Jaime-Alexis Fowler

Friends in the Democracy and Creative Placemaking worlds - I need your help! I'm excited to be guest editing the next edition of Forecast Public Art's FORWARD magazine, which will be focused on democracy and civic engagement. FORWARD highlights how artists are partnering with cities, institutions, and communities to courageously tackle the vital issues of our time. As part of my role, I’m gathering subjects for case studies that will be deep dives into how artists are meaningfully engaged in democracy work. I'm looking for projects along the following four themes: + Civic Learning - the formal and informal ways in which artists and arts entities are equipping individuals and groups with information that helps them participate in civic life. + Connecting Across Difference - work done by artists and arts entities to help individuals and groups build relationships across difference with the goal of building a healthier civic life. + Civic Transformation - ways that artists and arts entities are changing how democratic systems and processes work in order to strengthen civic life. + Elections - ways in which artists and arts entities are engaged in and around the process of democratic elections. I'm trying to tap into a big, broad network. If you have anyone else you think I should reach out to about this, please tag them in the comments or send them my way!

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Social Futures applauds the budget initiatives targeting sticky inflation and cost-of-living challenges, especially much-needed investment in crisis and transitional accommodation for people escaping DFV. However, it's crucial to go further. We need significant boosts in funding for social and public housing if we are to meet current need, and raising the rates of Jobseeker and Youth Allowance is critical to prevent poverty and future homelessness. Everyone deserves a fair chance.  #RaiseTheRate for Jobseeker and Youth Allowance. Here is my full response to the Federal Budget https://lnkd.in/d7UeAqKC #EverybodysHome #WeAreSocialFutures #BudgetForAll #Budget2024

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Hot take -- the future of #nonprofit work hinges upon leaders understanding how to best engage the next generation of contributors Those 18-25 in age are entering social change orgs with enthusiasm and skills in: ✅ Influencer collaborations ✅ AI-powered fundraising initiatives ✅ Design of creative community building ✅ Digital campaigns to reach global audiences ✅ Leveraging platforms like TikTok for creative revenue generation ... #nonprofits need that entrepreneurial spirit! Are we ready? 🤔 ______________ #futureofwork #charity #fundraising

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this part, #MYGOD: "If we are to build a just and inclusive world, those with wealth and power must mitigate their need to appear smart and special, acknowledge that they don’t have the moral authority to set priorities, accept that their role is to ensure that the people and communities most affected by systemic injustice have the resources and autonomy to lead, give Multi-Year General Operating Dollars (MYGOD), and otherwise get out of the way."

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Windfall gifts—large, flexible, and sometimes multiyear funding—while still representing an extraordinary opportunity for social sector leadership teams, have actually been on the rise over the past decade. And while these gifts can unlock massive impact potential, they also come with intense responsibility and pressures. This article by my Bridgespan colleagues aims to help navigate the choices and related decision-making processes that follow the receipt of a large, flexible gift.

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Years ago, our colleagues at BoardSource wrote an advocacy manual for the nonprofit sector. They named at the time that "when it comes to our missions, the impact of changes in public policy is rarely neutral. And – as leaders of our organizations – that means that we cannot be neutral either." I submit that this call has never been more important to answer. In my latest message to the PNY community, "Building Bridges: Philanthropy’s Journey Towards Active Advocacy," I delve into the transformative power of advocacy in philanthropy and how it extends our capacity to effect real change. This is not just about funding; it's about fostering movement building, influencing policy, and standing up for the necessary systems changes that ensure nonprofits, communities and individuals thrive. The journey is ongoing, and each step forward reinforces the belief that our collective voice can lead to enduring societal benefits. I invite you to read more about how we can all contribute to this dynamic field of active advocacy. Let’s continue to push boundaries together. Your thoughts and feedback would be immensely valuable as we navigate this path forward. #Philanthropy #Advocacy #SocialChange #Leadership

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It’s common practice for health data to group together Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders but simplifying a diverse group into one racial category can often obscure crucial insights, and even contribute to the harmful “model minority” myth. Take cancer data: When grouped together, Asian Americans’ leading cause of death is cancer. But for Indian Americans specifically, deaths due to heart disease were *twice* as common as cancer. Asian Americans are not a homogenous group, so many commonly shared statistics about how AAPIs have stronger health outcomes than other racial groups, conceal real concerns within smaller communities.   I encourage you to check out this insightful article from Forbes to learn more about how equitable data practices can help us dispel the ‘model minority’ myth: https://lnkd.in/e9m_b6Mk #DataEquity #DataJustice #AAPIHeritageMonth

