NFG Newsletter
Midwest Fall 2022 Newsletter: Holding Change with Care 🍂
I hope you are finding rest and warmth as we traverse this season of transitions. In our home, the little ones and I have been tracking the colors of the leaves and we’ve been celebrating with loved ones the Mid-Autumn Festival and the upcoming Día de Muertos. Fall has already been filled with reminders that change is…
Read More2022 October Amplify Newsletter
Dear friends, Our commitment to deep, relational grantmaking means that, in addition to our long-term commitment to racial justice powerbuilding, we respond during crises of all kinds. Crises that affect 1) all our grantees partners, like COVID; 2) individual grantee partners; and 3) grantee partners in just one of our eight places as was the case…
Read MoreEvent Recap: 9/15 Indiana Co-Governance Funder Briefing
In Indianapolis, gun violence is down 20% so far this year for the first time in a decade; a new crisis response system supports people in crisis to get the care they deserve rather than ending up behind bars; and the nation’s strongest civilian oversight body over law enforcement, created just nine month ago, has…
Read MoreSave the date for NFG’s 2023 National Convening! & more great info in our September 2022 Newsletter
Earlier this year, Neighborhood Funders Group announced that we were postponing what would have been our 2022 National Convening in Wilmington, North Carolina to next year. The decision to shift our convening to 2023 was informed by ongoing, thoughtful conversations about Covid considerations and how & when we want to intentionally regather in-person with NFG’s…
Read MoreLearn about NFG’s racial capitalism community of practice in our August 2022 Newsletter
As summertime winds down, the team at Neighborhood Funders Group is gearing up for a robust slate of events and programming to bring us through the end of the year and into 2023 where we’ll be regathering for our National Convening in Wilmington, NC (save the date coming soon!). Building our analysis of racial capitalism and power…
Read MoreMidwest Summer 2022 Newsletter: Collective Courage ✨
With all we are holding, I hope you are also finding sweetness in this final stretch of our Midwest summer. Each day, I have the honor of working with movement workers and funders who teach me what it means to be courageous enough to build the world we want. Individual brave acts are powerful. So…
Read MoreDDP August 2022 Newsletter
Hi friend, The Democratizing Development Program hired its next full-time director in June. And it’s me, Chimene Okere (follow this link for pronunciation). There’s so much work I’m excited to partner with you on. But before the emails proliferate, webinars start, and scheduling requests begin, I want to begin with gratitude for the folks who…
Read MoreMoving through transitions + more updates: NFG’s July 2022 Newsletter
I’m writing this newsletter message on the 40th day since my beloved 91-year-old Lola passed away, a significant time marker for my family as we remember and honor her. Maybe you’re wondering what this has to do with Neighborhood Funders Group, and the answer is that I don’t know how to (and won’t) compartmentalize, and…
Read MoreA message from NFG’s Interim President, Amy Morris, and more: NFG’s June 2022 Newsletter
By now you all have heard the news of Adriana’s departure from the organization. It is with real sadness that I said goodbye to her as my day-to-day colleague. Adriana is one of the strongest, most skilled (not to mention fun!) leaders and mentors I have ever worked with. I know you all join me in wishing her…
Read MoreFarewell from Adriana Rocha, NFG’s President
My relationship with NFG started in the mid 2000s, first as a member while at the New York Foundation, then as NFG’s Vice President of Programs, as Interim Co-Director, and now President. My energies have focused both internally on the strategy, structure, and culture of NFG, as well as on the programming and relationships with…
Read MoreMidwest Spring 2022 Newsletter: Seeding Change 🌱
I am so honored to say hello to you as the Program Manager of the Midwest Organizing Infrastructure Funders (Midwest Program) at Neighborhood Funders Group. I shifted into this role from Sr. Program Coordinator last month, a transition that has paralleled the Midwest’s journey into spring. In recent years, I have begun gardening vegetables, which has been…
Read MoreHow NFG Celebrates Worker Justice Movements: NFG’s May 2022 Newsletter
At the beginning of May — on International Workers’ Day — Neighborhood Funders Group was excited to announce the winners of our 2022 Discount Foundation Legacy Award! We’re resharing this announcement and sending our sincerest congratulations to this year’s awardee, Wendy Melendez Garcia of Local 32BJ SEIU District 615, as well as the runner-up and equally-inspiring Nap Pempena, Secretary…
Read More(Re)Sharing NFG’s National Convening update + more events: NFG’s April 2022 Newsletter
Neighborhood Funders Group is re-sharing the announcement about our National Convening that we made earlier this month. We are shifting the timing of our National Convening in Wilmington, North Carolina from June 2022 to Spring 2023. Convening is NFG’s ‘superpower,’ and the most frequently named reason for why we are many funders’ political home in philanthropy.…
Read MoreSharing NFG’s refreshed theory of change: NFG’s March 2022 Newsletter
Neighborhood Funders Group has shared snippets of our new theory of change in each of our newsletters so far this year. In January, we unveiled our long-term outcome: Philanthropic assets are liberated so that BIPOC communities and low-income communities have power to self-determine. In February, we applied this outcome to NFG’s Funders for a Just Economy program…
Read MoreHow will you commit to building worker power? NFG’s February 2022 Newsletter
Neighborhood Funders Group’s new theory of change has our organization working toward a world where philanthropic assets are liberated so that BIPOC and low-income communities have power to self-determine (read more about why this long-term outcome from our President, Adriana Rocha, in our January newsletter). NFG’s Funders for a Just Economy (FJE) program brings funders together that are committed to advancing the…
Read More2022 February Amplify Newsletter
Dear friends, This is a significant year for Amplify Fund! As we continue to do our everyday work – funding our grantees and their collaborative endeavors, bringing people together in learning spaces, and organizing with our Steering Committee for change in philanthropy – we are also in the midst of planning for Amplify 2.0. Since…
Read MoreGetting 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.…
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