This is the second session of a 4-part webinar series hosted in partnership with the Environmental Grantmakers Association, Blue Sky Funders Forum, and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders. For more information about this series, click here.
Culture is an organization’s general way of being, expressed in organizational norms, assumptions, and behaviors. Given trust-based philanthropy’s values-driven stance on centering relationships and sharing power, nurturing a trust-based culture is essential to making your trust-based philanthropy possible.
In order to nurture a trust-based culture, we must understand our starting point. The majority of institutions operate within a white dominant cultural context, wherein perceptions of trustworthiness and achievement are skewed in favor of those who have had access to – and have assimilated to – white dominant norms. In this default culture, we also tend to prioritize wealth over the communities we serve – as indicated in commonly used phrases such as return on investment, proof of concept, and even program “officer.”
So how can funders identify – and undo – cultural barriers to trust and equity? And what does it look like to build a trust-based, racially equitable culture that prioritizes honesty, community, creativity, and joy within and beyond your organization? In this session, we’ll hear from leaders that have prioritized culture-building within their organizations, including the strategies they are deploying to foster a sense of connection and collaboration, and what they’re doing to build and sustain trust internally so that they can advance their trust-based goals externally.
Participants can expect to walk away with a clearer understanding of how white dominant culture shows up in our assumptions and norms; and strategies for initiating and deepening a culture of power consciousness, humility, and collaboration.
Speakers
Dimple Abichandani, Executive Director, General Service Foundation
Pia Infante, Co-Executive Director, The Whitman Institute
Shruti Jayaraman, Chief Investments Officer, Chicago Beyond
Kim Moore Bailey, CEO, Justice Outside