From TV’s ‘The Gilded Age’ to the Fight for Reparations: Lessons for Philanthropy in 2024

What binge watching a popular television show taught me about philanthropy’s ongoing efforts to move away from antiquated notions of charity.

Brilliant Transformations: Toward Full Flourishing in BIPOC Leadership Transitions

Explore strategies for navigating leadership transitions and recommendations to make these transitions better based on the insights of BIPOC leaders.

Providing BIPOC leaders a “Brilliant Transformation” into leadership roles

AiLun Ku and Lisa Pilar Cowan share what they learned from a new study that reflects a wide range of experiences of BIPOC leaders from across the United States related to their transitions into leadership roles.

BIPOC Leadership, Economic Mobility, Foundation, Funders, Leadership, Leadership Development, Leadership Learning, Liberatory Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Leaders, Nonprofit Sector, NYC, NYN Media, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Trust-Based PhilanthropyAiLun Ku and Lisa Pilar CowanSeptember 12, 2023Liberatory Leadership Learning Series, Lead a Non-Profit, Leadership Development Programs, leadership, board leadership, BIPOC Leadership, Non-Profit, nonprofit leadership, nonprofit leader, NYN Media, NYC, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, trust, Trust-Based Philanthropy, strategic, social justice, social impact, social and systems-level change work, relationship building, Building, Building Movement Project, Making (or Taking) SpaceComment

The Value of Lived Experience

It’s vacation season. I’m a planner, so mapping out travel is great fun (for me!) and full of discovery.

Why Grant Makers Should Reject Shiny New Things

During the endless days of Zoom meetings that began with pandemic lockdowns, I invented a “philanthrobingo” game to keep me focused on listening.

AI & Us

I…composed a song about Cooper and Hudson, my two rescue ‘corona-kitties.’ Drafted a weeklong itinerary for an upcoming trip to Panama.

Reparations, Not Charity

When Aria Florant, cofounder of Liberation Ventures, told her audience at the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ 2022 national conference that “[the project of] reparations needs to shock the system, needs to disrupt White supremacist narratives, close the racial wealth gap, and build a culture of repair,” a question that arose for us was: How can we bring the insight and promise of the reparations movement to philanthropy, and how do we best use philanthropy to support the work of reparations?1

Do You See What I See?

Do you see what I see? Yes. And no.

The Bunny Effect

Bunnies. Cute, floppy-eared, nose-wiggling, big-eyed, furry jumpers.

I Lead a Non-Profit That Banked with SVB. Here’s What Navigating a Bank Run Taught Me about Crisis Management.

Two Thursdays ago, I was wrapping up my workday at Education Pioneers on a positive note.

What Disney's "Keys to the Kingdom" Tour Taught Me About Nonprofit Operations

Sometimes it's our time away from the office that can illuminate important lessons about the world of work.

Reflecting on a long year, and hoping you'll "Take 10"

It's been a long year. I seem to say it every year despite the fact that they're really all the same length.

BIPOC Leadership, Covid-19, Economic Mobility, Foundation, Leadership, Leadership Development, Leadership Learning, Liberatory Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Leaders, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Post Covid, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Trust-Based Philanthropy, Hybrid Work, Burnout, NYCPhilip LiDecember 14, 2022COVID-19, community, challenges, equity, expertise, Networks, Foundation, Funding, foundation, grantmaking, Grants, governance, grantee, Holidays, philanthropy, charity, impact, inside philanthropy, mission driven, time, miscommunicating, justice, social justice, racial injustice, workers, work, New York City, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., hybrid, anti-leadership, quiet quitting, inflation, burnout, covid/rsv/flu, recession, relationship building, vaccination require, vaccination requirements, Take 10, year end, holidays, new yearComment

How Holiday Travel Has Me Thinking About Board Service

‘Tis the season…to be on the move. It’s that time of year when so many of us travel to be with our families and friends for the holidays.

Leadership Development Programs Need an Upgrade: Five Ways to Advance Racial Equity

As the nation grapples with “the great resignation” across a range of job industries since the start of the pandemic, employment challenges extend to the nonprofit sector as well.

Socially Awkward: Reflections on Gathering in the New Normal

Socially awkward. That’s how I captured my feelings at the closing of an in-person convening a few weeks ago.

No Thank You: Why One Foundation Leader Doesn’t Want Gratitude From Grantees

Early in my career, I had a job as an administrative assistant. I kept a manila file folder on my desk called “Excellent Lisa.”

Chronicle of Philanthropy, Economic Mobility, Foundation, Leadership, Leadership Learning, Liberatory Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Leaders, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Trust-Based PhilanthropyLisa Pilar CowanOctober 25, 2022Chronicle of Philanthropy, community, challenges, democracy, Endowments, Funding, leadership, equity, funders, funding collaboratives, grantmaking, Grants, General Operating, grantee, impact, social justice, racial injustice, nonrofit, New York City, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., organizations, policy, Racism, social change, social impact, systemic racism, social and systems-level change work Comment

Finding the joy in social change

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day." – E.E. Cummings.

When All Of Our Tools Are Weapons

I don’t like conflict. I’ve never been good at it, and I’ve grown into someone who is decidedly not a fan.

Economic Mobility, Foundation, Getting to Know You, Leadership, Liberatory Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Leaders, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Sterling Network NYC, Trust-Based Philanthropy, Leadership LearningEricka Stallings, Co-Executive Director of the Leadership Learning CommunitySeptember 21, 2022racial injustice, Liberatory Leadership Learning Series, Liberatory Leadership, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Board Service, civil rights, community, campaigns, charity, NYC, Racism, democracy, Endowments, Funding, funders, leadership, funding collaboratives, equity, Networks, expertise, Getting to know you, Genral Operating Grants, Foundation, foundation, Financials, grantmaking, Grants, governance, grantee, Grantee, organizations, justice, social justice, work, workers, New York City, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., social and systems-level change work, learned behaviors, policy, money, nonprofit leadership, organizer, power, social change, Trust-Based Philanthropy, trust, human rights, trust-based philanthropy, purposeComment

How to Tend to Your People AND Your Organization When Staff Struggle

While there are many ways one can describe liberation, in its simplest terms, liberation is the experience of wholeness, freedom, justice, and thriving.

Three Lessons (so far) for Funding Liberatory Leadership

I was hired by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation in early 2020, primarily to bring my skills as a network organizer, facilitator, and racial justice practitioner to the Sterling Network NYC.

New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Leaders, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Sterling Network NYC, Trust-Based Philanthropy, Economic Mobility, Foundation, Getting to Know You, Leadership, Liberatory LeadershipTrish Adobea TchumeAugust 10, 2022racial injustice, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, NetLab, civil rights, community, campaigns, NYC, democracy, Endowments, funders, Funding, leadership, funding collaboratives, Foundation, equity, Networks, Getting to know you, foundation, face plants, grantmaking, Grants, Genral Operating Grants, governance, grantee, Grantee, organizations, human rights, philanthropy, philanthropic sector, impact, social justice, workers, New York City, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., Sterling Network NYC, social and systems-level change work, learned behaviors, policy, Racism, freedom, justice, thriving, Liberatory Leadership Learning Series, Liberatory Leadership, organizerComment

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135 East 64th StreetNew York, NY 10065

135 East 64th Street
New York, NY 10065