By Henry Berman, Exponent Philanthropy

At the time, I was part of a team that chose not to fund a reading program.

One of the biggest factors that influenced our decision not to provide funding was their choice of literature. I honestly don’t recall the exact titles, but suffice it to say the program was using works by Malcolm X and James Baldwin to engage the youth they were trying to teach. With our totally different backgrounds, we felt they should be reading Mark Twain or Louisa May Alcott.

What the hell was I thinking?

I proudly professed I wanted to help kids learn to read, yet in retrospect I can’t imagine being any more rude, patronizing, or inappropriate. What makes it worse—what has really bothered me all these years—is that I was so incredibly detached from the very people I was trying to help.

My point is this: We need a strong understanding of the people we are affecting; the situations we are trying to impact. That means actively listening to the ultimate populations we are trying to help; listening to all the perspectives that influence their world, not ours.

This story, my story, was part of my opening remarks last week to nearly 1,000 at Exponent Philanthropy’s 2016 National Conference. It wasn’t easy to share so openly among so many. But the message was too important.

As I stated later in my remarks, “We should all be proud. But we should not be satisfied.” Vast inequities persist in today’s world, and we must persevere in our belief that something better is possible. We cannot do that without acknowledging our biases, sharing our lessons, and doing the work it takes to achieve more for our communities and causes, however uncomfortable that work may be.

As the conference unfolded and its themes emerged, it became clear that we are indeed proud but not yet satisfied as a community of funders. Here is just some of what I observed. 

Coming together for the greater good 

Collaboration’s critical role was perhaps the conference’s strongest theme. However successful our individual efforts in our individual communities, noted participants time and again, we are not moving the needle far enough or fast enough.

“We’re program rich and system poor in our country,” we heard at a session on collective impact. “Our vision cannot be achieved by a single individual, institution, or system. It takes all of us working together.”

The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which hosted a preconference funder huddle, embraces this mindset. 

“In every community across the country,” shared Ralph Smith of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, managing director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, “there are people making grants to get people ready for school, keep them coming, support summer learning. What we know is that we’re not getting the kind of returns that we would want to see. What we know is that we cannot continue doing what we have been doing.”

“We see measurable movement in 94 communities,” continued Smith, noting progress on Campaign’s pillars of school readiness, school attendance, and summer learning. “What we know is that the movement isn’t enough. We’re moving the needle but not closing the gap.”

In response, the Campaign emerged to provide information, tools, and support to its partners—each working in their own communities to achieve Campaign goals.

“You are already doing the work,” said Smith. “The Campaign is here to help you do it to the highest levels. There is an opportunity for funders to do something different and something more.” 

Understanding those we intend to serve

“I cannot impress how important it is to engage your parents,” said senior program officer Chana Edmond-Verley, speaking of her work to promote school attendance as part of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. “We can’t swoop in and save them. We must be partners and create opportunities for them to be empowered.”

“Being born into wealth doesn’t make me an expert on how to create change,” said one conference participant. “As funders, we know that money doesn’t change things much, if at all,” said another. “Relationships do.”

But what does it take to have a different relationship, one in which we can “come alongside” our partners, as member Colleen O’Keefe put it, for the benefit of those we are trying to serve?

For starters, it takes trust, and participants went deep on how to build trust with grantees and those they serve: showing patience, taking time, respecting others’ expertise, being honest about priorities, being humble, and more.

Participants also explored the power of listening and asking powerful questions: “Communication is the most important skill in life,” quoted our Stephen Alexander from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. “You spend years learning how to read and write, and years learning how to speak. But what about listening? What training have you had that enables you to listen so you really, deeply understand another human being?”

Embracing the power of possibility

“You have unique ability to make a difference,” said Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation CEO Jim Bildner at a breakfast plenary with four social entrepreneurs supported by the foundation. Now in its fifteenth year, the foundation funds exceptional individuals and programs that seek to apply groundbreaking solutions to a range of areas from energy to education.

In particular, Bildner and others throughout the conference underscored the power of possibility—a possibility fueled by funders’ unique flexibility and ability to take risks.

“You have to break through,” said Edmond-Verley in sharing her community’s success in increasing school attendance by holding students and administrators accountable to attendance metrics. “Accountability is disruption. It’s a winning strategy.”

“Philanthropy can play a critical role in looking at things that shouldn’t exist and exercising risk capital to work on them,” said Bildner. He encouraged us all to keep our eye on the end game, “the new normal.”

Starting from within 

“Prejudice proceeds from whom we choose to help,” quoted Johanna Wald of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice during a session on implicit bias in philanthropy, a fitting excerpt from the book Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. 

Our unconscious biases have systemic effects, she noted, shaping both our view of what is a social problem and how we respond. And if your actions affect others’ lives, challenged Wald, we have a responsibility to take a look at our biases. 

In addition to bias, other speakers and sessions reminded us that change indeed starts from within: “Be really grounded within yourself, because that’s where [change] starts,” said Shirish Dayal of Tarsadia Foundation. “It translates to what we do all day long.”

Sharing your story 

The power of story emerged throughout the conference, in sessions on advocacy and communications, in clips from our Philanthropy Lessons series, and in pleas from colleagues: “We must embrace the responsibility of broadcasting this work around the country,” said Ernestine Benedict, chief communications officer at the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

More than 40 funders shared the stories of their grants and activities as part of our Hall of Outsized Impact—highlighting efforts with greater-than-expected returns. Others shared openly during a session on philanthropy lessons with Clark McCain of The Coleman Foundation and Susan Kaufmann of Clearbrook, a Coleman Foundation grantee.

Indeed, if we are to become more satisfied with our philanthropy, we must embrace the responsibility to start talking and keep talking now and in the weeks and months to come, to share our highs and our lows, and to take action—uncomfortable action as member Kerry McHugh implored at the conference’s closing panel, applying our lessons from the conference and all we learn every day from our grantee partners. 

For two decades, Exponent Philanthropy members have challenged themselves and one another to grow in this way and respond to the ever-changing world around us. At this National Conference, the drive and dedication of all who were present were pervasive and profound. As a community, we share that sense of urgency as well as your commitment to change. I have never been more proud than in this 20th year to call Exponent Philanthropy my home and to call you my colleagues and friends.

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Henry Berman became Exponent Philanthropy’s CEO in 2011, previously serving as acting CEO, board member, and committee member. Through his experience as a foundation co-trustee and Exponent Philanthropy member since 2003, he brings a firsthand understanding of the needs of members to his role. Follow Henry on Twitter @Berman_Henry.