Jennifer Buffett will change the world. You may not know her now, but when all is said and done I believe she will own the title, The First Lady of Women’s Social Change Philanthropy.  Jennifer is the life size symbol of NoVo – to alter, invent.  The NoVo Foundation she created with her husband Peter is based on the premise that if you give a girl an opportunity, she will become a successful woman who will in turn create successful communities, businesses, and families.  Jennifer’s story is just that.

After deep examination of the focus of their philanthropy and a personal examination of her own expression of her values and influence, Jennifer is speaking around the world sharing her personal story and experiences. She and her husband Peter spent years examining the interrelation between systems, culture, and relationships to determine place of impact and opportunity for change before launching the largest foundation serving women and girls, the NoVo Foundation.   Jennifer has incredible perspective to offer activists, social change drivers, and philanthropists and after hearing her recently, I distilled these ten concepts that are worth sharing; 

1. Look at the roots of the problems, examine patterns and themes and find the programs and the stories that rule the world and which ones make sense.
2. Acknowledge two conflicting truths:  1. Girls and women are the primary drivers of change.  2. Cultural attitudes and systems put girls in a vicious cycle; blaming them and affirming that they are not valued.   The girl effect demonstrates that if you invest in a girl, her family thrives, she contributes to her community, and eventually her country succeeds.
3. Invest in places where value is held and not yet recognized.  Note:  there are 600 million adolescent girls living in the developing world who are currently ‘undervalued assets’. 
4. Value balance and partnership and affirm feminine values. 
5. Encourage women to use their voice, say what is want and needed, take credit, and invite men to join as equal partners and co-creators. 
6. As a woman, choose to be seen and heard and work to change the course of the boat named Earth Community. 
7. Improve gender dynamics by recognizing that the qualities in the masculine ‘toolbox’ - force, hierarchy, punitive, and a focus on head not heart - are learned, normalized, and internalized. 
8. Honor and showcase the characteristics found in the feminine toolbox; listening, connectedness, experiential learning, honoring innate cycles and rhythms, and wholeness. 
9. Establish learning environments that allow for inquiry and participation. 
10. As conduits of feminine energies, allow the most precious qualities of clarity, strength, knowing and vulnerability of yourself to come into full light. 

photo © 2006 Riza Nugraha  | more info (via: Wylio)

Seriously, how fun is it to celebrate and dance and how often do we do either of these things?  I love Emma Goldman’s statement – “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be part of the revolution.”  At the Women Moving Millions session we heard from the co-chairs, donors and leaders – all who danced as they came on stage to share their stories and ideas.   

 One of many highlights for me was the dancing!  Chris Grumm, Helen LaKelly Hunt and I dancing with the audience as we all took ‘back’ the word REVOLUTION moving to Tracy Chapman.  Next session we will be moving to Miriam Makemba’s Pata Pata.  

After hearing updates and perspectives on the campaign from the leadership and a distinguished panel of women, including Dobkin Family Foundation founder Barbara Dobkin, Mama Cash Executive Director Nicky McIntyre, Women Moving Millions Co-Chair Jacki Zehner, ACCION USA's Elizabeth Bueno, and Women's Foundation of Greater Kansas City President Dawn Oliver, I encouraged people to check in with our own individual experience of philanthropy and “moving millions” in our own lives.  

I believe that a key aspect of a good leadership is the practice of consistently looking at our own motivations and experiences around giving and receiving.  Spending time to reflect on what it is that keeps us open to receiving and to giving and understanding the conditions or environments that help us feel more generous is a good growth opportunity.    

Feel free to take some time to look at an exercise that I created that examines – “What is it that allows me to give time, talent or treasure with joy and ease? And how can we move towards this?”

I had the honor of being part of the Women’s Funding Network Worldwide Conference where women from Serbia, Mexico, Australia, Scotland, Nigeria, Canada, and every place in between, descended upon Brooklyn, New York for three days of convening and learning.  We spent time together skills sharing, relationship building, and listening to impassioned speeches from some of the world’s most dynamic female thought leaders. 

From the opening keynote featuring Marjora Carter, eco-entrepreneur, MacArthur Genius and founder of Sustainable South Bronx, to the closing keynote featuring Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and first Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women, we all were in the presence of the power and resiliency of women leaders and the global women’s movement.  Being part of this ‘movement’ to me means that we choose to reassert feminine perspectives (also known as ‘a gender lens’) wherever it can heal cultures and communities.   

