A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities and Candid, “are engaging in a multi-year partnership that leverages Candid’s data collections and ABFE’s subject matter expertise to explore Black leadership in the social sector.”

From Michell Speight (ABFE) and Cathleen Clerkin (Candid): “We believe ABFE and Candid offer complementary skill sets and lived experience for this work…Candid and ABFE have also convened a panel of external advisors with expertise in research, academia, and thought leadership to review and provide insight and feedback on this work.”

“For the initial year of the partnership, Candid and ABFE will focus on creating two research reports to answer these questions respectively:

What does it mean to be Black-led in the social sector?
What do we know about funding support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)? “

Read the report here.

A new episode from the podcast Hope and Dread entitled, “Are You Sitting Uncomfortably?” is available to stream now. Guest include Roxanne Gay, Maya Benton, Tiffany Sia, and more.

“As shifts in power scramble the chessboard, how are our guests reacting to the pace of change? Our interviewees—from critics to museum directors, philanthropists to an astrologer—share their tips for dealing with discomfort. The stakes are high: tune in to hear some of the solutions.”

Listen to the full episode now.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors presents Operating Archetypes Webinar on June 22 at 12pm ET. The event will focus on “[learning] more about this new analytical framework, developed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ (RPA) with input from dozens of foundations and nonprofit partners around the world as part of the Theory of the Foundation learning collaborative.”

Featuring speakers Melissa Berman (Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors), Richard Tate (California Wellness Foundation) Georgia Pessoa (Humanize Institute), Renee Karibi-Whyte (Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors).

Topics include:

What operating archetypes are
How understanding your operating archetype can enhance your impact, particularly given the challenges of today
When and how to implement the concepts embedded in the operating archetypes and related concepts, including The Philanthropy Framework
How others are using or planning to use the tool

Register for the webinar here.

Read the full publication from Rockefeller here.

Join the MacArthur Foundation in partnership with the Christensen Fund, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Pop Culture Collaborative for, “a funder briefing featuring IllumiNative, a new initiative elevating Native stories, voices & issues,” on June 21 at 1pm ET.

“Created and led by Native peoples, IllumiNative is a new nonprofit initiative designed to increase the visibility of—and challenge the negative narrative about—Native Nations and peoples in American society. You will learn more about IllumiNative’s recent efforts to build power for Native peoples through research, narrative and cultural organizing. IllumiNative leadership also will preview its plans to build on these successes and scale even further across Indian Country.”

Register for the webinar here.

The Center for Effective Philanthropy and Council on Foundations presents, “a free webinar discussion on rebuilding trust in nonprofits and philanthropy,” on Thursday, June 16th at 2pm EDT.

“How does declining trust in institutions affect our ability as nonprofit organizations to make social change? Could it impact charitable giving? Lead to new governmental regulations? Or make it difficult to build the kinds of partnerships that advance our work? And what can and should philanthropy do to rebuild that trust? This panel will discuss current challenges, opportunities, and examples to help guide our work.”

Moderated by CEP President Phil Buchanan, the panel is rounded out with LaTida Smith (The Winston-Salem Foundation), Chelsea Peters (Walton Family Foundation), Beth Breeze (Global Challenges Doctoral Centre and Centre for Philanthropy), and Kathleen Enright (Council on Foundations).

Learn more and register here.

From author Michaela Haas for Reasons to Be Cheerful, “A unique Housing First effort in Düsseldorf combines art, newspapers and advocacy to pair the unhoused with apartments.”

“The nonprofit fiftyfifty, which receives no support from the state, derives funding not only from its newspaper — which regularly publishes renowned authors — but also from its aforementioned gallery…Today, Fiftyfifty owns 50 apartments that house 60 people permanently, plus about a dozen more apartments that wealthy locals have loaned at no cost to unhoused people.”

“With its artsy touch, fiftyfifty brings a unique twist to the Housing First approach, which posits that people should be housed before they’re expected to tackle their other challenges. The model is still comparatively new in Germany, but has been successful in reducing chronic homelessness in countries such as Finland and Canada.”

“Housing First was pioneered in the U.S. and Canada. By giving people permanent housing with a lock and a key — no bunk beds, no cubicles, no theft — social workers help them address other issues, such as debt, addiction or joblessness.”

Read the full article here.

The AVPN conference plans to livestream their session, “Learning from failure in philanthropy,” from Bali on June 23 at 8:45 CEST.

“In this event, our panelists will answer the following questions:”

What has been the Asian experience of this?
Which funders and social investors have engaged with these questions?
How do they adapt their strategy and put resources behind learning to profit from mistakes
What kind of cultural changes are necessary for them to become genuine learning organisations?
What are some of the examples of best practice in learning from failures and how can these be adapted by other organisations

Panelists include Akhil Shahani (Shahani Group), Jennifer Chen (The Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation), Stefan Schaefers (King Baudouin Foundation), Sumit Joshi (Lorinet Foundation), and Andrew Milner (Alliance).

Register for the livestream here.

From The Phoenix Newspaper: “A new start-up called Ad Astra has launched, becoming the UK’s first non-fungible token (NFT) agency that specialises in connecting artists, art collectors and galleries with end-to-end NFT services.”

“The company intends to break down the entry barriers for many artists who have the desire, but not the resources, to create and sell innovative NFTs that fully utilise the potential of the medium.”

“Emily Wigoder, CEO and founder of Ad Astra said, ‘The possibilities of the NFT world are endless, and yet, many artists, galleries and traditional art collectors are holding back from entering this space.’

‘Upon investigation, we found that the costs, complications and perceived risks with the NFT space were stopping initially interested artists and art enthusiasts from benefitting from the many opportunities that are available. This is exactly why we created Ad Astra – a turn-key NFT creation agency that has a passion for both traditional art and NFTs, and believes that the art world and its artists belong in the art and technology of the future.'”

Read the full article here.

“Dear Ms. Scott,” said Amber Hamilton, Executive Director of Memphis Music Initiative. “What do you say to someone whose investment and commitment to trust Black leaders has changed the game for over a dozen organizations and thousands of young people with one gift? If this ever reaches you, I’d like to spend a moment talking about not just gratitude and impact, but feelings.”

She continues to say they, “humbly accept this gift, and would be remiss if we didn’t express how much it has catalyzed our dreams and renewed our spirits.”

“…we can breathe. We can dream. We can invest in other Black- and brown-led work, because these leaders absolutely deserve the same sense of freedom. We can use our energy to shape new programming, instead of watching legacy organizations continue to be fed by a machine that privileges them. We can rest.”

Read the full letter here.

“Staffers in institutions got time, space and money to address fragile business models and secure their futures,” said author Susan Jones. “In contrast, exclusive and short-term emergency arts funding schemes for freelance artists failed to address their livelihood needs.”

Jones’ analyzes how, “the lives and artistic prospects of many artists positively improved in pandemic conditions offers clues to the substantial shifts in arts infrastructures necessary to honour and sustain the talents and vibrancy of the diverse artists’ constituency in future.”

Read the full article here.