Indiana University Foundation’s Post

Did you know that 80% of our Chicago Scholars Alumni return to Illinois after graduation? That means serious growth, change, and investment back into our communities, and a future for the City of Chicago that reflects the experiences of our students. Additionally, 4 in 5 of our Scholars are Black, Latinx, or Indigenous - some of the communities that receive the least amount of investment and resources. Through our work, our Scholars are making huge strides to change that - returning to their neighborhoods to set up nonprofits, becoming medial practitioners, and more. Want to learn more? Head to the link to read all of our new impact metrics! https://bit.ly/49BbTnq

Feeling the freudenfreude! Freudenfreude is a word created by social scientists to describe the enjoyment of another's success. Amid the relatively dark news in my feed today, a story of generosity brightly shone through and sparked this feeling: A new transformational $1 billion financial aid gift at John Hopkins from Bloomberg Philanthropies will increase access to health professions for students from middle and lower class families. Most medical students will now attend Johns Hopkins tuition-free, and many will also receive support for living expenses. Students in nursing, public health, and other graduate programs will benefit as well. I am inspired by the equity-minded goals of this gift as articulated by Michael Bloomberg. “By reducing the financial barriers to these essential fields, we can free more students to pursue careers they're passionate about—and enable them to serve more of the families and communities who need them the most." Research shows that acts of generosity, like gift-giving, are contagious and increase happiness. Freudenfreude and generosity are both contagious—pass it on! #generosity #whatinspiresme #academicmedicine #healthcare #highered

I'm a big fan of women with wealth putting their money towards social good, especially to #womensrights and #genderequality. MacKenzie Scott gave away 2 billion last year, with $640 million to non profits this year. Personally I think that should be applauded. So, when I heard Melinda French Gates was parting ways with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an expected move, I have been thinking of what she could do with her over 10 billion, for women's rights and gender equality. Here's what I hope she is doing/considering: 1. Invest in women's rights and feminist movements. Grassroots women's movements everywhere are the cornerstone of social change, yet work on a shoestring, receiving less than 1% of ODA (official development assistance). Whether it's in conflict and disasters responding to crisis, peacebuilding, or working on development - and often, all of it, women are at the forefront. Fund Women's Peace & Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, Global Fund for Women and more. Go direct, fund grassroots organisations led and run by women. There's alot of talk about doing this, but noone seems to have cracked it! 2. Fund prevention of violence against women. 1 in 3 women experience some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Deeply rooted in patriarchy, unequal power relations, men's violence against women is so pervasive, resulting in femicide, long lasting impacts, trauma, stigma, loss of economic opportunities, and homelessness. Fund prevention programs that challenge attitudes that condone violence against women, that foster consent, and healthy and equal relationships. Fund women's organisations and partners of Spotlight Initiative Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) WhatWorks2PreventVAWG UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women 3. Support women's leadership in all spaces at all levels. Identify and fund women leaders and aspiring politicians to run in local and national elections in countries where they are needed (eg. everywhere!). 4. Use her voice to stand for women's rights including advocacy on women's access to sexual and reproductive health rights. 5. Champion feminist leadership. It is not a given that women in leadership positions promote gender equality or women's rights. In fact, sometimes it is the opposite, due to the patriarchal nature of the environments that we all operate within. 6. Fund microfinance and women's economic empowerment. Women want economic opportunities, that reinforce independence and agency. 7. Make it her mission to only fund, partner and support organisations that have genderequality as key objective. And lastly (for now), lend her voice to challenge all systems of oppression. Sexism operates with racism together with ablism and other forms of discrimination <iframe src="https://lnkd.in/d62694CG" height="789" width="504" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Embedded post"></iframe>

Private philanthropy helps the University of Nebraska serve as a major driver of educational, social, cultural and economic advancement in the state. UNO’s vision is to be recognized as the premier metropolitan university throughout the United States and the world. When someone receives a college degree from UNO, it is transformational not just for that individual but for their entire family, future generations and the community in which they live and work. Learn more about the Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University's Future at, https://bit.ly/3AnYJuL

