NFG 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Thank you to the hundreds of people who joined us online to kickoff our 2020 National Convening Series between June 29 and July 2. Our early July convening programming included the Accountability & Philanthropy’s Role plenary session (watch the recording!), Multiracial Rural Equity Summit hosted by NFG’s Integrated Rural Strategies Program, and Homecoming: Housing Justice is Racial…

It is a great honor and joy to greet you as Neighborhood Funders Group’s new President. And I do so while holding grief and outrage for George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, Dion Johnson, Ahmaud Arbery, and the untold thousands of Black people killed by police. I am also reflecting on Pride Month…

We hope that you are safe, supported, and healthy in this unprecedented public health and economic crisis. The NFG team has spent the last several weeks adjusting to this altered way of life — providing time off for staff, calling for social solidarity, urging funders to scale up and move money to communities of color…