The conventional definition of power as a hierarchical, brute force isn’t working anymore. This month, Rachel’s Network members and guests will gather in Washington, DC for our Annual Meeting: Catalyzing our Collective Power. There we’ll discuss ways to grow new, more collaborative forms of power to address the big challenges we face today. The speakers joining us are well-equipped to tackle these challenges.
Implicit bias in philanthropy affects not just which groups get funded but also who sits on the boards of philanthropic organizations (mostly white males), how grantmaking foundations set priorities, how decisions are made, who makes those decisions and even who gets hired. john a. powell, director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, explains how we can take steps to recognize our own implicit bias and work to build a more equitable world.
As we move into the Centennial year of the National Park Service, we all want more support for our parks—more stewards to continue protection of our parks’ natural and cultural resources, more engagement with visitors, more educational opportunities, and more funding. In order to grow this support for our nation’s oldest park, Yellowstone National Park’s two nonprofit partners have decided to merge. Yellowstone Park Foundation and Yellowstone Association’s respective leaders explain why and how they decided to undertake this merger.
We aren’t effective health and environment donors if we aren’t also supporting the innovation and commercialization of truly safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. To address this situation, Rachel’s Network Member Alison Carlson and her Forsythia Foundation studied how to invest in scaling green chemistry solutions—also known as “benign by design” solutions or safer alternatives. Thus, Safer Made was born.
The recent Indonesian forest fires have been called the worst disaster in 20 years – for people, for wildlife, for Borneo’s rich rainforest, and for the Earth. Rachel’s Network Member Caroline Gabel writes about how she’s worked with a small nonprofit in nearby Malaysia to develop alternative economies that could serve as a model for Indonesia, where human activities are wreaking havoc on the forest.
