This blog is written by Brigit Helms, executive director at the Miller Center for Global Impact, and cross-posted from Alliance Magazine.
My experience at the Innovations in International Philanthropy Symposium elicited a wide range of emotions and responses.
On the one hand, I experienced overwhelming feelings of frustration and powerlessness in the face of the collapse of global generosity, climate calamity, and deepening inequity and intolerance. On the other hand, a soaring sense of community, hope and possibility embodied in the changemakers and the potential of philanthropy to make real change happen.
I particularly loved the energy in the room — majority female! — that exuded empathy. I really felt like we were all there to learn and listen from each other. I speak at a lot of conferences and I can guarantee that this particular energy is exceedingly rare. I was especially inspired by Samantha Power, who offered five very concrete actions that we can all take to move philanthropy forward to meet the moment. Here, I reflect on her five suggestions and relate them to other things I heard during the Symposium and to our own experience at Miller Center.
1. Answer the question: what do you most care about?
In a world of shrinking resources and expanding need, we all need to focus on what we are most passionate about and where we can move the needle. I totally get this. However, at the same time we need to truly understand each other’s passion and action to avoid becoming even more narrowly siloed and fragmented. In this sense, the Symposium was no different from many other fora — we have inadvertently created a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ of an ecosystem, each with our own narrow passions and priorities. We don’t want to make it impossible for the social entrepreneurs and changemakers to navigate our support.
2. Practice development diplomacy
As we forge partnerships across the ecosystem, we need to incorporate collaboration and collective investment from the outset as a design feature, not an afterthought. For philanthropists, this means leveraging our privilege to influence decision-makers and advocate for policy change that will enhance or magnify the impact of our investments. The Symposium participants are likely to be just a few degrees of separation from decision-makers around the world and can lean into this system-wide impact much more than we currently do.
3. Embrace progressive/conservative advocacy
As difficult as it might seem at this highly polarized moment in history, it’s important to find middle ground with those who may not agree with us. There are several issues where we may find common ground, for instance around tax policy. Interestingly, at Miller Center we find that social entrepreneurship is a solution that appeals to a relatively wide spectrum of political perspectives. Those leaning toward the right appreciate the market-based approach; the promise of reinventing capitalism from the bottom-up resonates with more progressive players.
4. Communicate the value proposition of the work
Collectively, we can do a much better job communicating the benefits of global development. There’s a reason why the current Administration went after USAID first — there’s no constituency for it. Communicating about what works on the ground and for the American public is that much more difficult with the spread of misinformation and lack of trust. Learning how to leverage social media is particularly important, as in my experience young people thirst for opportunities to make and impact.
5. Better is good (and better is harder than worse)
I absolutely love this quote, attributed to Barack Obama. I’ve participated in a number conferences and convenings since the beginning of the year and witnessed several versions of a conversation where philanthropists express that they cannot possibly fill the gap left by the rollback of USAID and other official development assistance. This can lead to paralysis and/or a ‘wait and see’ approach. The reality is that better IS good, and that we should take action now with the resources we have available now. Even it if’s not remotely enough to fill the entire gap left by Governments, the need is enormous, growing, and urgent. At Miller Center, we’re moving full speed ahead to cultivate a thriving community of changemakers to end global poverty and protect the planet.
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Brigit Helms is the executive director at the Miller Center for Global Impact.
The Innovations in International Philanthropy Symposium is a biennial gathering co-hosted by The Philanthropic Initiative and NEID Global.
