Neighborhood Funders Group

NFG REPORTS
SUMMER 2001 ISSUE TWO • VOLUME EIGHT

Report to Members
By Mary Jo Mullan and Garland Yates, Co-Chairs

We hope you enjoyed the reception and film screening that kicked off NFG's activities at this year's Council on Foundations meeting in Philadelphia as much as we did. It was great to see so many of you there. We were deeply moved by a stimulating discussion with leaders from the Janitors for Justice campaign that preceded the pre-release screening of "Bread and Roses." If you didn't have a chance to see the movie in Philadelphia, we urge you not to miss it when it plays in a theater in your area.

NFG Board of Directors 2001 Nominations
Five members will be elected to the NFG Board of Directors this fall. Elections will be held by mail because the NFG annual conference will be held March 14-16, 2002. The board appointed a nominating subcommittee of: Regina McGraw, the Wieboldt Foundation, chair; Luz Vega-Marquis, trustee, the California Wellness Foundation; and Garland Yates, the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The subcommittee is soliciting the names of members who would like to be considered for nomination to the board of directors.

NFG has a 15-member board, five of whom are elected each year to a three-year term. The board is a working one. Members are expected to attend three board meetings each year, participate in a board committee and pay their own board meeting-related expenses. Members are also expected to participate in fund raising and member recruitment. The subcommittee is seeking individuals who reflect the diversity of the NFG membership and who are committed to building a strong organization that can effectively serve the interests of its members.

The nominating subcommittee selects a slate of candidates who will bring to the NFG board a diverse mix and set of experiences to continue building and strengthening the organization. NFG members may nominate themselves or another NFG member with the concurrence of that member. Nominations must be accompanied by a brief biographical profile that details the nominee's current work and past experience that directly relates to the work of NFG. Nominations should also include a statement explaining why the individual is interested in becoming an NFG board member.

Send nominations to Spence Limbocker, NFG, One Dupont Circle, #700, Washington, DC 20036 or email to spence@nfg.org by Aug. 1, 2001.

We thank the leadership of NFG's Working Group on Labor and Community for all of their hard work over the last few months. In addition to organizing the NFG reception at the Council meeting, Susan Chinn of the Discount Foundation and Janet Shenk of the Arca Foundation put together the successful site visit to Las Vegas (see page 8). Both events were co-sponsored by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees.

In other preconference activities, NFG's Rural Funders Working Group sponsored a session to promote the soon-to-be-launched National Rural Funders Collaborative. Working Group co-chairs Linetta Gilbert and Teri Yeager welcomed James A. Joseph, who was joined by Peter Beard, Vice President of the Fannie Mae Foundation, Sidney Armstrong, Executive Director of the Montana Community Foundation, David L. Dodson, Executive Director of MDC, Inc. and Tracy Frazier, Executive Director of Letcher County Action Team. At another event, grantmakers funding in the workforce development area came together to discuss their next steps.

We congratulate and thank the many NFG members who organized workshops and other events: Susan Chinn of the Discount Foundation and Taryn Higashi of the Ford Foundation organized Immigration and the New Economy; Martha Toll of the Butler Family Fund and Dawn Moses and Phoebe Soares of The Better Homes Fund organized Developing Successful Homeless Programs; Bob Jaquay of the George Gund Foundation and Pamela George of the Cleveland Foundation organized Evaluating the Effective Funding of Community Development Intermediary Organizations; John Weiler of the F.B. Heron Foundation organized Responding to Our Customers: New Models for Accountable Philanthropy; and Susan Wefald of the Ms. Foundation for Women organized the session on child care.

NFG members are also very involved in organizing the following sessions for the Council on Foundation's 2001 Fall Conference for Community Foundations: Ken Gregorio on Lessons Learned: Working with Communities; Susan Chinn and Taryn Higashi on Immigration and the New Economy and Teri Yeager on New Directions in Rural Philanthropy. More information on the October conference in Vancouver is available at www.cof.org.

NFG'S 2002 CONFERENCES
In 2002 NFG's annual conference will be on the West Coast - in San Francisco from March 14-16. Mark your calendar! Our Education committee, chaired by Jane Downing of the Pittsburgh Foundation, is developing what promises to be a challenging and thought-provoking look at the role of public institutions in building communities. Sara Gould of the Ms. Foundation for Women is the conference chair. In fall 2002 NFG will hold a follow-up conference in Washington, D.C., where public policy issues will be highlighted.

NFG BOARD OF DIRECTORS
There will be elections for openings on NFG's Board of Directors this fall. The Nominating Subcommittee is looking for individuals interested in serving 3-year terms on the board. We thank retiring board members Garland Yates, Sara Gould and Regina McGraw for their many years of service to NFG. Please think about joining this group of hard-working NFG leaders.

NFG's Community Organizing Toolbox is being very well received by our members and other grantmakers. If you know of conferences, meetings, or other gatherings where it can be used and distributed, please let the NFG staff know.

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