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Articles by Amy McGoldrick
2024: A Year in Climate Philanthropy
The climate crisis is deepening but so is philanthropy’s response. With a growing presence at international meetings, more focus on global south adaptation, more assertive leadership, and more available funding, this 2024: A Year in Climate Philanthropy event invited philanthropy practitioners to evaluate this year through a climate lens. Hosted at the Aga Khan Centre, this event was generously sponsored by Optimy.
What it means to talk about conflict
Alliance’s readers chose How should independent philanthropy engage in contexts of conflict and crisis? as its poll winner – an interesting choice, as an estimated 110 conflicts rage across the world. This fishbowl session was the only one to be added by the Philea team directly; with all that’s occurring in our time, ‘we strongly felt that we could not have an event on philanthropy and trust without having a conversation on this issue,’ said Delphine Moralis, CEO at Philea.
‘The miracle of Europe’
In beautiful but stormy Ghent, Belgium – sat in the beautiful and ornate theatre room of Viernulvier, I sat and waited for the first session of the day: Safeguarding democratic values: Breaking the silos of climate, gender and anti-racism. The beauty of my surroundings was enhanced by the history of the building; Viernulvier was originally conceived as the festival and arts centre for the Ghentian labour movement, for the intellectual development of their workers.
Leadership of philanthropy, leadership by philanthropy
Philanthropy is grappling with the role it must play in responding to what is called the polycrisis – climate and environmental crises, entrenched economic inequalities, and social injustices. The material role that philanthropy can play – the provision of resources, the creation of legislation, etc. – is obviously limited, but does it have a leadership role to play?
The ancient technology of storytelling: Day Three, #ShiftThePower Summit
On day three, I attended one of the ‘buckets’ on Moving beyond logos, egos, siloes and haloes: Reimagining our own systems, organisational and governance structures in the pursuit of collective action and the good society. ‘The manifesto for change is our vision,’ began the convenors. ‘Governance is how we will make that vision a reality. ‘When we talk about governance, people often think about government, structures and proposals… but how do we model the behaviour in the world that we want to see?
‘When the world is in crisis, the world is not together’: Day One, #ShiftThePower Summit
Over 700 delegates from around the world and across philanthropy, civil society and international development joined the three day #ShiftThePower Summit in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. This is the second international Summit following on from Johannesburg in 2016. Participants were welcomed by the co-MCs, Atzimba Baltazar Macías, COMETA (Mexico) and Jimm & Jimm Chick Fomunjong, West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI). ‘It is very important for you to feel free,’ said Chick.
‘A moral imagination’: Day Two, #ShiftThePower Summit
Day two of the Summit in Bogotá, Colombia, began with a plenary called ‘Setting the scene’ with Marta Ruiz, journalist and former Commissioner of Truth in Colombia. ‘After the war, we don’t have peace – we have wrath, sadness and grief. This is why the Truth Commission is necessary,’ said Ruiz. ‘Peace building is about more than an agreement, more than the silencing of weapons and the returning of combatants. It goes beyond the isolated actions we’ve had.
Pension scheme pool commits 40% of new fund to impact investments in ‘market-leading’ move
One of the UK’s eight Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pools has committed 40% of a new investment vehicle to impact investing (social or environmental impact). The pool manager – Brunel Pension Partnership – manages £38 billion of assets on behalf of 700,000 LGPS members and 2,000 employers, mainly across the West of England. The new commitment of more than £250 million of a £626m ($766 USD) new investment vehicle as impact money has been described as ‘market-leading thinking’ by an expert.
Building collective power at WINGSForum 2023
The final session I attended at WINGSForum2023 was Building Barriers, Shifting Power: A collaboration to reshape philanthropic infrastructure. Due diligence. Risk analysis. Compliance. Vetting. These words, Matthew Patten at Catalyst2030 acknowledges, can make us shudder. Why? ‘It can present resource challenges, and real significant barriers to civil society organisations.’ So how do we shift the narrative to something that resonates?
'Killing our capacity for justice': Advancing racial justice at WINGSForum 2023
The first session I attended was Advancing racial justice & transformation through philanthropy, run by Ana Maria Sanchez – Philanthropy director at Cemefi (Mexico); Cassio França – Secretary General, GIFE (Brazil); and Lori Villarosa – Founder and Executive Director, PRE (Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity), USA. Villarosa set the scene, stating that there are several ways that people discuss racism in philanthropy.
Elephants transforming philanthropy: Reforming international development at WINGSForum 2023
Reforming International Development had two – very different – sessions during the WINGSForum. The first was upon the terrace, dubbed the ‘Garden of Experimentation’, where statements were made and those in attendance were to choose if they agreed or disagreed, by standing on either side of the room. Below are the questions, with a few audience members’ justifications for you to ponder. What would your answers be?
