It

1
Building Constituencies in Diverse Communities
Lessons from a Learning Journey (short version)
Note to Presenter Start Presentation on Slide 2
2
Building Constituencies in Diverse Communities
Lessons from a Learning Journey
This GCYF Learning Circle was supported by the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
3
GCYF Overview

• Grantmakers for Children, Youth Families serves
  as a point of contact for grantmakers seeking
  collegial and collaborative relationships with
  other funders concerned with children, youth, and
  families.
• GCYF offers diverse learning and networking
  opportunities.
• Learning Circles provide long-term learning
  opportunities for groups of grantmakers desiring
  sustained interaction with colleagues.

4
Acknowledgments

• The Aspen Institute, Karen Fulbright-Anderson
• The East Bay Community Foundation, Diane Sanchez
• Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth,
  Cindy Ballard
• Neighborhood Small Grants Network, Janice Foster
• The Denver Foundation, Patrick Horvath and LaDawn
  Sullivan
• Making Connections- Denver, Susan Motika and
  Candace RedShirt

5
Learning Circle Foundations

• Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore
• The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los
  Altos, CA
• DC Children and Youth Investment Trust
  Corporation, Washington, D.C.
• Flintridge Foundation, Pasadena, CA
• Ford Foundation, New York City
• Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh
• Rauch Foundation, Garden City, NY
• Rockwell Fund, Inc., Houston
• The Skillman Foundation, Detroit
• The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust,
  Scottsdale
• William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund, Hamden,
  CT

6
Session Objectives

• Making the Case for Building Constituencies in
  Diverse Communities
• Examining Three Lenses for Understanding
  Building Constituencies in Diverse Communities
• Exploring three Arenas in which the work of
  constituency building moves forward

7
MAKING THE CASE

• Why now?
• Changing demographics
• Disparities exposed by disaster
• Realization of limitations of traditional
  grantmaking models

8
Lenses for Understanding Building Constituencies

• Structural racism
• Racial equity
• Inclusionary grantmaking (as opposed to
  traditional grantmaking

9
Lenses for Building Constituencies Structural
Racism

• Structural Racism refers to the ways in which
• Historical context - American legal system
• Public Policies
• Institutional Practices
• Cultural Representations
• Interact to allow the privileges associated
• with whiteness and the disadvantages
• associated with color to endure and adapt over
• time.

The Aspen Institute Roundtable Structural Racism
and Community Revitalization Project
10
Lenses for Building Constituencies Racial Equity

• Equity means each person or group has equal
  access to economic, social, and educational
  opportunity. For members of groups that have been
  excluded from resources, equity may involve
  providing greater resources to compensate for
  past exclusion and discrimination.
• California Tomorrow, 2004

11
Traditional Grantmaking

• Funder
• gtgt Approves request
• gtgt Monitors progress
• gtgt Evaluates project
• gtgt Closes out project file or continues support

Grantee gtgt Submits request gtgt Provides progress
reports gtgt Reports on project gtgt Ends
project or seeks further funding
Funder Grantee
12

Lenses for Building Constituencies Inclusionary
Grantmaking

• Funder
• funding
• technical assistance

Grantee access knowledge
(trust respect) acknowledged
resources mutually agreed upon implementation
outcomes next steps
13
Work Arenas for Building Constituencies

• A. Internal practices
• B. Community engagement
• C. Capacity building

14
Work Arenas for Building Constituencies
Internal Practices

• Board CEO commitment
• Explicit equity statement
• Internal staffing and practices

15
Work Arenas for Building Constituencies
Community Engagement

• Community assessment
• Foundation as community partner
• Relationship building

16
Work Arenas for Building Constituencies
Capacity Building

• Small Grants
• Technical Assistance
• Leadership Development
• Monitoring Evaluation

17
In the end, this work is

• Descriptive not academic
• Asset-based not needs-based
• Long-term organizational change
• Open-ended based on listening
• About being honest

18
Discussion Questions
19
Contact Information

• For more information or further resources,
• please contact
• 8757 Georgia Avenue, Suite 540
• Silver Spring, MD 20910
• P 301-589-4293
• F 301-589-4289
• Email info_at_gcyf.org
• Website www.gcyf.org