Northern California Grantmakers

Jim Canales, President of the James Irvine Foundation and NCG member, took to his foundation’s blog last week to respond to arts bloggers who’ve taken issue with Irvine’s new arts strategy.

Within the past few weeks, I have read with interest the observations of a number of active bloggers in the arts field whom I have come to respect and admire: Nina Simon, Diane Ragsdale, Clay Lord and Barry Hessenius. Each of them has blogged on aspects of the Irvine Foundation’s new arts strategy and, in doing so, has contributed to a robust dialogue that has played out on their respective blogs as well as on Twitter.

And that’s what prompts my contribution to this discussion: I will comment only lightly on the substantive issues they have raised related to our Arts strategy as my colleague, Josephine Ramirez, who directs our Arts program, plans to post a more substantive comment on those issues in the next week or so. There is another aspect of this discussion that I do want to comment upon and invite others to engage on with me and my colleagues in philanthropy.

Read Jim’s full blog post online.

Read the follow up blog post by Irvine’s Arts Program Director Josephine Ramirez online.

Embracing the Velocity of Change, October 9 – 12, 2011

The 2011 Grantmakers in the Arts conference, Embracing the Velocity of Change, will meet at the intersection of art, technology and social change. As funders face a landscape of unprecedented changes and technology accelerates both the pace and reach of these changes, our philanthropic community is responding to critical questions of equity in funding programs and practices.

NCG members, in particular the Arts Loan Fund, are deeply involved in the planning and development of this year’s conference. The conference co-chairs include NCG & ALF Members John McGuirk, Director of Performing Arts Program, The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation; Frances Phillips, Program Director, Arts & Creative Work Fund, Walter & Elise Haas Fund; Diane Sanchez, Director of Grantmaking & Donor Services, East Bay Community Foundation; and Ted Russell, Senior Program Officer, The James Irvine Foundation.

The conference kicks off with two very special preconferences on Sunday, October 9th:

• Arts & Technology Preconference – To be held at San Jose’s award winning City Hall, this preconference takes you to the capital of the tech revolution for an up-close look at the intersection of technology and the arts from the grantmaker’s perspective. Mozilla Foundation‘s Mark Surman will set the tone for the day before participants break off to explore some of the latest innovations, strategies and tools driving technology engagement in the arts community.

• Individual Artist & Social Justice Preconference – Taking place at San Francisco’s SOMArts and facilitated by keynote presenter performing artist Rhodessa Jones, this preconference will engage participants in a dialogue rooted at the intersection of individual artistic practice and a diverse array of social justice issues that may include environmental justice, immigrant justice, racial/indigenous justice, and food justice.

As a special offer to NCG members, GIA has extended the invitation for new members who join Grantmakers in the Arts before August 31, 2011 to receive both 2011 and 2012 membership for the cost of a single year.

Learn more information on accessing this discount >>

And visit the GIA conference website for session descriptions and registration information >>

Snapshots of Philanthropy is a special year-long series that aims to better demonstrate the scope and impact of our members’ work. These short “snapshot” stories showcase the positive impact organized philanthropy has in northern California, and will be used to educate external audiences about why our members fund who they fund, and what changes are happening as a result of these investments. Learn more about the series and read other stories online.

Latest Snapshot: Rosenberg Foundation

Everyday, thousands of formerly incarcerate individuals return to communities throughout California. Unfortunately, two-thirds of them end up back behind bars within three years. The state’s 70 percent recidivism rate —one of the highest in the country— jeopardizes public safety and denies formerly incarcerated people a second chance.

Breaking this cycle of incarceration is a key component of the Rosenberg Foundation’s Justice and Public Safety program. The Foundation, a private foundation with a 75 year history of supporting social and economic justice in California, launched the initiative in 2007 to help reform the state’s criminal justice system. A core part of the project’s vision is to partner with an inspiring group of advocates and organizations to help close the revolving doors of California prisons.

The Foundation found inspiration in research that points to one major solution to putting formerly incarcerated individuals on a path to leading productive lives—access to jobs. With this focus, the organizations supported by the Justice and Public Safety initiative are using a variety of tools—like direct service, research, impact litigation and policy advocacy—to advance employment as a powerful preventive strategy to reduce the recidivism rate, and as a result increasing public safety in communities most impacted by crime.

Read the whole story [downloads as PDF]

Read Snapshot 1: S.H. Cowell Foundation online.

Read Snapshot 2: Horizons Foundation online.

Read Snapshot 3: The James Irvine Foundation online.

Read Snapshot 4: The Christensen Fund online.

Read Snapshot 5: Sierra Health Foundation online.

Read Snapshot 6: Akonadi Foundation online.

Read Snapshot 7: The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund online.

Read Snapshot 8: Women’s Foundation of California online.

Read Snapshot 9: Levi Strauss Foundation online.

Learn more about NCG’s Snapshots of Philanthropy series online.