The Foraker Group

Our office will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, April 3-4, for our Leadership Summit. If you have questions about the summit, please call 907-743-1205. For other questions, please leave a message or call us again on Wednesday morning. Thank you…. Read more »

Nonpartisanship – a core principle of charitable nonprofits – is under attack in Washington, DC. Last week we let you know about efforts to repeal the Johnson Amendment, a part of the U.S. tax code that prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations from engaging in partisan politics. Foraker has gone on record and notified our congressional delegation that we oppose the repeal. You can read our statement here. We need nonprofits across Alaska to show their support, too, for this important provision that has protected our work from divisive partisanship for more than 50 years. The National Council of Nonprofits has organized a campaign to get organizations around the country to sign the Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship. Bills pending in Congress would repeal or significantly weaken the current law’s longstanding… Read more »

In our recent Foraker newsletter, we invited you to share with us your perception of the operating climate for Alaska nonprofits in 2017. This is a time of transition and we want to know how you’re doing and what we can do to help you effectively carry out your mission. What are your greatest challenges? What are your concerns? What changes do you anticipate? How are you planning? We’re interested, too, in learning your thoughts on the economy and the national landscape. First we need to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to fill out our Navigating 2017 survey. The information and perspectives you provide will help us plan how we can best serve you and your organization. This is an anonymous survey. We may use some of the… Read more »

Both the U.S. House and Senate are considering a repeal of provisions in the U.S. tax code that prohibit 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations from engaging in partisan politics. The so-called Johnson Amendment has been part of the tax code since the 1950s. Foraker issued a statement today opposing this repeal, saying that: “In very real terms, the current legislation (S. 264 in the Senate and H.R. 781 and H.R. 172 in the House) would politicize the sector, subjecting nonprofits and foundations to demands for campaign contributions (thereby diverting donors’ money away from mission-related work to benefit politicians). Not only would repeal damage public trust in the work of nonprofits, it would threaten the impartiality and independence of our sector and our requirement, as written in statue, to “do good” – both of which are… Read more »

Join us at the 2017 Leadership Summit and learn from the best. Early bird registration ends TODAY! Click here to register. Katie Orenstein,  The OpEd Project Katie writes and speaks frequently about the intersection of media and mythology – that is, what we think is fact or fiction and how that shapes our ideas about politics, culture and history. She has contributed to the op-ed pages of the New York Times, Washington Post and Miami Herald. She has lectured at Stanford and appeared on ABC TV World News, Good Morning America, MSNBC, CNN and NPR. A graduate of Harvard (BA) and Columbia (MA) universities, she is the author of “Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale.” Orenstein has worked around the world and particularly in… Read more »

The 2017 Leadership Summit is right around the corner! Join us April 3 & 4 at the Hotel Captain Cook for two days of workshops. Richard Evans, a favorite from the 2015 Leadership Summit, is a national thought-leader on resilience and adaptive change. Richard Evans, EmcArts, Inc. Prior to founding EmcArts, Richard held senior positions in performing arts management and philanthropy in the UK and the USA.  His research, program design and facilitation emphasize organizational resilience and adaptive change in the arts and culture sector, and effective ways that individuals and organizations can lead change in complex adaptive systems. As a unique service agency, EmcArts designs and facilitates programs that support individuals, organizations, and communities on their journey to becoming highly adaptive as they take on their most complex challenges. Programs… Read more »

Steve Patty was a participant favorite at the 2015 Leadership Summit. He’s back this year with 3 sessions on focus, change, and evaluation. Steve Patty, Ph.D. – Dialogues in Action Steve spent over 13 years as a professor and administrator in higher education before stepping out of the university to work with nonprofits. For the past ten years, he has been developing the capacity of agencies that work with people to design strategy, develop people, and evaluate impact. He has taught thousands of leaders throughout North America and internationally how to design and implement a kind of evaluation that gets below the surface and into the heart of human change and transformation. He has also been facilitating leadership development cohorts for public and nonprofit leaders in the U.S., Canada, and… Read more »

Join us at the Leadership Summit on April 3 & 4.  David Ehrlichman and David Sawyer’s workshops will guide you in establishing and maintaining complex collaborations. David Ehrlichman, Converge for Impact At Converge for Impact, David works to catalyze others to make their greatest contribution. Specializing in designing, leading, and evaluating networks and other forms of complex collaborations, he has helped build impact networks across the environmental, healthcare, education, economic, and civic sectors. He was previously the lead Network Manager for the Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network, as well as the Network Manager for the James Irvine Foundation New Leadership Network. He recently helped to design and launch the UCSF Health Coordination of Care Network, the Financial Advantage Network, and the Government Performance Consortium, and has supported and evaluated numerous… Read more »

What are you hearing? This is a consistent question I am getting. It is a good one because the question in itself tells us a lot about the state many of us are feeling – uncertainty, unpredictability. In 2009, we talked about a “new normal” in reference to the national economy after the downturn in the stock market. Our new normal today is measured more by what we don’t know. We are asking each other “what are you hearing?” I’m asking the same thing from other people. We crave certainty so that we can respond accordingly. Alas, we have a new normal. That said, one thing I am hearing, which I have been writing about frequently, as have others across the country, is the resurgence of civic engagement. By sheer numbers,… Read more »

Take a sneak peak at our conference offerings. Remember, early bird registration ends March 17! Akaya Windwood, Rockwood Leadership Institute In her work at Rockwood Leadership Institute, Akaya provides transformative leadership trainings for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations globally. She is a partner in the Opportunity Collaboration, an international conference that convenes leaders working to end poverty, directs the Mycelium Fund, which makes small grants to nonprofit organizations based on generosity and interconnectedness, and is faculty on the RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Fellowship. Akaya has been a featured speaker at the Stanford Social Innovation Institute, the Aspen Institute, and the Association of Black Foundation Executives conferences. She received an Ella Award from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and is deeply committed to working for a fair and equitable… Read more »