power building grants to Black, Indigenous, people of color and low-income organizations. As the Fund’s inaugural Director of Learning and Communications, my skills with research, evaluation, and messaging…
Read MoreTransformative change, rooted in place: NFG’s July 2021 Newsletter
Can you imagine what New York would look like if private equity funds weren’t evicting low-income renters? What about, if in the Washington, DC area, historically Black neighborhoods were not being gentrified by wealthy white people and behemoth-tech corporations like Amazon? What if, in Southern California, essential workers had the power to set policies that…
Read MoreReflections after my first year as NFG President: NFG’s June 2021 Newsletter
I didn’t choose my first leadership role — it chose me. As a child who emigrated from Mexico to Detroit with my family, I became my family’s language broker. I learned English the fastest, un-learned my accent the quickest as a survival mechanism, and learned how to navigate the systems for my family. I took…
Read MoreRedefining the social & employment contract: NFG’s May 2021 Newsletter
The imagination, ingenuity, and power of workers, neighbors, and organizers in regions across the country are bigger than the crises they face. NFG’s Building Power in Place (BPP) project bridges organizers and funders with place-specific research highlighting groundbreaking community and worker organizer strategies. BPP showcases the realities of what building power in place looks like and…
Read More2021 May Amplify Newsletter
Dear friends, We hope you are all healthy and well as we start the second year of this pandemic, and enter the final days of springtime. Here at the Amplify Fund, we are staying focused, motivated and inspired by the work of movement leaders across the country, like Tequila Johnson (Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of…
Read MoreBuilding rural power for racial, economic, gender, & climate justice: NFG’s April 2021 Newsletter
At Neighborhood Funders Group, we know that local grassroots organizing is key to Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities building power to influence decision-making about the places where they live, work, learn, and play. It’s how we can make sure our communities have access to clean water, stable housing, and economies that sustain people…
Read MorePhilanthropy must be accountable: NFG’s March 2021 Newsletter
We need each other and all of us in the fight for racial, gender, economic, and climate justice. The latest incidents of hate against AAPI women, elders, and our communities have left us grieving, angry, tired, and steadfast in our commitment to make philanthropy more accountable to AAPI, Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities…
Read MoreHonoring Black histories & futures: NFG’s February 2021 Newsletter
To honor Black histories and futures, Neighborhood Funders Group is excited to share with you a new report from Funders for a Just Economy and the Amplify Fund on the critical Black women-led organizing redefining Nashville, Tennessee. The first report for our multi-city Building Power in Place project, Nashville: Reshaping the City Towards an Economy for All, tells a small…
Read MoreBe vigilant and move the money: NFG’s January 2021 Newsletter
In NFG’s final Strike Watch blog of 2020, Manisha Vaze — Director of our Funders for a Just Economy Program — issued this call to action: “The organizer in me is asking you to stay vigilant and move resources to where movements are directing us: to organizing, power building, and movements calling to defund the police as…
Read MoreI cried like a baby, I swore like a sailor: NFG’s December 2020 Newsletter
At Neighborhood Funders Group’s final board meeting of 2020, the toll of the year hit me — suddenly. While saying farewell to Mary Sobecki (Executive Director of the Needmor Fund) as she ended her term on NFG’s Board of Directors, I found myself crying like a baby. I have known Mary since NFG’s National Convening…
Read MoreRaising expectations & creating community in philanthropy: NFG’s November 2020 Newsletter
On October 1, I enthusiastically moved into the role of Vice President of Programs for Neighborhood Funders Group after being on our staff team since January 2019 and a former NFG member leader. I am proud to continue NFG’s 40-year legacy of mobilizing philanthropy to redefine what is possible for this sector and our communities. Being part…
Read MoreStrategize with NFG in the lead up to the election & beyond: NFG’s October 2020 Newsletter
We hope that — at one of the most critical junctions in the United States in decades — you are tapping into your reservoirs of joy, strength, and nourishment: whether that’s friends and family, rest, food, music, art, plants, pets, or philanthropic community. As we all continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, its economic…
Read MoreHow not to only fund the loudest voices in the room: NFG’s September 2020 Newsletter
Last week, NFG’s Amplify Fund and Funders for a Just Economy hosted a virtual learning visit in Nashville to showcase how Stand Up Nashville and The Equity Alliance are building power in their city for all residents. These Black women-led organizations have laid the foundation for recent movements supporting mutual aid and just recovery from disasters, community development, and economic justice (watch this video to learn more…
Read MoreNFG’s 40 Years Strong convening continues with 6 new sessions & more: NFG’s August 2020 Newsletter
At NFG’s plenary session to ignite our 40 Years Strong virtual convening series, Gladys Washington, Former Deputy Director of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, urged philanthropy to “keep leaning in, and keep putting that money out.” As communities continue to adapt to the altered landscape created by COVID-19 and rise up to defend Black lives, we are seeing…
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