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When thinking back to my time as a nonprofit CEO, I recall many sleepless nights wrestling with funding challenges. Conversations often focused on writing grants, annual campaigns, and donor engagement, but the results stayed the same. It wasn’t until we started thinking differently that we saw real change. 🚀Imagine a nonprofit and philanthropic world where innovation drives fund development, creating sustainable impact within our organizations, where new ideas are celebrated, and risks are seen as opportunities.  🌟 In my latest Coaching Innovation Blog, Innovating Fund Development for Greater Impact, discover how embracing innovation can transform your organization's approach to funding. ❓How can nonprofits elevate their fund development strategies to create greater impact? 🧠 Cultivate a Culture of Innovation: Encourage an environment where creativity thrives, and risks are part of the growth journey. 🔍 How can you foster a culture of innovation? Reflect on your organization's openness to new ideas and discuss your risk tolerance and risk threshold. 💡 Innovation Pop-ups: Organize regular brainstorming sessions to bring together diverse perspectives and generate innovative new fund development strategies. When we create a culture of innovation that leverages technology and embraces diverse funding sources, we can transform our organizations and the communities we serve. How have you leveraged innovation to support fund development? 🔗 Check out the full article at www.Jordansydnor.com . 

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This recent piece by FSG argues that foundations committed to systems change need to take an ecosystem approach guided by the principles of trust based philanthropy to inform strategy development, program implementation, and learning and evaluation. This reorientation takes funders from positioning themselves as central to positioning themselves as one component of an ecosystem. This results in, among other things: Strategy development moving from being developed internally to being co-created with ecosystem partners; Strategy implementation expanding beyond siloed grantmaking for organizations to support for collaboratives and community-led solutions; and Learning and evaluation expanding beyond grant-level outcomes and accountability with proscribed outcomes to co-developing systems level outcomes and learning. The authors provide helpful examples and frameworks for each stage of the strategy lifecycle. For those of you who fund in systems change, what resonates with you?

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All across the country, people are searching for ways to positively impact democracy at the local level. I'm always surprised and delighted when people stumble onto us at CivicLex and reach out to learn more about what we're up to. For our first few years, we had a hard time articulating exactly what CivicLex was. We don't quite fit the mold for most of the other types of civic infrastructure out there. A year or so ago, through our LION: Local Independent Online News Publishers Sustainability Audit, the wonderful Bene Cipolla encouraged us lean in to our uniqueness. For us to be confident in our uniqueness, we decided that we needed to clearly articulate our model. LION's Sustainability Audit program (one of the best things going in the broader democracy field, in my opinion) then supported a series of staff retreats and personal reflections at the tail end of last year where we set aside our daily tasks and thought critically about our work, operations, and sustainability. What came out of this introspection was a new model for CivicLex -- one that strengthens civic health at the local level by improving three sets of conditions: civic literacy, social cohesion, and how our institutions engage the public in decision-making. We clearly defined the five strategies we use to do that, and the activities, metrics, outcomes, and impacts we're tracking to understand if it's working. Now, I'm happy to share the first of a series of posts that I'm writing about our model, how we evaluate it, and the lessons we've learned. I hope you find it helpful and/or interesting! https://lnkd.in/ew4i-uct

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It's time to REDESIGN systems of power and governance in philanthropy. Do you know any extraordinary board members, trustees, or HNWIs who have an inkling that this is true? 🤔 Philanthropy's status quo is an ill fitting governance system that wasn't designed for social change--it doesn't work well for anyone involved or the outcomes we seek. We need systems that work for the complexity and humanity of the world. The good news is, we can create them. Together. We've designed a highly supported experience to do just that! We're working with the brilliant teams at Intrinsic Labs and Radical Optimist Collective. Click through to see the profile of potential participants we're looking for to take part in Metamorphic Legacy, a bespoke leadership experience to redesign governance. Share this post/the 1 pager with ���� trustee unicorns 🦄 you know and reshape philanthropy with us! #philanthropy #leadership #governance #redesign #boardmembers #trustees #HNWIs #creativity #boards #grantmaking #innovation #crappyfundingpractices https://lnkd.in/dXz4zR8X One pager: https://lnkd.in/dR-hGN-T

