From July 17-19, 2023, we gathered in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the National Conference on Ending Homelessness for our 2023 Funders Institute. More than 50 participants joined to discuss how we can lean into trust and embrace "loving accountability" in our pursuit of housing justice.
Read our blog post recapping the event and reflections by participants.
Check out the speaker biographies for more details about the speakers.
Monday, July 17
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9:30 – 10:50a ET |
Understanding Accountability through Love & Disruption Our 2023 Funders Institute opened with reflections on the moment in which we find ourselves as housing justice funders. We described why we chose to lean into accountability and trust for the Funders Institute, identifying how these values show up in our specific roles: as grantmakers, advocates, members of the housing justice movement, and as individuals. We offered an understanding of accountability rooted in our values of “love and disruption” as a framework to inform subsequent sessions. Recording:
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Then, we heard keynote remarks from Temi F. Bennett, co-CEO of if, A Foundation for Radical Possibility. Temi showed us what it can look like for a foundation to hold itself accountable to its values of justice and liberation within its structure, organizational culture, grantmaking, and its role among philanthropic peers. Speakers:
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11:00a – 12:00p ET |
Embracing Accountability and Examining Trust in Grantmaking for Housing Justice Accountability is best understood within contexts of relationships. In this session, we explored the ways funders should be accountable to the communities we serve. Building off Temi’s keynote remarks in conversation with Amanda, we explored the role of power within the grantor-grantee relationship and how identity informs trustworthiness. Participants explored what it would look like for philanthropy to think of grantmaking as reparative – including considering reparations itself - acknowledging that its wealth was built on chattel slavery and stolen land. Speakers:
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2:00 – 3:15p ET |
Advocating for Government Accountability In our afternoon panel, we named the continual political barriers that threaten progress made towards housing justice and explored accountability opportunities through public-private partnerships. Building off recent examples of federal and local governments’ regressive - and sometimes hypocritical - approaches to homelessness and the affordable housing crisis, we examined lessons that affect every community. We leaned into philanthropy’s roles as advocates in the movement for housing justice, from both a grantmaking perspective and direct engagement in advocacy, exploring promote government partners' accountability. Panelists concluded with concrete advocacy strategies through the lens of love and disruption, in preparation for the election season ahead. Speakers:
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5:00p ET |
Funder Networking Reception Funders gathered together at El Tamarindo for a Funders Networking Reception to continue the conversation. |
Tuesday, July 18
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9:00 – 10:30a ET |
Shifting Power to People with Lived Expertise: Strategies for Philanthropy “Centering people with lived experience” is meaningless without an analysis of power: how it’s built, shared, and ceded. Funders Together recently concluded its second Foundations for Racial Equity (FRE) community of practice, a two-year learning-to-action journey that culminated in the development of a resource naming strategies philanthropy can employ to build and shift power to people with lived experience. This session previewed insights from this resource, then focused on case consultations from participants' peers about their own housing justice work. Resources: |
Wednesday, July 19
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8:30 – 9:30a ET |
Becoming Pro-Black and Pro-Indigenous: Accountability to One Another Funders Together’s vision statement names our aspiration to become pro-Black and pro-Indigenous, a commitment that transcends more customary workplace values like diversity, equity, and inclusion. Concluding our Funders Institute in this final session, participants discussed what it means to be pro-Black and pro-Indigenous in our work for housing justice. We created space for an honest assessment of all our efforts as individuals to transform our institutions, bearing in mind our evolving understanding of loving accountability and paying attention to how our racial/ethnic identities affect our responsibilities. Resources:
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