Conscious Funders

Funder Spotlight: Thousand Currents

By November 27, 2017

Thousand Currents is an international development organization focused on the Global South. Their funding model is inherently trust-based, with an approach rooted in trusting the expertise of the leaders in the communities they serve. As part of our ongoing series featuring trust-in-practice, The Whitman Institute sat down with Deputy Director Solome Lemma to learn more…

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Funder Spotlight: Durfee Foundation

By November 15, 2017

Since its inception in 1960, the Durfee Foundation in Los Angeles has been investing in extraordinary leaders through an almost hard-wired approach to trust-based philanthropy. As a place-based family foundation devoted to leadership, relationships, and constant learning, Durfee is seeing some incredible long-term results. As part of our series on trust-in-practice, we sat down with…

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Funder Spotlight: General Service Foundation

By October 10, 2017

Two years ago, when Dimple Abichandani stepped in as Executive Director of the General Service Foundation, she noticed a gap between the social justice foundation’s grantmaking processes and the type of relationship they had with their grantees. Soon after, she and the GSF staff started making changes to their practices in order to fully embody…

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Live Your Learning Like It’s Golden

By August 3, 2016

We are pleased to share that The Whitman Institute’s Co-Executive Director, Pia Infante, is a featured session leader for the upcoming Golden State Learning Series, sponsored by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. The deadline is fast approaching.  Here’s the information.  Sign up soon! The Golden State Learning series offers the opportunity to learn from colleagues within…

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Racial Justice Resources for Funders (A Compendium for Now)

By July 15, 2016

Today’s headlines continue to painfully reveal the twin legacies of racism and economic inequality in this country for a global audience, as innocent men, women, and children (black, latino, native, trans) lose their lives.  Perhaps you, like me, are fiercely activated to expand and deepen both understanding and action.  I ask myself every day:  What am I doing…

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