Pan-African and Feminist Philanthropies Initiative launches with goal to raise $1bn in 10 years
TrustAfrica and Urgent Action Fund-Africa, together with Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, have partnered to launch the Pan-African and Feminist Philanthropies Initiative. The Initiative aims to mobilise massive new resources for pan-African and feminist philanthropic work in Africa and will be ‘given in novel and transformative ways’ according to a statement from the new Initiative. The Initiative was launched earlier this month at an event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Are we missing the mark with misinformation? - Alliance magazine
Information can be the initial spark that enables people to act whether positively or negatively and even well intentioned communities can be misguided into harmful practices when provided with inaccurate information. At Internews, an international non profit supporting independent media in 100+ countries, we’ve seen the dangerous effects of misinformation first hand.
Two new trustees join Friends Provident Foundation Board
Two new trustees have joined the Friends Provident Foundation Board. Caroline Taylor, the Chief Executive at Essex Community Foundation, and Paul Blyth, a pioneer in the field of ESG/Impact Investment, began their term as Board Members for the Foundation earlier this month. Taylor brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the charity sector.
New initiative launched to improve grantmaking
Funding for Real Change (FRC), a joint effort by Ariadne and EDGE Funders Alliance, is a project to provide resources to reimagine giving in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It aims to help funders strengthen organisations in the long run through more flexible and trusting grantmaking. During the Covid-19 pandemic, over 60 per cent of foundations loosened their restrictions and lightened reporting for grants.
The case for funding social movements
When I started researching what makes social movements succeed, I thought the main questions would be about strategy and tactics, organisation, and planning. I hadn’t thought that an unexpectedly big barrier might be something much more basic: activists need money.
'We've never had our money refused before'
Last week, Philea hosted their Annual Conference in Šibenik, Croatia. Alliance polled our audience last week to discover which session they’d most like to read about – and it ended in a tie! One was on ‘Building infrastructure to support resilient youth climate movements: Lessons from across Europe’ which you can read below, and you can learn about the other winner here. This topic of youth was one of four sessions to emerge from the 2023 conference, alongside the closing plenary panel.
'Be an octopus': Day 2 reflections at Philea 2023
The second day of Philea’s Annual Conference began with one of ten site visits across the Šibenik region. From The Falconry Center, a scenic walk through Krka National Park, to a boating trip to the island of Zlarin, these visits allowed attendees to explore Šibenik outside of the glossy conference venue. Zlarin is the first plastic-free island in Croatia, situated on the Dalmatian coast.
Alliance events - Alliance magazine
Philanthropy is grappling with the role it must play in responding to what is being called the polycrisis – climate and environmental crises, entrenched economic inequalities, and social injustices. The material role that philanthropy can play – the provision of resources, the creation legislation, etc. is obviously limited – but does it have a leadership role to play?
Alliance webinar: Future of philanthropy in Latin America
As part of Alliance magazine’s anniversary celebrations this year, celebrating Alliance’s 25 years at the heart of global philanthropy, we have launched a series of events on what the future of philanthropy holds in different regions of the world. This webinar focused on the who, what, where and how of Latin American philanthropy, in partnership with IDIS.
Alliance webinar: Law, philanthropy and justice
Celebrating the launch of Alliance’s new issue in our 25th year, last week’s webinar explored the relationship between philanthropy and the law. Guest editors and panellists Nicolette Naylor (Ford Foundation, South Africa) and David Sampson (Baring Foundation, UK) argue that legal philanthropy is at its most profound and purposeful when helping to enlarge the space for communities to seek justice. Does this represent a shift in thinking in philanthropic circles?
Alliance webinar: Future of philanthropy in the Arab region
As part of Alliance magazine’s anniversary celebrations this year, celebrating Alliance’s 25 years at the heart of global philanthropy, we have launched a series of events on what the future of philanthropy holds in different regions of the world. This webinar focused on the who, what, where and how of Arab philanthropy, in partnership with Arab Foundations Forum (AFF) and sponsored by the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.
Alliance at 25 - Alliance magazine
This year, Alliance is celebrating its 25th anniversary – looking back over the debates and questions covered in almost 100 issues and ahead to what the future of philanthropy may hold. To mark this milestone, over this year we will be bringing you special events reflecting on philanthropy past and present, coverage online and in our issues, a packed 100-page 100th issue in September, and more. Make sure you don’t miss any of it. Read more about what we have planned
Alliance webinar: Global health philanthropy – is it too much, or not enough? - Alliance magazine
At $46 billion each year, philanthropy spends more on health-related issues than anything else. It’s one quarter of all grantmaking, and philanthropy has provided critical funding for vaccines, medical equipment, social welfare and global health infrastructure as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded. But there’s also intense debate about how the largest foundations interact with governments, international bodies and pharmaceutical companies, and who should hold them accountable.