After 15 years, Our Turn is closing its doors. My last day was yesterday, and in the last 3 years leading our organizing & program work at Our Turn, I have learned an enormous amount about non-profits, my own leadership and the leadership of others, and of course - the power and importance of investing in young people. This role was particularly special, as I organized with Our Turn as a college student when the organization was just a few years old and years later returned full-time to support young people and staff in their organizing & leadership journeys while making change in the education landscape. While all organizations may not last for 25 or 50 years or forever, the work we do during the time that we have is still so important, and our work and the need doesn't disappear after. As we continue to try and solve these big system level problems, I know that everyone in the Our Turn universe, our students and staff especially, will continue fighting the good fight for a more just world, regardless of where we end up or what exactly we do next. I cannot recommend working with Kevin Ervin, Kayla Romero Morais, Molly O'Connor, Desiree Martinez, Jennifer Thompson, and Marissa Jones more. They are all colleagues I would choose again and again. While I'm looking forward to a period of rest after an especially busy year, I am also excited to start looking for my next step! I'm keeping my options wide open for positions in Philly and remote roles, and in particular I'm interested in: ✨ Pivoting to philanthropy! After nearly 10 years working in different non-profits, I'm excited to explore how I can translate my experience and skills across issues and organizations to the philanthropy sector, funding good, impactful work while also learning more in a new but adjacent field. ✨ Supporting an organization's program or strategy work through direct oversight and/or evaluation, processes, strategic planning, & all things impact! ✨ A role that involves writing in any way! I'd love to use my writing skills and interest more in my day to day. ✨ Something you think I'd be good at that I'm not thinking of myself? Let's connect! :) 

This is true public service journalism and posts like this should be the cornerstone of every organization’s recirculation and trust strategy: https://lnkd.in/eP49KXTZ

The Society for Scholarly Publishing's Generation Fund is closing in on its goal! Every little bit helps. If you work in scholarly publishing consider supporting this endeavor that will provide long-term investments for future generations: "The fund is an endowment that will provide sustainable funding for the Society for Scholarly Publishing’s Fellowship, Mentoring, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility programs far into the future. After we reach our $500,000 goal, these programs are supported by the endowment’s invested funds without future fundraising. This will provide long-term, dependable resources for programs that advance workforce development and inclusion in the scholarly communications profession." https://lnkd.in/ehS6WWsy

"Unlike traditional planning approaches that primarily focus on addressing immediate issues, this foresight map goes further by identifying external trends, forces, risks, and opportunities that we are likely to face on the path to a more child-centered future. The map features ten forecasts for the year 2035, describing potential outcomes based on various strategic choices and actions that stakeholders may take over the next decade, within the broader context of social, natural and technological changes that are already influencing our present conditions. By projecting the potential impacts of short- and long-term actions over a ten-year horizon, the map encourages changemakers in the child-centered ecosystem to consider the broader implications of their decisions on communities, taking into account community agency and power, and the rate at which conditions for children, families, and communities may improve." https://lnkd.in/ebKC3aym

Reposting with deep love and respect for program officers who refuse to give up on this work. The findings Magic Cabinet lists as starting points—recognizing Native intersectionality, investing in intermediaries, committing to long-term funding, and building authentic relationships—are all points staff have advocated for since before I joined the team in April 2021. It shouldn’t take 41+ months to grasp these “emerging needs” and concepts. If you’re listening to community, present in sector discussions, and examining inequitable philanthropy, it shouldn’t be a surprise how little funding goes to Native-led nonprofits or the philanthropy-constructed barriers Native-led organizations face. Unfortunately, this isn’t new. It’s only a “‘new to us’ grantmaking area” because you’ve yet to make a longterm financial commitment.
 This illustrates one of the issues that Community-Centric Fundraising advocates for: when will funders move from talking to investing in long-term, meaningful ways? This is a broader call to action for all of philanthropy: Let’s stop the endless learning phase and commit to transformative investments now. Philanthropy must do better. #philanthropy #equity #communitycentricfundraising #ccf #fundraising #grantmaking

On point! "Instead of making choices for other people, philanthropists must learn to empower individuals economically and politically to make choices for themselves and then celebrate their successes to inspire others, thus opening a far more pivotal role in fast-tracking widespread, lasting social and environmental progress." #empowermentphilanthropy #strategicphilanthropy #philanthropy #racialequity #racialjustice #economicjustice