New Voices of Philanthropy and Emerging Practitioner’s in Philanthropy’s blog EPIPhanies will be providing coverage of the COF Conference in Atlanta from the perspective of next generation leaders. I am looking for additional writers. You can write about the sessions that you attend, themes you have been seeing at the conference or your overall thoughts but we are really looking for a variety of perspectives of the conference. Blogging at the conference is a great way to give back to the field and is a fabulous way for you to raise your visibility as an up and coming leader. The team is filling up quickly so contact me at tristaharris (at) gmail (dot) com if you are interested.
Do you have a story to tell?
I am writing a book about getting ready for the career of your dreams. I believe that you don't get to the corner office by hoping and wishing, you need to train for it, just like an Olympic athlete trains for their dream. Ok, Maybe not JUST like an Olympic athlete. The nonprofit sector requires far fewer sit ups (thank goodness). I know each of you has had an interesting journey to where you are now in your career and I would like to include some of those stories in my book. I am looking for 200-300 word stories on: An example of an internship that you did that changed the course of your career or prepared you for a big leap in responsibilities.
Specific tools or techniques that you used to build your network and how that network has helped you find a new position or do a better job in your current position.
An example of a stretch assignment that you have taken on at work and how it helped you learn a new skills that made you more marketable.
How you decided to attend graduate school or got certification of some type and how that prepared you for a promotion.
Examples of how you manage your home life so you are able to handle more responsibility at work.
If you have a story to share email it to me at TristaHarris at gmail dot com. Include your full name and job title if you would like it included, you can also contribute your story anonymously (just note that in your email.
Specialist or Generalist
Which would you rather be: A mile wide and a foot deep or a foot wide and a mile deep? Put another way, would you rather possess a breadth of knowledge across content areas or a depth of knowledge in a particular field? A friend posed this question to me not long ago as I embarked on my philanthropic career path. At the time I was wavering between whether it made more sense to specialize in a certain content area (economic development or arts and culture, for example) to perhaps make myself more marketable to a foundation or remain open to gaining knowledge in all of the social areas foundations fund. My decision could dictate my course of study going forward.
Perhaps my dilemma is emblematic of what we as a society are going through domestically and globally. I can see the pros and cons of both sides. With more interest in the “greening” of everything, the healthcare system being burdened over the next few decades and endemic diseases abroad and their global implications, large foundations with a heavy focus in these areas need experts who can step in and hit the ground running. This also applies to local foundations with a heavy focus on education, the arts or human services. Bringing to the table a depth of knowledge and credentials as a former educator, an MFA graduate or even a licensed social worker, serves an individual well as a program officer.
But there is something to be said for being a generalist. This suggests flexibility, adaptability and the willingness to learn a little about all social and community issues. In my current role, I am a generalist in that I have funded organizations which run the gamut of causes. This has forced me to learn about each area that I fund. Trust me, I have learned more about health issues, community organizing, arts education programs and social justice issues than I ever thought possible. I am by no means an expert in any of these areas but by doing a little research and being exposed to these issues, I can now go into a site visit armed with information. This knowledge allows me to frame the questions to that particular grantee and sound intelligent doing so.
I must admit I enjoy being a generalist because my goal is to move into corporate philanthropy. In this context, corporate giving programs cover many content areas. Remaining with my current public service and sociology course of study along with my year-long program officer experience will be more useful to my end goal. I would hope having knowledge and exposure to myriad social issues would make me a more effective and valuable asset to any company.
If you are a program officer or even a grantee, which do you think is better? I would be interested in hearing other points of view.
Paulette Pierre is a Program Officer intern at The Field Foundation of Illinois. She has a graduate certificate in Non-Profit Management and Philanthropy from Loyola University and is currently pursuing her MA in Interdisciplinary Studies at DePaul University.
You’re Never Too Young to Lead: Mary Galeti on Next Gen Leadership
I have the pleasure of serving on the Council of Foundations' Next Gen Task Force with Mary Galeti and have been so impressed with her leadership style. The Council's e-journal recently did an interview with Mary on her reflections of next gen leadership. From Thought> Action> Impact:
Chances are if you ask Mary Galeti to define “leadership,” the 26-year-old will offer a very candid view of the concept. As vice chair of the Tecovas Foundation, Galeti was thrust into the leadership spotlight in 2004, after the deaths of her grandmother, mother, and aunt who had previously been the foundation’s leaders.
“In my opinion, leadership means acknowledging that I don’t know everything. It also means letting the people who are good at what they do, do their jobs, and learn from their knowledge and experiences,” Galeti said. “I had to figure out on my own, and very quickly, how to lead my family’s foundation. I did have a base of wisdom to fall back on, but I couldn’t call my parents anymore.”
The experience was “terrifying and exhilarating” according to Galeti. And she credits the one-on-one conversations with experienced leaders in the foundation world as one of the most effective ways to learn about the issues and gain leadership insight.
Galeti is part of the “next generation” of philanthropists and philanthropic leaders who are growing in both strength and numbers. In the coming years, the onus will be twofold. For the field, it will mean identifying and developing the next generation. For these emerging leaders, it will mean participating and immersing themselves in the field’s most pressing and challenging issues.
Read the full article here.
How Connected is Too Connected?
I have always been very proud of my ability to keep my work and home life relatively separate. I wasn't one of those people that brought a pile of file folders home every night or felt the need to constantly be on my Blackberry. I even shut off the email function on my Blackberry, so I wouldn't be constantly interrupted by urgent, but not important emails. This all ended when I got a magnificent, but productivity killing iPhone last month. My Blackberry unceremoniously died, leaving me with four months on my contract and a need to be reached while I was out and about. The iPhone promised to be my knight in shining armor, with GPS to help me from constantly getting lost when I was going to meetings, web access so I could update my blog and Twitter account while on the go, and email access so I could clear out my in-box while I was waiting for appointments. I love my Apple computer so much that getting an iPhone seemed like the next logical step in our relationship. I knew I had a problem when I was at my son's 5th birthday celebration at the Rainforest Cafe (my least favorite place in the world to eat) and was checking my Twitter updates. There was a bountiful source of information about philanthropy just sitting in my hand waiting to be enjoyed and then I realized I had become one of THOSE parents. You know, the ones that listen to sports games during their kid's piano recital or talk on their cell phone while they are pushing Junior on the swing.
Sometimes convenience just makes you feel like you always have to be connected and that you always have to be up to date on everything that is happening in your world of interest. When there is so much good information out there, how do you discipline yourself to only pay attention to the great information? How do you weed out the 225 mediocre tweets and really pay attention to the one that will make you change the ways that you do your work in the future or that will make you laugh out loud, or that will make you act for a cause that you care about. How do you ignore the din of too many people babbling and pay attention to the one whisper that will really make a difference?
How do you use technology to make your life more focused and purposeful?