The Giving Practice supports funders who are committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their organizations and philanthropic practice. We know there are different entry points and paths to this work, so we collaborate closely with our clients to design an approach that meets their needs. We are skilled at creating the right environments to foster learning and dialogue, and we have experience helping funders navigate through processes that can often feel uncomfortable, disruptive, and ambiguous.
We offer customized facilitation, coaching, strategy work, grantmaking process design, and planning with an intentional focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also tailor our learning programs such as our Grantmaking with an Equity Lens training for foundation staff and trustees. Our hope is to be able to leave clients with a set of tools and methods that they can adapt and sustain on their own once the consultation is completed.
- The Giving Practice supports peer learning and action by facilitating cohorts of foundation CEOs who are committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Cohorts are designed as a space for reflection, peer problem solving, and action. We also designed and implemented the first Momentum Fellowship – a diversity pipeline program now housed at Philanthropy Northwest- on behalf of a group of interested funders from one of our cohorts.
- Grantmakers for Oregon and Southwest Washington invited The Giving Practice to engage their board of directors more deeply in conversations about equity. We facilitated a board retreat and developed a learning plan to help establish how board members could learn through partnerships, actions, training, and data and develop a clearer focus regarding their priorities as an organization committed to equity.
- We supported Group Health Foundation board member recruitment that resulted in a board reflecting the diversity of the state and then designed the initial board meetings that focused on creating values, norms and practices using an equity and inclusion lens. We continued to support the board’s learning agenda primarily based on health equity.
- For Surdna Foundation we conducted an external scan on how funders are capturing diversity-related data from grantees and to understand the different ways this data can inform grantmaking and program strategies. This included field-wide research, interviews, and a scan of the latest initiatives and data collection tools available to the field.