International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) is a global community of funders dedicated to Indigenous Peoples worldwide. This past spring, through a process led by Executive Director Lourdes Inga with support from TGP Senior Advisors Lisa Fisher and Mark Sedway, IFIP staff and board members unveiled an exciting new strategic framework to their members at their annual conference.
As the team moves forward with this framework they’re continuing to center Indigenous Peoples in their work with funders, leaning deeper into an advocacy role, shifting narratives around funding Indigenous Peoples and building their capacity to support their great work, amongst other priorities.
We sat down with Lourdes and Lisa to reflect on the end-to-end strategy process.
Above: Video call with Lourdes of IFIP (top right) and Lisa and Aya of TGP (bottom and top right).
Thank you, Lourdes and Lisa, for your perspectives and insights.
Can you provide a brief overview of the strategy process?
Tell us more about the dreams and aspirations.
As you were getting to clarity on your evolutions and strategic priorities, did anything surprise you?
*Sort and Share is an exercise that we use to help groups explore strategic tensions and move towards alignment. It invites participants to share their perspectives by placing themselves on a continuum and discussing why they placed themselves where they did with their colleagues.
What do you think is important to fostering board alignment?
What piece of the framework did you feel conference attendees were most excited about?
Above: IFIP's values and five Rs of Indigenous Philanthropy. Learn more here.
What has been the impact of being explicit about centering Indigenous Peoples?
Lisa, what are some of your reflections from supporting Lourdes and IFIP in this work?
Lourdes, can you share more on the capacity piece that Lisa mentioned?
Congratulations on this exciting work, Lourdes. Are there any final reflections you'd like to share as we close?
To learn more about IFIP visit their website here.
If you are looking for support in your strategy or governance work, please reach out to us at hello@thegivingpractice.org.
Lisa Fisher and Mark Sedway are Senior Advisors at the Giving Practice. You can learn more about them on our team page here.
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