Chief Shake’s House, Wrangell, Alaska – Sept. 5, 2012 Today I am in the green and beautiful southeast Alaska community of Wrangell. A few years ago I spent many days here working with the community to help them complete a new conference center and museum, the Nolan Center. Now another group, representatives of its first inhabitants (the tribe), are nearing completion of another dream, the renovation of their most important structures, Chief Shake’s House. And while this is cause for celebration the same group is also closing in on the starting date for another big project, a carving shed, where a new generation of carvers, like the ones who used to live on this island and create magnificent totems, are identified, developed and nurtured. The smidgen of insight today is… Read more »

Alaska Native Heritage Center – August 28 Today I am on the 16th annual Rasmuson Foundation grant maker tour. Since 1996 the foundation has invited the most significant foundations in America to learn about Alaska. They visit nonprofits in Anchorage and Sitka, but also get to see life in the YK Delta and the North Slope. This year funders from Murdock Trust, Cargill, Rockefeller Brothers, Knight, Robert Wood Johnson, Moore, Ferguson and a guest from consultant TCC Group spent a week in Alaska. The smidgen of insight today is the amount of money provided by the Rasmuson Foundation is magnified by the capital of goodwill they create through such efforts. Dennis… Read more »

Alliance for Nonprofit Management Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan – August 10, 2012 Today is day two of the Alliance conference. I was recently asked to serve on the Alliance board whose mission is to improve the capacity of professionals involved in building the capacity of the nonprofit sector. There have been good sessions with some ideas I will bring home for Foraker. As important, I have been able to re-connect with Terry Horton, former Foraker staff member who now serves as a consultant with the Johnson Center at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids. Today’s smidgen of insight is that all organizations are struggling with their business model and with evaluation. The Alliance is comprised of many of the most respected thought leaders in the sector, yet they, too,… Read more »

The New York Times has featured the Southcentral Foundation in a story on advances in health care reform. According to the article, at a recent conference in Anchorage foundation officials “described techniques that could be adopted by almost any health care organization willing to transform its culture.” The story outlines efficiencies that have been instituted while improving patient care. Read the full story here…. Read more »

August 7, 2012 — Salt Lake City, Utah. Today I was in Salt Lake, actually woke up in Park City to work with the Utah Hospital Association. Two Alaskans – Ed Lamb, former CEO at Alaska Regional and now running a health system in Utah, and Rod Betit, former CEO of the Alaska Hospital and Nursing Home Association, now the interim exec at the Utah association – asked for a little “Forakering” for the board here. The smidgen of insight is that all nonprofit sub-sectors are preparing for change and that’s a good thing because change is imminent. The challenge is that it is hard to predict what to do with all things so uncertain. It reminded me to remind you that our efforts to help the sector know that… Read more »

Since the beginning, Foraker’s benefit program has focused on wellness. As part of this effort, our program provides health coaching. We are pleased to see that other Alaska nonprofits are supporting wellness for their employees and community. Check out this recent report on NPR — click here…. Read more »

Portland, OR – August 3, 2012 Last week Andrew Cutting, Mike Walsh, Laurie Wolf, and I met with the cohort from Murdock Charitable Trust’s Capacity Builders Initiative in “Portlandia!” The weather was beautiful so it was hard for us to stay inside and work, but we did. We spent the first day with Jared Raynor from TCC Group on evaluation, today on common interests. This initiative has been ongoing for six years. When we started we did not know each other and our work seemed very different. Today we are a team committed to improving our collective impact. Today’s smidgen of insight is that evaluation is hard, even with desire and funding. But it is important. That leads to our August newsletter article on measuring our impact. If you want… Read more »

We’re pleased to announce the addition of a new staff member whose primary responsibility will be to assist nonprofit and tribal organizations in rural communities. Jonella Larson White started last week and jumped in with both feet when she helped with a series of seven focus groups. We’re very pleased to have her with us. Jonella will be part of the Foraker team that helps nonprofits develop strategic plans, business plans, fund development plans, or other strategies to help them thrive. Her educational background is in rural development and community planning. She is a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and holds a Master of Liberal Arts degree from Harvard University. Her professional experience includes positions in museums and art galleries in Canada, the Lower ’48 and in Alaska…. Read more »

All of us at The Foraker Group are deeply saddened by the passing of Mary Louise Rasmuson. Her love for Alaska and all of us who live here was steadfast. Her passion never dimmed for helping Alaskans — through her leadership on community issues, her philanthropy, and her volunteer service. Foraker was born of this passion. We are grateful for her inspiration, guidance, and support. We will miss her. Our sympathy goes to the Rasmuson family and everyone at the Rasmuson Foundation. May you be comforted by your memories of a true humanitarian and the legacy of her generosity which is around us every day. Dennis Please visit the Rasmuson Foundation website for a tribute to Mrs. Rasmuson…. Read more »

Recently Dennis McMillian sat down with the Alaska Journal of Commerce to share his perspectives on the impact of the nonprofit sector in Alaska. As we know from our ISER reports, it’s significant. You can read the interview here…. Read more »