Holiday lights for Diwali, Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas, and Kwanzaa – that is what I savor on an evening ramble through my neighborhood during these dark days of winter. They’re in the trees, windows, and roofs – inside and outside. Their sparkle lights my way both literally and in my heart. This year – the year that is so very different, the year that is like living in a snow globe that is forever in dizzying motion – I have noticed a few things about these lights. First, there are more of them, a lot more. Second, they were out way earlier than I can remember from years before now. Third, while they still bring me great kid-like joy, they also have me wondering more about how the people who put… Read more »

Are you feeling it? Are you hearing it? Election anxiety – it’s a thing. It might look different across the country but we are not immune in our great state. The rising rates of COVID infection are only exacerbating our collective anxiety. Overlay a reckoning about the deep inequities experienced in our communities not just by the ravishes of COVID right now but by historical trauma, and we have the perfect storm for deep and real anxiety. What we also know is that the collision of COVID and the election has something else in common: it takes all of us to participate and believe in the greater good for change to occur. If your anxiety is being stoked and you are having trouble finding the right things to say –… Read more »

We call these days “blursday.” They are endless and full, and one day bends and folds into liminal space. These are days where the virus has done more than bring isolation, death, and sorrow – it has revealed and exploited the deep inequities that already existed, and its wake only deepens our fears about each other and about the state of our nation. In this “in-between time,” we hold our breath waiting for the next revelation  that we know will come, and we are never sure from which direction. Will it be in the new way we respond to our work with agility and speed that we didn’t even know we had? Or in the new life of teacher-parent-worker that we never thought was possible but yet is happening? Or… Read more »

The work of change is loud and strong and in the street. It is also quiet and subtle and continuous. It is inside and outside. It is in a person’s head and body and soul and woven throughout an institution’s culture – glimmering in its people, practices, and principals. It is personal and collective. It is not about better or worse ways. It is not about ending or stopping but about starting and momentum. It is about the commitment to change. It will take all of us. Some things will be simple and obvious, but mostly it is hard, and it is worth it. We each begin this journey in different places so the idea that there is one way might be a good way to sell something or promise… Read more »

Now more than ever we face a multitude of challenges in our communities and our economy, and we know that not everyone is being impacted in the same way. Already existing disparities in economic status are exacerbated by the pandemic, and the same is true for the gender pay gap. Economists are now predicting that as women take on more responsibilities with children at home, the pay gap will widen. With that in mind, now is the time to reflect on what we can do to end the gender pay gap in Alaska. Our latest report specifically details pay inequity in the state’s nonprofit sector, and guess what? We have work to do – and we believe the nonprofit sector can lead the way. But first, a brief moment of… Read more »

Accountability and responsibility are often used synonymously but responsibility is marked by two fundamental differences – emotion and depth of commitment. These differences can have a profound impact when it comes to making change. The way I see it, and the way we think about it in our Catalyst program, is that to be accountable is to understand all the facts of the matter but to be responsible is to feel and engage our emotions and our moral truth. To understand these ideas separately means that we can begin to understand how someone can be accountable to the truth without feeling the emotional weight of the responsibility to act based on the truth. Perhaps this compartmentalizing of accountability and responsibility has found itself at the center of very heated conversations… Read more »

Talking about and even doing something about the very real challenges of diversity and equity in the nonprofit sector is not a new topic for us and for many others across the country. And yet, the challenges remain. When I became CEO five years ago, Foraker took an additional step to advance our work by making diversity and equity central tenants in our plans. While we have taken many steps, we are far from where we want to be and where our sector needs to be for lasting change. Still, we have endeavored to bring thoughtful leadership, compelling data, and a range of national experts on the topic to Alaska’s nonprofits to not only keep the conversation going but to incite true reflection and change. Admittedly we have struggled because… Read more »

Are you open? When will you open? Will you open? These are the questions I am asking a lot right now – not just for ourselves but for our whole sector. If only there were simple answers. Each choice is fraught with complicated choices that weigh both human emotion and financial feasibility against a backdrop of public health and political will. I reject the notion that we are choosing between public health and our economy because the health of our population is the essence of our economy. Still, I am aware that we have choices to make about how we move our missions forward in this landscape. Our nonprofit sector in some cases is just like every other business in regard to these three questions. But the answers and our… Read more »

Much will be written one day about this time in our lives. We are already starting to hear how this generation might be called the Covidials or the Coronials since the world as they know it (and we know it) will forever be altered. Social media is spreading expressions of hope that we don’t “go back” to whatever it was we thought was normal, because right here, right now, people are bringing the best of themselves to their communities. And through it all, our nonprofit community is figuring out how to navigate this new landscape in dramatically different ways – quickly shifting delivery methods, some temporarily closing to the public, and many choosing paths somewhere in between. I salute you. We are seeing acts of heroism from our healthcare workers… Read more »

2020 – the year of perfect vision – the year of hindsight and insight. I could use all of that, couldn’t you? What isn’t there to love about more understanding and an opportunity to learn? I am a true believer in the learning organization, where mistakes are information – where we get to try and risk and try again – where we can get it wrong and figure out a better way. There are few guidebooks worth their weight that can tell us exactly how to be and act and do our work. In fact, much of the attraction of our work is that it brings together people who are willing to break the mold and try new things in order to get a better result for their communities. I… Read more »