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.

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

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.

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.

Reframing Accountability as an Act of Humanity

As a parent, I have often echoed a tired refrain – “say you’re sorry to your brother.” The “sorry” that followed was usually a grunt, delivered hastily and begrudgingly. It felt unfulfilling —- a superficial performance given without any real thought or feeling.

Kathryn O'Neal-DunhamSeptember 6, 2022Comment

Commentary: The last week of August is a good time to take off and get deep about your nonprofit

Use those seven days to take a breather and consider the false choice between taking care of ourselves and meeting our missions. Holding both requires new ways of leading.

Lisa Pilar CowanAugust 30, 2022Comment

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

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?!”

135 East 64th Street
New York, NY 10065

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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.

135 East 64th StreetNew York, NY 10065

135 East 64th Street
New York, NY 10065