What does it mean for funders to build power? As more and more grantmakers embark on or deepen journeys to embed values of equity, diversity and inclusion into their work, how can we incorporate a power-building frame to measure meaningful progress on equity?
Join NCRP for the second webinar in their series on the exciting new resource, Power Moves: Your essential philanthropy assessment guide for equity and justice.
The webinar features an expert panel of practitioners to help us dive into the Building Power section of the toolkit, including entry points, emerging examples of how users are digging in and best practices for examining funding for advocacy, organizing and civic engagement rooted in marginalized communities.
Daniel Lee, executive director of the Levi Strauss Foundation, will moderate a rich discussion with featured speakers Alejandra Ibañez, lead program officer for Woods Fund Chicago; Rhiannon Rossi, program officer with the Women’s Foundation of California; and Elizabeth Tan of E-Tan Consulting. All three featured speakers are members of the Power Moves advisory and peer learning groups for funders and consultants.
Speaker Bios:
Daniel Lee (@flybyboy and @LeviStraussFdn)
Daniel Lee is executive director of the Levi Strauss Foundation. He joined Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&CO.), and the Levi Strauss Foundation in 2003 as a Community Affairs Manager for the Asia Pacific Division in Singapore, where he managed and implemented corporate social responsibility programs, employee volunteerism and grantmaking in three global giving areas: HIV/AIDS, worker rights and asset building.
Subsequently, he relocated to San Francisco and assumed the role of Director of Global Grantmaking Programs. Lee has extensive experience with international non-governmental organizations in the fields of human rights, HIV/AIDS and social justice.
Before joining LS&Co., he served as senior program officer for Asia and Pacific at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and on the founding board of the Massachusetts Asian AIDS Prevention Project. In addition to FCAA, Mr. Lee currently serves on the board of NCRP, the International Advisory Board of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and the Asia-Oceania advisory panel of the Global Fund for Women. He received a B.A. in religion and history from Princeton University and a Master of Divinity from Harvard University.
Alejandra Ibañez (@WoodsFundChi)
Alejandra is the lead program officer at Woods Fund Chicago. Prior to her arrival at Woods Fund, she served as the program officer at the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, managing the foundation’s multi-million dollar Communityworks endowment grant and community program. She managed the foundation’s largest scholarship program and successfully developed the foundation’s Nonprofit Excellence program, helping to build the capacity and coordination of its local nonprofit sector.
Before entering the philanthropic sector, Alejandra served as the executive director of Pilsen Alliance, a social justice organization committed to developing grassroots leadership in Pilsen and neighboring working-class, immigrant communities in Chicago’s Lower West Side. Alejandra began her community organizing work in Chicago’s West Town community in the early 1990s, advocating and organizing alongside neighborhood leaders to elevate their voices and power through local school councils, and then later in her role as chief of staff to Sonia Silva, the first Latina state representative in the Illinois House of Representatives.
Alejandra was born in Chile and moved to the U.S. with her family in the 1970s. After spending most of her childhood on the East Coast, Alejandra and her family moved to Chicago in the late 1980s and continue to call it home. She holds a Masters in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from DePaul University.
Rhiannon Rossi (@womensfoundca)
As Program Officer, Rhiannon Rossi is responsible for implementing and strengthening the Women’s Foundation of California’s grantmaking and partnerships between WFC’s donor advised funds and the foundation. She brings a wealth of experience in gender justice philanthropy.
Prior to joining the foundation, Rhiannon served as the Philanthropic Education Officer at Chicago Foundation for Women where she oversaw the foundation’s leadership and philanthropic development programming. While at Chicago Foundation for Women, Rhiannon managed the establishment of the foundation’s first giving circle, which exceeded membership and grantmaking goals in its first year. She also created and enhanced programs to build community among the various organizational stakeholders. Before Chicago Foundation for Women, Rhiannon gained experience working with a number of diverse nonprofit organizations as a development professional.
Rhiannon received her B.A. from Indiana University-Bloomington. During her time there she began to cultivate her excitement for philanthropy. Rhiannon is passionate about women’s issues and volunteers as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault and is a member of Spark San Francisco.
Elizabeth Tan
Elizabeth Tan has worked for more than 20 years in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to advance environmental, social and economic justice. In 2011, she launched her consulting practice to help social change leaders achieve more meaningful and lasting impact within their organizations and the communities they serve.
As a consultant committed to advancing equity, Elizabeth looks for opportunities to engage leaders within multiple sectors – nonprofit, philanthropic, public and private – to support greater innovation and collaboration. Moving forward, it will be increasingly important to explore and nurture efforts that leverage relationships, resources, knowledge and strategies, outside of the predictable networks.
Elizabeth’s practical, results-driven consulting approach encourages clients to ask the hard questions about their priorities, methodology, role within the larger landscape and overall effectiveness. Together, they examine the strength of the client’s current structures, strategies and campaigns within the changing political and economic landscape, make practical and informed decisions about how, when, and why to invest in the organization, and build the leadership and internal capacity needed to be successful.
To register, click here.