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As we know, without additional information or guidance, many coastal donors tend to fund locally or in geographies they are familiar with. Grateful to Inside Philanthropy for recognizing The Just Trust as one of the key organizations funding and partnering with criminal justice leaders in the South, one of the most under-resourced areas for philanthropy and investment in our issue area. This is how to develop solutions that can work in all 50 states and political contexts. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/g_ky4VKz

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We can't say enough how important democracy work is to climate progress. In a piece for Inside Philanthropy this week, foundation leaders Cathy Cha and Ralph Lewin remind us that "the strength of democracy — whether at the local, state or national level — has huge impacts on the ability of all funders and our nonprofit partners to deliver results on any issue and for any community." We see the impact of lack of representation across the South, from city councils and state regulatory agencies that greenlight polluting industry at the expense of residents' health, to a rash of state-level voter suppression and anti-protest laws that make it ever harder for Black, Brown, and Indigenous people to be heard. Supporting fair elections, accessible public processes, and engaged and energized voters needs to be all of our business. https://lnkd.in/g-vPep6r

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Have thought a lot about the pace of change over the years--and for me, often the question is 'level of zoom' on both time horizon and level of impact. ['time and pressure' from the Shawshank Redemption] Was great to be approached by Eric Chen as he shared this important report from The Bridgespan Group on the pace and level of change--and how 'small steps' can be transformative. The Bridgespan team has its eye on transformative change, so it it really interesting to review this report on how we think and plan for big change in different ways. When I think of League of Women Voters and partner work as 'core civic infrastructure'-- I see the small steps as leading to the transformation we want to see. Congrats to Eric, Marc Solomon and the other authors for putting this out there. #Bridgespan #socialimpact

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Who is the boss? Board governance and serving at Black women-led organizations: I am so deeply proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the Transgender District in San Francisco. I am humbled and in awe of the leadership and work the District does in the Tenderloin, San Francisco broadly, and nationally in trans advocacy. I am deeply grateful for the invaluable lessons in healthy and grounded board governance that I have learned from my mentors, particularly Armilito J. Pangilinan, CPA, MBA. Guided by policy governance and generative models of running boards, I firmly believe in the transformative power of a healthy board in advancing a mission. As a board member, I place my trust in the wisdom and expertise of the co-executive directors. I have recently come across a toxic narrative that the board is the “boss” of the executive director. While I understand the basis of this conclusion, let’s not get it twisted: I am not anyone’s boss except for the place that pays me to supervise people. As a board, our collective vote guides the executive's actions, and we provide advice on performance, strategic planning, finances, and mission. But this is advice. The true boss is our policy, our collective vote, and the organization’s mission and vision. We are here to support and guide, not to dictate. It is critically important to examine power and assumptions about power, especially when, as with the District, we are working with Black women in executive roles. I am a volunteer; if I fail, I walk away without much impact on my person, but if we fail the executives, it impacts their livelihood, careers, and employees' well-being. They are the leaders of this organization.  Earlier, I mentioned feeling humbled, but Breonna McCree teaches me far more with her leadership than I provide. Alongside her co-executive, Carlo Gómez Arteaga, we learn together. They have an in-depth understanding of their employees, the organization, and their community. It is beneficial to view policy as the guiding force and to support our policy to be more equitable and effective. We, as a board and executive team, collaborate to hold our guiding force (our collective boss)  accountable, ensuring that our actions align with the organization's mission and vision. https://lnkd.in/gZw9U4GD

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So honored to have been published in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Journal with Betsy Chapin Taylor, FAHP in our joint article titled, "Beyond Ethical AI: Revolutionizing Precision Philanthropy with Responsible and Beneficial AI". Betsy and I have spent many years working for, in, and with healthcare philanthropy organizations. Due to the outsized role that trust plays within this space, raising money within healthcare requires the highest level of transparency and trust. In fact, my fascination with machine learning started in 2016 while I was working in the healthcare space with a focused desire to quantify the characteristics of donors and prospects. Almost immediately, it became immediately clear that AI was tailor-made for this environment for several nuanced reasons: 1️⃣ TOO MUCH DATA: The average hospital has about 2M clinical appointments per year with ~100 datapoints for each patient. That's a lot of data! 2️⃣ NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK: Only 2-3% of patients ever make a gift to a healthcare org on average. AI is a laser-guided microscope to fine the needle. 3️⃣ TEARS OF GRATITUDE DRY QUICKLY: Speed to understand your most connected AND altruistic individuals in real time is literally the name of the game. (According to Advisory Board there is a 21% loss in proportion of patients “very likely” to give as time since treatment passes from 1 to 3 months) Fast forward 7 years, our work at DonorSearch AI has proven to be a game changer to compile LOTS of data (enriched 1st party data with external data), in REALTIME, with accurate PREDICTIONS on who might give for the first time, and which donors are most likely to give again, on an ONGOING basis. It's for these reasons why Betsy collaborated on this article to highlight not only the need for AI, but also for AI to be presented in a way that goes well beyond traditional ethics and responsibility. In our article, we discuss the importance of moving beyond ethical AI to embrace Responsible and Beneficial AI to preserve and protect trust with stakeholders. This approach not only adheres to ethical standards but also maximizes AI's potential to foster meaningful human interactions, reduce burnout among professionals, and create efficiencies that transform charitable giving. This piece also addresses the critical steps organizations must take to integrate AI responsibly, ensuring that technology enhances rather than detracts from our mission to connect deeply with donors and maximize every contribution towards transformative healthcare work. ✨ Check out the full article below to discover how AI can be a catalyst for genuine human connections and a more efficient future in precision philanthropy. #HealthcarePhilanthropy #ArtificialIntelligence #AI4Good #PrecisionPhilanthropy #Ai https://lnkd.in/epKjJGb7