Alliance webinar: Should philanthropy be more open about its investments?
As part of Alliance’s 13-week focus on foundation investments (take a look at our new issue on the topic if you haven’t had the chance), last week we hosted a webinar on investment transparency, kindly sponsored by Western Union. Moderator Charles Keidan (Alliance magazine) was joined by guest editor Danielle Walker Palmour, (Friends Provident Foundation, UK) and contributor María-Laura Rojas (Transforma, Colombia).
Alliance webinar: Social movements philanthropy
With physical events still unsafe for the foreseeable future, Alliance hosted a webinar to facilitate an in-depth conversation on social movements philanthropy with the new issue’s three guest editors: Halima Mahomed, Romy Kraemer and Graciela Hopstein.
Strategically leveraging corporate resources for social impact
Last week AVPN held their 8th Annual Conference, this time entirely virtually, and Alliance asked our readers in a poll for the session you’d like to hear most about. The winner was ‘Strategically leveraging corporate resources for social impact’ – take a look at our conference report below. This session was hosted by Steven Serneels, CEO & board member of EVPA.
#NextPhilanthropy: What have we learned, and what’s next in global philanthropy?
The end of February saw Alliance hosting Next Philanthropy’s first ever London event, amidst both literal and metaphorical storms of change. Next Philanthropy, initiated by the German Association of Foundations (BDS) in partnership with Alliance, AVPA, AVPN, DAFNE, EVPA and WINGS, seeks to address the challenge of keeping up with the increasingly globally connected philanthropic landscape.
Alliance magazine
The Equality Fund (EF) announced itself in London recently as a ‘ground-breaking collaboration’ delivering momentum for women’s movements, while driving the cultural, economic and political changes required to make global gender equality a reality. The Equality Fund, PAWHR (Philanthropy Advancing Women’s Human Rights), CFC (Community Foundations of Canada) and AWDF (African Women’s Development Fund) stood proudly as partners within this consortium that is part of the development of the EF.
Fireside chat with Regan Ralph
Full disclosure: there was no chat by a fire. Yet, as Autumn is slowly creeping up on London, with dowdy grey skies above and I-should-have-brought-a-bigger-coat level winds pushing through the streets, it was a relief to hurry into The Conduit, filled with people clutching coffees and eager to hear from Regan Ralph, President and CEO of the Fund for Global Human Rights. Ralph was there to be interviewed by Lisa Witter, Apolitical‘s co-founder.
Alliance Breakfast Club: #Peacebuilding
Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) opened its doors and welcomed attendees to Alliance magazine’s latest Breakfast Club on peace-building on a bright summer’s morning. ‘I suspect there are a few of us who would say that we are not peace-building foundations,’ began Moira Sinclair, chief executive at PHF.
True solidarity has a way to go
My last sessions at the EFC’s 2019 Conference followed a wonderful site visit to ‘le Plus Petit Cirque du Monde’, a circus school as well as a haven for artists, a social networking laboratory and platform for international exchange. Nestled within the Tertres-Cuverons in Bagneux, this enterprise promotes citizenship and solidarity within an historically deprived suburb of Paris, and was a true delight.
Conference corner: Lucia Martina, Fondazione Lang Italia
At the European Foundation Centre 2019 Annual Conference, I speak to delegates to capture their reflections so far. What is the currently philanthropy landscape in Italy, and what brings you to the EFC? Fondazione Lang Italia is a Philanthropy Advisor, and a Study Center on Strategic Philanthropy. We are very keen on data and trends in philanthropy, in order to engage more UNHWI and corporates on this issue.
The magic at the edges
My first EFC 2019 session was Who decides? How funders can open up the decision-making process to include those they seek to serve. An incredibly popular session, the room swelled with so many bodies that people were leant up against walls and sitting on the floor. However, it was pretty obvious from the outset exactly within which group of people this session was so highly anticipated.
Avoiding caricatures: Day three at the EFC Conference, ‘Fraternité & philanthropie’ Plenary
The EFC’s 2019 conference has brought about “a lot of emotions, a lot of work and a lot of fun” began Laurence de Nervaux (Fondation de France). Three days later and the assembly hall was filled with attendees, exhausted but bright-eyed. Massimo Lapucci (Chair of the EFC), came on stage and announced that this was a year with the highest number of EFC registrants they’d ever had: just shy of 800 individuals signed up.
