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

Sterling Network NYC: A Bold Experiment in Relationships, Power & Imagining Leadership Otherwise

As a result of our deep belief in the power of networks, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation launched the Sterling Network NYC in 2017 with the intention to provide a ten-year investment in leaders who advance racial equity and economic mobility.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Pandemic Reflections, Two Years On

COVID-19. It feels like it became COVID-20, then COVID-21, and now COVID-22.

Covid-19, Economic Mobility, Foundation, Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Leaders, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Post Covid, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Trust-Based PhilanthropyPhilip LiMarch 21, 2022COVID-19, community, Covid-19, racial injustice, social and systems-level change work, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Trust-Based Philanthropy, democracy, leadership, pandemic, Foundation, foundation, Funding, grantmaking, grantee, Grants, governance, Genral Operating Grants, human rights, philanthropy, charity, philanthropic sector, social justice, New York City, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., money, impact, Endowments, New Year, NYC, nonprofit leadership, organizations, power, social impact, nonrofit, social change, board members, expertise, equity, trust, systemic racism, time, trust-based philanthropyComment

Opinion: Nonprofit leaders, like everyone else, are scared and tired during these difficult times

I have had the word ‘grace’ rattling around my brain a lot these days.

A Leadership Lesson from Ukraine

In 1990, I traveled to the USSR including Ukraine, which was still a republic of the Soviet Union (and St Petersburg was known as Leningrad).

Getting to Know You Series: Meet Marissa Martin of The Advocacy Institute

Elisabeth Rapport (ER): Tell me a bit about your professional background and what led you to The Advocacy Institute.

Chronicle of Philanthropy, Covid-19, Economic Mobility, Face Plant, FFIS, Foundation, Getting to Know You, Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Post Covid, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Trust-Based PhilanthropyElisabeth RapportFebruary 15, 2022Foundation, pandemic, racial injustice, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, COVID-19, community, charity, democracy, Endowments, Funding, leadership, funding collaboratives, foundation, Covid-19, equity, Networks, Getting to know you, General Operating, Genral Operating Grants, expertise, New Year, New York City, human rights, philanthropy, philanthropic sector, impact, time, social justice, grantmaking, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., Sterling Network NYC, Social Network Analysis, social and systems-level change work, money, Racism, systemic racism, Asian Americans for Equality, anti-Asian Racism, nonrofit, NYC, Grants, grantee, organizations, power, post covid, board members, social impact, governance, social change, Trust-Based Philanthropy, trustComment

The genetic code linking violence toward Asian Americans and the murder of George Floyd

Prejudice against Asian-Americans is nothing new. Sadly it is as American as apple pie and Jim Crow.

Covid-19, Economic Mobility, Foundation, Leadership, New York City Leadership, Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropic Sector, Philanthropy, Post Covid, Racial Equity, Robert Sterling Clark, Social Justice, Sterling Network NYC, Trust-Based PhilanthropyRev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, President of Auburn Seminary and Cathy Kim, Board Member, Asian Americans for EqualityFebruary 7, 2022anti-Asian Racism, Asian Americans for Equality, pandemic, racial injustice, Racism, grantmaking, grantee, power, peace building, philanthropic sector, philanthropy, impact, post covid, Prejudice, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Networks, New Year, NYC, New York City, New York City Leadership and Professional Development Directory., nonrofit, COVID-19, community, democracy, equity, Foundation, governance, social justice, Sterling Network NYC, leadership, human rights, organizations, social impact, trustComment

A nonprofit thought leader’s resolutions for a new year: To follow and to fail

Although the New Year came in without much fanfare, amidst the pandemic and uncertainty, I did make a few resolutions that will guide how I do my work and live my life this year.

A New Generation of Foundation Leaders Need to Act Like Community Organizers, Not Gatekeepers

I am feeling something like hope these days. After many dark months and unthinkable trials, New York City is seeming more like itself again, or maybe like a wiser version of itself.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted…

…Vacation, have to get away. Those lyrics, from the aptly named “Vacation” classic summer anthem by The Go Gos, feel spot on for this moment in time.

We Won’t Forget, But We Will Move Forward

Subways are creeping back to pre-pandemic ridership levels, sports arenas have fans cheering on their teams, airplanes are full of travelers, malls have shoppers carrying bags filled with purchases, restaurants are bustling with energy, laughter, and happy tummies, and increasing numbers of people are back in their offices.

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135 East 64th StreetNew York, NY 10065

135 East 64th Street
New York, NY 10065