SAFSF’s Election Response
The evening of Election Day, I stepped outside in time to witness a sky full of birds returning to their nesting place for the evening. The sky was stunning, showing off the best of LA sunset colors, and filled with bird flight. That night, I paused with recognition that no matter who is elected president, the birds will keep gliding to and fro with the movements of the sun. Our relationship with land shows us the abundant ecosystems that nurture and sustain us, across time and space. As Daniel Hunter wrote in his excellent article in Waging Nonviolence, “On the days when I can’t sense…
Hurricane Helene & Milton Response
As we’ve seen in the news, devastating hurricanes have swept the East Coast, leaving communities in the wake of destruction, with more tropical storms predicted on the horizon. In the face of the challenging circumstances, private philanthropy and community groups are stepping up to aid in recovery and resilience. In response, our team has put together a resource page on our website collecting all the outlets for supporting hurricane relief right now. Please contact Communications Director, Maggie Mosley, if you have anything to add to this list. Federal Support and Shared Resources Applying for Disaster Assistance: People in designated counties…
Addressing the Roots: Helpful tool for moving from charity to sovereignty
Phoebe Gooding, SAFSF Program Director, attended RAFI’s Come to the Table Conference: Food, Land, and Sacred Stories earlier this month. She shares short reflections from a workshop she attended that led her to dig deeper into what food charity, justice, and sovereignty are all about. Earlier this month, I attended Come to the Table: Food, Land and Sacred Stories, a conference hosted by Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) where I participated in a workshop titled: Food Charity, Food Justice, Food Rights and Food Sovereignty—What is it all About?. Our facilitators, Chelsea Marshall, and Alison Cohen, led us through an exercise…
Navigating the Future of Aquaculture: Insights from Recent Convenings on Sustainable Seafood
Maggie Mascarenhas, SAFSF Public Policy Manager, this past May joined the GRACE Communications Foundation, Don’t Cage Our Oceans, many stakeholders in the fishing community, including members of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, in Savannah, Georgia at the kickoff event for a resource development project known as the Aquaculture Atlas. Later, in July, she joined Don’t Cage Our Oceans, State Innovation Exchange, state legislators from across the U.S., and members of the Duwamish Tribe and Suquamish Tribe in Seattle, Washington to discuss state policy opportunities to wrest seafood production from corporate control and support working waterfronts. Below are her reflections and learnings on…
Reflections of #ForumCon24 From Emerging Leaders Scholarship Recipients: Maggie Mascarenhas
This year, the United Philanthropy Forum offered eight scholarships to allow emerging leaders in the Forum network to attend their 2024 Annual Conference. This piece was originally published as part of UPF’s blog series featuring the eight emerging leaders who received scholarships to attend the conference. Below, Maggie Mascarenhas, SAFSF Public Policy Manager shares her reflections and key takeaways from attending the conference. Last month, I was lucky enough to attend United Philanthropy Forum’s Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. It was my first time attending an in-person Forum event apart from Foundation On the Hill, and my first time seeing…
Philanthropy’s Role in Creating Thriving Rural Communities
Holly Enowski, SAFSF Senior Membership Associate, shares her reflections after attending two rural-forward convenings: 2024 Rural Philanthropy Summit: Creating Thriving Communities, presented by Philanthropy Missouri and Community Foundation of the Ozarks, and Building an Intersectional Philanthropic Approach: Climate Change, Agriculture, and Healthy Rural Communities presented by SAFSF. Growing up in rural Missouri and now living in a town of 250, I have a keen awareness of the issues impacting rural communities and a deep desire to create a stronger, thriving rural Midwest. My summer has been full of travel – joining fellow PSO, Philanthropy Missouri, for their recent rural-focused summit,…
SAFSF On the Road Recap: Minnesota
Key Takeaways | Voices from the Field | Acknowledgements | Recordings | Connecting Further | Resources Last month, as part of our SAFSF On The Road series, we gathered over 80 climate, energy, and agriculture funders, and community leaders in Minneapolis for “Building an Intersectional Philanthropic Approach: Climate Change, Agriculture, and Healthy Rural Communities.” This event underscored the urgent need for investing in rural communities and agriculture as essential strategies for climate mitigation and resilience. It highlighted the importance of implementing comprehensive, systemic interventions to address the challenges effectively. These investments are crucial for promoting sustainable agriculture and enhancing the…
Being a Good Relative: Engaging with Native Communities
Angie Boone, SAFSF Membership and Development Associate, shares her reflections after attending the 2024 Native Americans in Philanthropy Conference. Sophie Ackoff, Program Manager, Food & Agriculture at the 11th Hour Project, reflects on the launch of the Indigenous Food Systems Community of Practice second cohort. Angie Boone, SAFSF As a Citizen of Cherokee Nation and formerly serving in a role with Pinoleville Pomo Nation, it meant a lot to me to be among the over 600 funders, tribal members, Native non-profits, Indigenous artists, and vendors from around the world who gathered at the 2024 Native Americans in Philanthropy Conference in…
Solutions from the Ground: Reflections from Appalachia Funders Network Convening
Written by SAFSF Communications Director Maggie Mosley During April, I traveled to Charleston, West Virginia for the annual Appalachia Funders Network (AFN) Convening, entitled Climbing the Mountains: Uniting Resources Inspiring Action, which brought together 165 funders, and a handful of non-profit and social enterprise practitioner leaders. For me, it felt like a homecoming; all my growing years and my career in food and farm systems started in Appalachian Kentucky. For those who may not be familiar, the Appalachian region covers a geography of 13 states from southern New York to northern Mississippi, with the bulk of the region represented in…
SAFSF On the Road: California Gathering Recap
As we reflect on the first SAFSF On the Road event, “Opportunities and Challenges in Funding Regenerative Agriculture,” we can’t help but feel grateful for the time, energy, and perspectives that everyone brought to the convening. Nestled near the Embarcadero, during the Spring Equinox, we gathered with 37 funders interested in regenerative agriculture in California and beyond. Together we explored strategies for accelerating philanthropic and investment funding of regenerative agriculture. Our purpose for the gathering was to learn from one another, surface curiosities and calls to action, and explore opportunities for alignment and collaboration. We sought to uncover alignments and misalignments among funders around a topic that…