Member Spotlight: Butterfly Equity Foundation
“I serve as the Butterfly Equity Foundation’s first and sole staff member. The Foundation was created in tandem with its parent company and funder, Butterfly Equity, a food-focused private equity firm. I stepped into my position about 2 ½ years ago to help formally launch and lead the Foundation. From its start, the Butterfly Equity Foundation has focused on issues surrounding food equity here in Los Angeles County. After having always worked in a collaborative environment, I suddenly found myself working from home and without coworkers. It was certainly peaceful! However, I quickly began to miss learning from and operating…
May Picks of the Month
Climate Change Is Walloping US Farms. Can This Farm Bill Create Real Solutions? “As negotiations around the 2023 Farm Bill, the country’s most important piece of food and farm legislation, heat up, the question is: will it play a meaningful role in addressing and responding to the climate crisis?” Nonprofits Are Still Struggling to Bridge the Digital Divide, Survey Finds This article looks at results from Connect Humanity’s “State of Digital Inequity” survey. A lack of technological literacy and digital infrastructure affects both nonprofit staff and the people they serve. From Farmworkers to Land Healers An interesting article about immigrant and Indigenous farmworkers who are “reclaiming…
April 2023 Policy Connection
Congressional News House Passes Debt Limit Framework as Negotiating Tactic The House on Wednesday voted 217-215 in favor of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt limit framework. The 320-page “Limit, Save, Grow Act” would raise U.S. borrowing authority by $1.5 Trillion or through March 2024, whichever comes first, and roll back spending levels for most federal programs to 2022 levels. In addition, the framework also seeks to: Increase SNAP work requirements “able-bodied adults without dependents” (ABAWDS) from 18 to 49 to 18 to 55. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes this could harm up to 1 million older adults facing…
ICYMI: Civic Engagement Webinar Series
Here are a few highlights of our two-part series Civic Engagement Strategies to Advance Food Systems Change. Part I on February 16, was “A Primer with PACE,” co-hosted with Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement. Part II on March 16 was “Diving Deeper with FCCP,” co-hosted with Funders Committee for Civic Participation. We encourage to take advantage of the recordings for the full benefit of the expertise shared by our co-hosts, as well as the experiences of agriculture, food, and health funders incorporating civic engagement in their work. To open the February 16 webinar, Kristen Cambell of PACE took participants through…
March 2023 Policy Connection
Congressional News Agriculture Resilience Act Reintroduced Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) has reintroduced one of the largest climate-focused “marker bills,” or a bill that can be folded into a larger bill, for inclusion in the 2023 Farm Bill. Still, parts that are not included in the 2023 Farm Bill could end up as independent legislation. The Agriculture Resilience Act is broken into six parts. Specifically, this bill aims to: Increase Research: ensure existing agriculture research programs prioritize climate change research, increase funding for USDA’s Regional Climate Hubs, support public breed and cultivar research, and create a new SARE Agricultural and Food…
March Picks of the Month
Monthly in our News & Resouces funder newsletter one staff shares a few media pieces that they have been reading, watching, or listening to. March featured “picks” from finance associate Ian McHugh. A Green New Deal for Agriculture: the financial arithmetic of a modern food system depends on a permanent exploitation of soil, atmosphere, and labor. at the moment, those who want to farm with dignity in the web of life plead a case for which there is no business logic. As We Have Always Done by author, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and this Pacific Standard article featuring her led me to this question: scientific…
Note from Board Chair on Executive Director Transition
After over twenty years of dedicated service at SAFSF, Virginia Clarke has decided to step down as Executive Director and will transition out of her role at the end of December 2023.20+ years is a phenomenal run at any organization, and Virginia’s contributions to SAFSF and the broader field cannot be overstated. SAFSF’s stature and reach has grown under Virginia’s leadership – from a staff of a single part-time coordinator with a budget of $125,000 with five supporting funders to a membership of 105 (and growing), 11 staff in eight states, and a budget of over $2 million. My time working…
Virginia’s Note on Stepping Down in December 2023
Dear SAFSF Network, When I started with SAFSF in 2003 I would never have imagined—even in my wildest dreams—that I would still be here some twenty plus years later. I look back and wonder how so many years have flown by and how I came to be blessed with work and relationships that would captivate my attention – and my heart—for over two decades! This has been such a joyful, soulful ride – such an incredible honor and opportunity to work and learn alongside you. I write now to let you know I will step down from my role as…
Member Spotlight: Thornburg Foundation
“I serve as the Thornburg Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Policy Officer, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Thornburg Foundation bases its work in food and agriculture on a vision wherein all New Mexico’s residents are able to benefit from robust food and agricultural systems that are locally embedded. As a newcomer to philanthropy, SAFSF has helped me in understanding this sector by fostering new connections and gaining perspective on policy. I have found a lot of pathways to expand my work by working with SAFSF staff. Virginia’s connections helped us find a program evaluator that fit our needs. We just completed the evaluation…
SAFSF Policy Staff on the Move in Washington, D.C.
Last week, Traci Bruckner, SAFSF, senior director, public policy, and Maggie Mascarenhas, SAFSF, public policy associate were in D.C. for Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) and Environmental Grantmakers Association’s (EGA) 2023 Federal Policy Briefing. Left to right: Ansje Miller, HEFN Executive Director, Kalila Booker-Cassano, HEFN Director of Programs, Traci Bruckner, SAFSF Senior Director of Public Policy, Maggie Mascarenhas, SAFSF Public Policy Associate, Ann Mills, Agua Fund Executive Director. During FOTH, they took the opportunity to schedule meetings with several Senate Agriculture Committee member offices, as well as Senate Agriculture Committee professional staff, and share SAFSF 2023 Farm Bill Principles and…
