It feels like a lifetime ago that our conference committee gathered for the first time in March, faced with the question, “what will our conference look like this year?” It was the first weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, our network was scrambling to respond while getting everyone working remotely and it seemed like our whole sector was moving in lockstep.
Our theme, Respond. Reimagine. Rebuild. asks us to look back at lessons learned during this time of intentional but fast-paced response to an unprecedented moment of crisis, alongside the ways that philanthropy is looking to respond to national uprisings against anti-Black racism. During our opening plenary, we’ll hear from three leaders who will help us understand how we responded to the dual crises of COVID-19 and systemic racism, and how we should continue to respond moving forward. We are lucky to have Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of "How to Be an Anti-Racist," Vanessa Daniel, executive director of Groundswell Fund, and Nichole Maher, president and CEO of Group Health Foundation, joining us for this discussion.
On the second day of our conference, we’ll sit with the concept of Reimagining. How do we simultaneously reimagine philanthropy and the systems and structures that have enabled the massive inequities that COVID-19 has amplified? Our plenary panel is jam-packed with movement leaders who are already reimagining our economies and social contracts. We’ll hear from Ai-jen Poo, co-founder of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Jacqueline Patterson, senior director of the NAACP Climate Justice Initiative, Reyna Lopez, executive director of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), and Jonathan Jayes-Green, vice president of programs at Marguerite Casey Foundation. These inspiring leaders will help us reimagine how philanthropy can support long term systems change, and ask, "who is essential in our economies?"
Finally, our closing plenary asks us, "where do we go from here?" What does philanthropy need to do to rebuild our own approaches to grantmaking and relationship building, and how can we support our social systems to rebuild in more equitable ways? This plenary will feature philanthropic leaders from within the Northwest and across our nation who have pivoted to rebuild their own practices over the last six months and can lead our sector by example. We will hear from Se-ah-dom Edmo, executive director of MRG Foundation, Luz Vega-Marquis, the president emeritus of Marguerite Casey Foundation, James Head, president & CEO of East Bay Community Foundation, and Sherece West-Scantelbury, CEO of Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.
We are thrilled to have such a dynamic lineup of keynote speakers and plenaries to inspire us and help lead us forward through uncertain times, together, so that we can better serve our communities.
Reserve your spot at PNW20 and register today!
