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.

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.

Robert Sterling Clark Foundation Welcomes Two New Board Members, Names New Chair

Robert Sterling Clark Foundation announced the election of two new members to its board of directors: Maja D. Hazell and Andrew Rich.

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

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.

2023: A year of incremental change?

Happy New Year. Is it still ok to use the phrase at the beginning of February?

Let’s Address the Real Reason Great Fundraisers Are in Short Supply

“We need a unicorn.”

Opinion: Why nonprofit leaders should discuss past mistakes as 2023 gets underway

A new year brings opportunity for worthwhile discussions and there is tremendous relief that comes with chatting about our setbacks and being our true selves when seeking solutions.

Staying the Course: The Need for Mission-Driven Spending in Turbulent Times

It is board meeting season in philanthropy, and on many board agendas is the important decision of how much to pay out in the coming year.

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.

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

Rest Isn’t Radical

I’m taking a sabbatical. Rest shouldn’t be radical.

New York City Leadership, Foundation, Leadership, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Trust-Based Philanthropy, Jennifer Ching, North Star FundJennifer ChingJuly 27, 2022sabbatical, work, vacation, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, community, Funding, funders, leadership, grantmaking, grantee, governance, philanthropy, time, impact, social justice, racial injustice, workers, Networks, New York City, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., social and systems-level change work, Holidays, money, democracy, human rights, nonrofit, NYC, nonprofit leadership, organizations, power, equity, trust, Trust-Based Philanthropy, social change, Foundation, radical, rest, policy, purpose, learned behaviors, Gen Xer, Jennifer Ching, North Star FundComment

I’m not feeling a barbecue this Fourth of July

At the end of almost every week, I find myself reflecting on how hard this past week was.

A Tip of the Hat to The Whitman Institute

“Talk to John and Pia.” I did. It’s some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten.

Commentary: Reflections on parenting to widen one’s perspective on nonprofit board work

Twenty-one years ago, pregnant with my oldest child, I enrolled in a prenatal yoga class in the Brooklyn neighborhood where I live.

Foundation, Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Leaders, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Robert Sterling Clark, Trust-Based PhilanthropyLisa Pilar CowanJune 22, 2022Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Trust-Based Philanthropy, philanthropic sector, philanthropy, Foundation, social change, social justice, social impactComment

RVC Redesigned: Our New Organizational Chart

When we tell people that we have moved to a four Co-Executive Director model, often the first reaction is a mind-boggled stare: “You have four people doing the Executive Director job? How does that even work?!”

In an Ecosystem of Trust, the Possibilities Are Endless

I spent a good part of my career working on the grant seeking side of the equation, where I went through all the hoops of funding cycles.

Opinion: The next generation of nonprofit workers are demanding more for themselves, and we should support them

They should be set up to do meaningful work that helps repair the world, while still living whole, happy, joyful lives.

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A new year brings opportunity for worthwhile discussions and there is tremendous relief that comes with chatting about our setbacks and being our true selves when seeking solutions.

They should be set up to do meaningful work that helps repair the world, while still living whole, happy, joyful lives.

135 East 64th StreetNew York, NY 10065

135 East 64th Street
New York, NY 10065