It's not just who you know, it's who knows you

The old school way of building your career was spending long hours at your desk hoping some big wig would notice your innate skills and abilities and move you along your career path. Gen X and Y haven't been as comfortable with that model and are finding new ways to move ahead in the sector. These generations thrive on network building. For them, Linked In is way more useful than a a static roledex built with cards from hundreds of Rotary and Chamber of Commerce events.

Another way those networks have been built and nurtured is through blogging. A useful and interesting blog is a key communications tool. You are connecting with a willing audience that has a similar viewpoint of the world you are writing about. Blogging puts your authentic voice out there for the whole world to see. That openess creates many fabulous opportunities that are tailormade for your interests and expertise. There are many great examples out there: Rosetta Thurman from Perspectives from the Pipeline has begun teaching at American University and speaks nationally about the issues covered in her blog and Sean Stannard-Stockton from Tactical Philanthropy has a column at the Financial Times. I have been able to speak about next generation issues in philanthropy at a lot of great events and my new board members are getting to know me better through the posts that I make here.

Don't be afraid to get your voice out there, great things can happen when you take that leap of faith.

Fairy Godmentors and other urban legends

I was at a great meeting of African American women last week who have been brought together to help a local foundation develop a policy strategy for the African American community here in the Twin Cities. We are a varied group of women, both Minnesota natives and recent transplants, younger and older, from the nonprofit, corporate, and business sectors. Each of the participants in well connected in the community and leads their institution. Minnesota is a diverse place but in a spread out, you are often the only one from your community in most meetings type of way. As I have been developing my network of support in my new role at Headwaters, I have found that it is difficult, if not impossible to find women of color in leadership roles in philanthropy. It would be great if I could find another young African American woman running a community foundation that is passionate about social justice so we could compare notes and bond over our similar challenges (if you know that woman let me know). What is more realistic and what I have done for most of my career is to find a varied network of support. I have a variety of roles in this new position: fundraiser, manager, strategic planner, chief networker, spokesperson, and administrator. I have found a lot of amazing women and men with experiences in each of these roles and have relied on them to give me good advice and lots of encouragement as I chart new paths and try new ideas out. For me, there has never been just one great mentor. My mentors are in lots of different fields and have a variety of experiences. Most wouldn't call themselves my mentor if you asked them but they have always been available when I have needed help.

My advice to you is to not wait around for your fairy godmentor either, there are lots of great people already in your network who would be willing to fill that role if you only asked.

Fighting injustice through our work

This morning I was thinking about why it is so important for me to be doing social justice work at this point in time. Every day when I read the news it seems like it gets worse and worse, the economy is collapsing and injustice is at every turn. There is this sort of dread that I have where I don’t want to go to CNN.com but feel like I have to. It reminds me a little of the game operation. I have a four year old son that has just learned the joys of that game. There is sort of hesitation because you want to pull out the funny bone or the spare rib but you are afraid of the consequences (that horrible noise and blinking nose). I also feel that way when I think about fighting injustice. Will my blog posting about racism in the nonprofit sector or a grant that we have made to increase Latino voting bring negative attention to the issue and actually make it harder to fight those injustices because people mobilize against it? So sometimes I feel like with traditional grantmaking you take a pass on those riskier grants when your hands are too shaky and you feel like you might set off the buzzer , what I have found with Headwaters is that our grantees do what my son does, they shut off the game, turn the whole board upside down and shake out what they need. Social justice is about changing the rules of the game when they are unfair.

Just Philanthropy

I'm preparing for a small convening of grantmakers called "Moving Your Philanthropy Closer to Social Justice and Racial Equity" that will be taking place in Minneapolis this week. The meeting is being hosted by Community Philanthropy for Racial Equity. I'm excited because the topic is close to my heart and also because I think a lot of action will come out of the convening.

Colleagues have been asking me how things are different running a foundation, compared to being a program officer for one. I think the largest difference has been that a lot of my time is spent learning and spending time representing Headwaters at conferences. That visibility piece is key for us because we have the luxury of being the public face for the issues that our grantees are so hard at work at changing. Things like economic justice, human & civil rights, environmental justice, political power, and racial justice do not get the attention that they need in the foundation world. It is my job to make sure that those issues are at the table. Needless to say, I am loving it.

Job Posting and an opportunity to highlight an outstanding young Minnesotan

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which is one of my favorite organizations because they promote philanthropy that serves the public good and helps keep foundation's feet to the fire when it comes to accountability and transparancy, is hiring. This Washington, DC-based organization is looking for a field associate to plan and support programmatic work and field outreach of the nation’s premier philanthropic watchdog organization. The person in this position will be responsible for coordinating membership services, and support the field department in national partnerships, collaboratives and other special initiatives. More about this position can be found here.

A friend of mine from the Jaycees is looking for nominations for outstanding young Minnesotans ages 18-40 who deserve recognition for their leadership in the community. The Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans (TOYM) program is Minnesota’s only statewide recognition program for outstanding young leaders. The program acknowledges the efforts of young leaders that have contributed to our state through their service, thought/influence, community involvement, or entrepreneurship. To submit a nominee go to: http://www.mnjaycees.org/ The deadline for submitting a nominee is this Friday, September 26th, 2008.

It's great to see such a longstanding organization in the community recognize and nurture young leadership.