One of the panel discussions was hosted by filmmaker, scholar and founder of the Daphne Foundation, Abigail Disney. Abby spoke about the ways in which the feminine perspective has been erased from the media coverage of war across the world. Her documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell and her four part series called Women, War and Peace, which documents war through the eyes of women in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Columbia and the Congo, shows women’s contributions to war efforts on both the front lines and back lines. 

When we think about war, we think about combat. We think about the front line. Abby’s work showcases the role that women play from the back lines in conflict and the impact that these conflicts have on women’s lives.  The work shows how women are targeted with systematic violence in wartime and how, with incredible fortitude and strength and little support, they hold their families and communities together.  Abby and her team are successful in bringing visibility to the tragedy of their invisibility and dismissal from their solutions and peace building work. 

After showing the series trailer, Abby talked about how rape is being used as a strategic tactic of wartime violence. She recounted stories of deliberations by the United Nations Assembly about whether or not to try rapists as war criminals when the acts are being perpetrated as a tactic of war.  Abby’s series, Women, War and Peace is scheduled to debut on PBS this fall. I hope you’ll all find some time to watch it and extend your role in the movement in any way that works for you.

(Photo credited to Pray the Devil Back to Hell.)

During a recent gathering of 600 dynamic women working for social and economic justice (2011 Women’s Funding Network Annual Conference), I facilitated a discussion  with my friend and frequent co-pilot, Ellen Landis, founder of Sharevision. The discussion was on donor activism (which later turned into a great conversation on power!) with the goal to create a safe space for women to vocalize their engagement and feel more confident and empowered to be the social change leaders they are.  As well, we had an intentional sharing of donor activism work from a mind, body, and spirit focus which helps people enter the “activist” conversation from different perspectives.

For that hour and a half these 40 women were able to share their successes, their challenges, their personal and professional triumphs and tragedies with each other. And, when it was over, almost all of the women remained to engage with each other like old friends with so much to learn from each other.  

The format of the donor activism work session was exercises that could be done with staff, donors, community leaders, Board members, etc.  One of the fun tools we used, that I am sharing, was the attached Donor Activist Bingo game.  We had the attendees go around and inquire of each other whether they were associated with or had used one of the action items (i.e. been a vocal advocate for an issue or has donated time to a campaign or made a bequest to an organization and told someone about this).  After this exercise, attendees were directed to find and listen to one other person talk about their proudest successful activism activity.  Finally, attendees were asked to move to another person in the room and imagine that she/he was a mentor in their life, describe what the mentor represented for them in their activist life, and then tell their success story again to their ‘mentor’. This is a good ‘get to know the people in the group’ exercise.  

I hope you found this helpful and feel free to let me know how it went!

The Women’s Funding Network – a great convener of thought and networks of people working in the women’s funding movement - has spent more than 30 years researching and promoting social change work.   They have identified how we can really measure what we are doing in these long struggles for social justice.  They have demonstrated that the evidence of change really occurs in the form of five shifts.

1. There is a Shift in Definition - the issue is defined differently in the community or larger society.  A clear example of this was defining sexual harassment – previously unnamed and unheard of until the Anita Hill hearings or ‘trial’.  Homophobia has been well defined although I might suggest we now reframe it to just call it ‘heterosexual supremacy’ and it would probably get more attention. 
2. There is a Shift in Behavior - people behave differently in the community.  Through education of the ‘definition’ of an issue, people understand where and how they can change their behavior.   All the smart efforts of the ‘green movement’ have families and businesses purchasing materials that are reusable or recyclable.
3. There is a Shift in  Critical Mass or Engagement - where now groups of people in the community are more actively engaged in the issue.  There are formations of social clubs, groups, events – think of what President Obama’s campaign did for political organizing.   
4. There is a Shift in Policy - a change in organizational, regional, state, or national policies or laws.  This is a critical place where the GLBT movement is at right now and there are several issues we are all aware of – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, marriage laws, and Employment Non-Discrimination Act.  Ideally employment protection would pass at the federal level but imagine if every athletic department or sports league implemented an employment non discrimination policy based on sexual orientation and identity? 
5. And finally, sometimes a Shift can simply mean "Holding the Line" – maintaining earlier progress on the issue in the face of opposition.  An example of this would be the undeniably strong efforts of the choice movement to protect Roe v. Wade or all the organizations in the Coalition for Women and Girls in Education upholding Title IX through repeated attempts to weaken or amend the law.