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I’m launching a nonprofit consultancy. I’ve taken a second these last few months to reflect on what it is about my own background, if anything, that would be additive to the field. And I’m arriving at the observation that few consultants have been founders. It's a different skill set, different set of experiences, and therefore a different approach. Neither better, nor worse. Different. So here's why you would -- and why you would not -- hire me: I'm focusing at the moment on three core areas where I see a need: fundraising, strategic planning, and -- here's where I think I can provide the most value -- fractional leadership. Essentially, that's me functioning as an ad interim ED/CEO/COO in a moment of transition or rapid growth. Or leading a nascent program or venture, validating an opportunity ahead of a more robust investment, building launch-ready operational systems and the team to scale it. All of you who know Resilient Coders know that in everything I do, I focus on equitable goals, achieved in an equitable manner. To me, strategy and operations are just shorthand for "here's how we're going to accomplish the things we say we do, in a manner that is consistent with the soul we know we have." All of you who know me at all know that I'm out here for the fidgety skeptics. You have a goal. Let's just get into it. All of you who've read my book -- even just the introduction (I see you, fidgety skeptics) -- you know that everything I know, I've learned by getting it wrong the first time. It's a different brand of knowledge. And all of you who know how I approach problems know that I believe in building coalitions, and in investing the time and emotional energy in understanding context before purporting to know anything at all. I'm not one of those consultants who can provide value on the first phone call. I’m grateful for all the conversations I’ve already had, and looking forward to having more. If this style resonates with you, please drop me a note at david@delmarsenties.com.  One more thing. I don’t have a name yet, for the business. Any ideas? https://lnkd.in/eWRgMjQW 

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We can see 👀 that community-led collaborative funds are emerging as powerful tools for driving equity and justice. These funds 💵 unite diverse stakeholders around shared goals, pooling resources to address complex social challenges. By fostering collaboration among donors, nonprofits, and community leaders, collaborative funds amplify impact and drive meaningful change at scale 💬. Community-led collaborative funds prioritize equity and justice, channeling resources towards systemic solutions💡and underrepresented communities. 🌍 By bringing together a diverse array of perspectives and expertise, these funds amplify grassroots initiatives, promote inclusive decision-making, and dismantle barriers to opportunity. 🙌🏽 🙌🏾 🙌🏿 Through strategic investments in areas such as education, healthcare, and economic empowerment, community-led collaborative funds drive tangible progress towards a more just and equitable society. How can we leverage these funds to address systemic inequalities and advance social justice? 🌀 Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below! How do you envision community-led collaborative funds shaping the future of philanthropy? #collaboration #PhilanthropicAdvising

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Check your assumptions. Philanthropy does not look the same in every community. Christal Cherry’s post on “What Fundraisers Should Know About Black Philanthropy” in Greater Public’s blog last summer is inspiring: "'The term philanthropy does not fully embrace just how diverse the nature of giving is, in practice. At its core, the practice of philanthropy is rooted in an unspoken contract committed to the collective benefit of the community.' (Muhmmad, 2021) Black people embrace and understand this and have relied on our full spectrum of giving to survive and thrive for centuries. It is time to shift the narrative and see the Black community as individuals who are actively engaged in philanthropy by both supporting and creating solutions to uplift one another. We know the definition of philanthropy extends beyond financial giving."

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