Alliance magazine
“Today we’re talking about inequalities – plural. We have stories about ourselves in Europe about how we think equality is going… and that story can vary significantly,” began Zohra Moosa, the executive director at Mama Cash. Speaking at today’s ‘Égalité’ plenary were Ghada Hatem (La Maison des Femmes), Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah (Oxfam GB) and Lionel Zinsou (Terra Nova, and former Prime Minister of Benin). Inequality in Europe necessitates an interrogation of terms.
Alliance magazine
Axelle Davezac, executive director at Fondation de France, gathered hundreds of EFC delegates together for the first plenary of the 2019 Conference & AGA. “What a time to celebrate,” Davezac began, informing the audience that this year represents not only the 30th anniversary of the European Foundation Centre, but also 50 years of Fondation de France. Developments have most certainly occurred in this sector since the EFC’s auspicious start in 1989, and yet signs of fragility are abound.
What we can learn from the latest International Giving trends?
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has now released almost ten years’ worth of data on giving behaviour via its World Giving Index (WGI). The findings of this index ignite conversations about giving and generosity in different countries throughout the world. Respondents are asked three questions on their giving behaviours; from whether they have helped a stranger, donated money or volunteered their time.
Alliance Breakfast Club: #RoyalPhilanthropy
Delegates and panellists stoically shuffled in from the bitter cold and snowy street-slush into The Loft at The Club at the Ivy, to take part in an informative and insightful Breakfast Club on Royal Philanthropy.
Family matters: thoughts on a Philanthropy Impact roundtable
Family foundations are taking active steps to engage the next generation and in many organizations, all generations are involved in influencing giving decisions and operations as a means to educate and prepare family members for a philanthropic career. As professional advisor to (U) HNWI, understanding these dynamics and influences between generations will play an important role in your practice. Speakers will address how advisers can support their clients going though these transitions.
Alliance Breakfast Club: Muslim philanthropy - 24 October 2018
Following on from our current September 2018 issue on Muslim philanthropy, Alliance magazine’s upcoming Breakfast Club will be on Muslim philanthropy at the crossroads. Despite Muslims comprising 23 per cent of the world’s population and donating an estimated $1 trillion each year, surprisingly little is known about Muslim philanthropy.
EFC AGA 2018: Day two in music and numbers
Day two began exactly as I had excitedly booked – with a walking tour around Brussels’ city centre toward two stalwart favourites: Brussels’ Chocolate Museum, and the Museum of the Belgian Brewers. Here I learnt of the traditional and contemporary methods used to bring cultural, institutional and iconic products to both tourists and Belgians alike. Yet culture isn’t just about (delicious) continual production and reproduction. It should be a tool for citizens’ participation and empowerment.
EFC AGA 2018: Day three putting faith in culture
‘Faith, or religion, is one of the last frontiers not talked about within diversity,’ stated Kassim-Lakha. ‘Religious diversity is with us as a reality – so what are the tools and the language needed as literacy for our work?’ The final day of the filled-to-the-brim EFC Conference began with ‘Navigating religious divides: How philanthropy supports interfaith “Bridge builders“. With Shaheen Kassim-Lakha of the Conrad N.
EFC AGA 2018: Day one heating up
As Brussels steadily baked over the rising sun on a Tuesday morning, the EFC Conference on ‘Culture matters: connecting citizens & uniting communities’ began. ‘Culture is a vital sign of any community,’ stated Luc Luytens, Chairman of the Belgian Federation of Philanthropic Foundations in his welcoming speech.
Alliance Breakfast Club: #LiftUpPhilanthropy
Alliance magazine travelled outside of London in late May to host a quarterly Breakfast Club in partnership with WINGS at the EFC Conference in Brussels, Belgium. The mission was to illuminate philanthropy’s global infrastructure to an audience of European (and beyond) attendees, providing answers – as well as questions – as to how philanthropy can do its job better.
Reflections of an Alliance intern: Data philanthropy in the digital age
I have wanted to visit London for as long as I can remember. I listened to British music, traced the streets on maps and purchased anything with a Union Jack that I could find. Six months ago, I found out that that dream would soon become a reality as I was accepted into my school’s study and intern abroad program organized through CAPA. It wasn’t until two weeks before getting on a plane that I found out I would be interning with Alliance magazine.
The Russia Community Foundation Phenomenon
Community foundations now number 170 organisations in 60 countries. This number is continuously growing – and in Russia it’s no different. At a roundtable event in London with CAF Russia last month, the room learned how the emergence of Russian Community Foundations has impacted the development of civil society, with local movements spreading across the nation.
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