Tag Archives: Next Generation Retreat

Oct 07 2012
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Next Generation, Niki Calastas

Finding ‘Our People’ at the ASF Next Generation Retreat

ASF Next Generation Retreat
 
By Niki Calastas, Hurliman Scholarship Foundation

When was the last time you were surrounded by people you’ve never met and then, after spending 6 hours together, realized you had found your peer group?  

At the Next Generation Retreat session of the ASF 2012 National Conference, many of us departed having found ‘our people’, feeling more energized, supported, and not alone in our feelings. Held on Saturday, October 6, the retreat brought together 40 young trustees preparing themselves for involvement in their family’s foundation.  

Lending to the session aims of inclusion and flexibility, the retreat was held inside of the SF Chronicle Building, at The Hub.  When not being used by the Next Gen Committee, The Hub provides a community workspace for entrepreneurs and holds 20 private offices held by social enterprises, including Universal Giving, Bamboo Finance, SOCAP, and B Labs.  The space also features an art gallery, large event spaces, meeting rooms, and two kitchens (let us not dismiss the importance of food!).
The retreat began with participants standing and gathering in a circle to introduce themselves and then moving around the room for a ‘spectrum exercise’.  Continue reading →
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Mar 08 2012
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Family, Next Generation, Ted Donley

Getting Involved Isn’t Easy

By Ted Donley, Donley Foundation

It took me 24 years to get involved in my family’s foundation.

Growing up, I didn’t really know what it was, nevertheless what a foundation was or what it meant. Luckily for my sisters and me, my dad and mom did instill philanthropy in us while we were young. They gave us $100 each. Sadly for us at the time, we didn’t get to keep the money. Instead, we were told to research a worthy cause in the small community of York, PA, to which we would donate it.

And you know what? In the end, giving the money away felt even better than keeping it.

In 1987, the year I was born, my grandparents started the Donley Foundation. For two decades, the board of directors included my grandparents, father, aunt, and uncle. I never understood what happened behind closed doors, other than my parents and grandparents gave money to libraries and stuff.

I also wasn’t in tune with what was going on when the third generation, my two siblings and seven cousins, reached an age to attend to the “meetings.” As a younger kid, I just remember it being an awesome time to hang out with my family from Chicago and New Hampshire.

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