So within the context of these shifts, there are key elements that we can identify as requirements for success.  No social justice issue is moved forward without strong leadership, resources, a good message, and passionate hard work.   Sometimes this is wrapped up in one person – like Martin Luther King and  civil rights or Gloria Steinem and the women’s movement or Donna Lopiano and gender equity in sports.

Sometimes, it is wrapped up in a belief, as in the words of Margaret Meade: “never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

For more information about the Women’s Funding Network, please visit http://www.womensfundingnetwork.org/

Two smart philanthropists have begun to map various causes related to women, the organizations working on these causes and the high priority resources and funding required by these organizations.  Their team has created a map of funding for domestic women’s causes by examining the 2007 and 2008 990’s (tax forms presented by non-profits to the IRS) of hundreds of women’s organizations and uncovered some interesting initial findings:

1.  Total philanthropic dollars to women and girls are less than 10% of all dollars.   The following organizations and movements have assets of greater than $3 billion; the America Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the Environmental Movement – all of which demonstrates the potential impact of their work.

2.  The ranking of where philanthropic dollars are going in the ‘six buckets’* of women’s issues showed that health and women’s bodies (i.e. reproductive rights, breast cancer, maternal health, etc.) and safety (i.e. domestic violence, rape, etc) combined were more than all dollars focused on education, civic and legal rights, and economic justice.

So where do we stand and what can we do?  Here are some simple and bold suggestions for donor leaders in social change.  Some simple steps;

1. Be aware of the big picture as we allocate our dollars.
2. Work through women’s funds.
3. Urge awareness and collaboration amongst our grantees.

Some bold approaches:
1.  Fund marketing and technology as a key function of the mission.
2.  Fund finance systems and strategic planning efforts.
3.  Fund talent development.
4.  Fund areas of economic security, rights, and education at a higher level.

Stay tuned for Phase II of this enlightening research around mapping funding for women’s causes as new data and findings should be available soon!

*Six buckets are defined in this study as civic and legal rights, education, economic security, family and work issues, health and women’s bodies, and safety.  

What is at the core of your giving?  What factors motivate your decision making?  What is it that you would need to be more strategic in your philanthropy?  These are questions that help build a foundation for conversations around personal giving.  Before one can truly understand the impact or focus of any gift, it is helpful to distinguish between the types of organizations the gift supports.  There is a significant difference in the characteristics of “Charity” versus “Social Change” Philanthropy and understanding these differences may make a difference in deciding the type of organization your gift supports:   

Charity Philanthropy                                               Social Change Philanthropy
Short-term fixes                                                          Long-term solutions
Social services                                                             Social change
Reactive                                                                      Proactive
Individual responses                                                    Collective, organized responses
Dependent communities                                             Empowered, independent communities

This distinction is important as it helps people understand and ‘name’ the focus of their giving and whether they wish to address systemic or structural issues of discrimination, access, or equity through changing society or more immediately help those that are the victims of such issues.   No matter what type of work a donor chooses to support, there should be an assessment of the effectiveness of the organization, always seeking to support the human talent and capacity of organizations that make the bold changes happen.

Women’s funds have been at the forefront of social change philanthropy for decades.  The Women’s Funding Network (WFN) is the largest women’s philanthropic collaborative network in the world and lifts up the work of more than 150 women’s funds.   WFN has been a global champion for the investment in women led solutions to the most critical issues; economic security, access to education and health care, and freedom from violence.   Successful programs of WFN focus on leadership capacity, outcome measurement, and philanthropic engagement with the most public of these efforts being the recent Women Moving Millions campaign.  A recent study by the Foundation Center demonstrated that women’s funds have been delivering impact through effective coalition building and a bottom up / top down strategy.  The report also shared the work of women’s funds as leaders in the democratization of philanthropy and as social innovators working across sectors..

