The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. - Alice Walker
Every day, we make dozens of choices: What are my priorities today? Where do I focus my attention? What decisions do I need to make? In the quick pace of daily work, it can be difficult to lift our heads up and imagine ways of working that more closely align with the meaning of philanthropy: a love of humankind.
Join fellow Philanthropy New York members for our 43rd Annual Meeting - Purpose as Compass. The meeting will serve as a moment to pause and ask ourselves: What desired social outcome serves as my compass, and how can I hold on to that larger purpose in my daily work? We will build on the collective acknowledgment of racial inequity among many in the philanthropic sector, examining how we recognize, share, and build power with those who are most harmed by racialized policies and practices. Collectively, we will reimagine philanthropy in service to racial equity and purpose.
Join us as we engage in movement, art, and our dynamic signature PhilTalks to help us unpack the assumptions and conventional wisdom that often shape philanthropic practice and imagine new ways of working.
What will you learn?
Come curious and ready to ponder:
- How does shifting our focus from our organization to the social outcome we want to achieve help us re-think how we work?
- In what ways are funders beginning to share, shift, and build power with their nonprofit partners, and how are these practices changing the ways we think about resource allocation?
- How does identifying the racialized structures inherent in the issues that we fund shift solutions?
- How do we re-orient our minds and bodies to be open to curiosity and compassion as we navigate change in our work?
Program
Pre-Conference: Monday, May 2, 12:30-1:15 PM, ET
Join us for the Annual Business Meeting of the membership and celebrate the work of the Philanthropy New York community. Cast your vote to appoint Philanthropy New York’s new Directors, and share our appreciation for outgoing board leadership.
Annual Meeting: Tuesday, May 3, 9:00-11:00 AM, ET
Zoom into the largest annual gathering of Philanthropy New York members. Our virtual meeting will engage members to reflect on the unexamined assumptions embedded in our current practices and structures. Together, we will reimagine philanthropy's transformation in service to racial equity. Step into an expansive space with your peers and be inspired by our featured changemakers.
Agenda
9:00 AM
Welcome and Opening Reflections
- Kenneth Austin, PNY Board Chair and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, The Wallace Foundation
- Jason McGill (Master of Ceremonies), Founder and Principal, Justice Associates, LLC
- Kathryn O'Neal-Dunham, CEO, Philanthropy New York
9:25 AM
Artist: An Invitation To Movement
- Camille Cyprian (Founder and Healer-in-Residence, Centered Spaces) will lead us in a joyful, facilitated movement. Join us in both individual and collective movement and be immersed in the exploration of mind, body, and spirit as we prime our hearts to be open and receptive to what is possible, to change.
9:40 AM
PhilTalk: Why We Exist and Who We Center
- Karla Nicholson (Executive Director, Haymarket People's Fund) and the Haymarket People's Fund have been reimagining anew a philanthropy based on anti-racist principles. Solidarity, not charity. Accountability to an interdependent community and to purpose, not to organizational systems and controls. The result: trust-based, localized philanthropy that grows with their community across the years. Come hear what behaviors and practices philanthropy can adopt to work in service to its purpose and the areas in which there is still more work to be done.
9:55 AM
Artist: In Absentia
- Immerse yourself in the art of Nigerian-American artist and researcher Mimi Ọnụọha, whose work highlights the social relationships and power dynamics behind data collection. What happens when data is made to disappear by those who seek to obscure the intertwined workings of racism and power? What are our assumptions about how to interpret data, in both its presence and absence? Through her powerful work, In Absentia, Mimi will invite us to make visible the relationship that exists between those who collect data and those who are the collected and better understand our responsibility to listen and advocate for racial justice.
10:10 AM
Reflective Practice
- Join your colleagues in a facilitated reflective practice to apply what you hear to your own work, to lift up learnings, and strengthen your relationships within the community.
10:35 AM
PhilTalk: Asking Different Questions
- Listen as Chi-Ante Singletary Jones (Chief Reparations Officer and Founder, Cypress Fund) shares her journey towards a purpose-driven philanthropy, building power with their communities by asking different questions that challenge our current orthodoxies: What if our grantees got to decide how much of our endowment we spent? In what ways are our structures reflective of our trust in movements? What are the false barriers? Who holds the ultimate decision-making power? Whose interests are centered and protected? What beliefs power the system?
10:50 AM
Closing Reflections and An Invitation
Recording