Now we are on the brink of a sea change as philanthropists begin to focus on investing in women as a solution to resolving or healing key issues in communities and society. Innovative and determined women’s funds  have led such smart investing for the past 30 years and are thrilled to have more folks joining the movement.  We welcome the social change investment to be directed towards women’s funds – a proven model that works.  To learn more about where a women’s fund may be near to your philanthropic focus, please visit the Women's Funding Network.  

So for those of you who have not met me in my life as the Minister of Chi, welcome to this musing!

I took on this role at the Women’s Funding Network conference in Denver where there were hundreds of folks working to elevate, enhance, and educate women on all levels.  The women’s funding movement is near to my heart and having been the self described “Chief Inspiration Officer” for the past few years, I was well prepared for this new role.

The conference brought forth so many critical conversations around leveraging the excitement of people focusing on investing in women, celebrating what women’s funds and the Women Moving Millions campaign have done to bring us to this tipping point, what do we need to do to move into new circles, inclusion of more voices and people, and more.  I started the conference facilitating the final session of a year-long leadership cohort of 12 amazing women, soaked up the words of some amazing speakers, conversed about fundraising,  led a “Shake Your Body for Women’s Rights” session, and ended the conference with my first message as the Minister of Chi. 

One of our exercises at the final session was to imagine the year 2030 and take on a goal of the women’s funding movement – eliminate violence against women, provide full health and safety for all people, expanding rights for all women, building strategies for reproductive justice, etc.  Our table of 8 smart folks from around the world focused on health and safe environment for all and, as requested, we shaped some 10-15 ideas of what happened to make this a reality.

In 2030 there is a female pope and a four part corporate reporting system that included profits as well as environmental sustainability reporting, women in management and Boards, and community engagement.   The World Bank has funded 250,000 OVUM Fellows/ women’s fund grantee partners out in the field collecting data and telling stories to the broader philanthropic and faith based communities of the impact of their work.  In 2030, people had truly listened to the indigenous people and embodied practices on nurturing and keeping the ‘world intact’ with our use of resources.  By that time, everyone had participated in the 2020 “I Have Enough” campaign sponsored by Nike and CARE which had resolved the issue of “what is enough” and eliminated greed from our society.  Of course, we had solved serious health and transportation issues with people walking, biking, and soaring with their ‘Chi monitors’ to and from places of interest.

We could go on and on with our dreams and ideas.  More from the Minister of Chi as I go abroad to visit with the Women Win folks, visit with the International Working Group for Women’s Sports, and move my Chi on a bicycle touring through Europe.

I was at the Women’s Funding Network (WFN) conference this past weekend in Atlanta.  The mix of the inspiring attendees ranged from women from Australia to Africa and from Rhode Island to California.  All people there work to uplift women’s voices, build more security for women and their families and promote women-led solutions and represented Board members, staff or philanthropic leaders of local, state or national non profits.  I was there as a consultant and facilitator leading conversations on leadership, fundraising, and branding opportunities.   Over the past decade of attending the WFN conferences I often leave reflecting on a theme that arises for me.   This time it was about the body, mind, and spirit of a movement. 

I enjoy taking a perspective that looks at the body, mind and spirit of a group, person, or entity and assessing whether there is a balance in the three legs of the triangle of these areas.   As a scientist, athlete, coach, and a believer of eastern medicines and practices I believe there is room in the women’s funding movement for a deeper conversation around these intersected spaces.  For women’s funds this can look like the sustainability of a human rights model where the body = safety, security and power of women, the mind = creatively solving issues in collaboration, and the spirit = energy and ability to sustain and share the dreams of human security realized.    For the people working in the movement this can take on a perspective of leading from a place of an integrated balance of one’s intentions and one’s work (mind), one’s resource of passion for change and growth (spirit) and one’s personal ‘contract’ with their own safety, security, and power (body).    

Last fall, after leaving the Women’s Sports Foundation after 15 years of service building a women's sports movement and attending the Board meeting of WFN in Mexico City, I gave myself the title of “Chief Inspiration Officer of the Women’s Funding Movement”.  What this really means is that I care deeply about the people who ‘do’ this work – as volunteers, staff, and donor leaders – and I want to deliver new and exciting ways to keep them at the best in their game.  I enjoy serving as a resource to offer ideas to work smarter, more efficiently, and with energy and vitality.   I look forward to seeing all women in this work shine and flourish – bringing their best selves to the table and finding new tables to be at that extend their influence and expand the possibilities of their important work.