TFN Launches 20th Anniversary 'Power Forward' Webinar Series
By: TFN StaffAs part of TFN’s 20th Anniversary in 2019, we’re launching a series of deep-dive webinars that examine how philanthropy can leverage its collective power across a range of critical issues: policy work, sustainability efforts, economic prosperity, and supporting equity and inclusion in grantmaking. We’ll kick off this year-long learning experience with our first webinar, featuring speakers who will provide context and expertise as we continue the conversation about power — as well as offer a preview of TFN’s 20th Anniversary Conference: Power Forward, which takes place March 18-20 in Miami. Power Forward: How Philanthropy Can Turn Ideals into Impact The webinar will feature insight from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which this year released Power Moves, a philanthropy self-assessment guide to determine how well you are building, sharing and wielding power. The theme for our conference as well as our 2019 webinar series — Power Forward — is a call to action for philanthropy to leverage the sector’s collective power to create communities and regions that are truly sustainable and just, work that has taken on new urgency as we face increasingly challenging times.
|
| Please register for this funder-only webinar by Jan. 11 to receive log-in details. |
Power Forward: Registration open for TFN's 20th Anniversary Conference
By Lilly Weinberg and Shamar Bibbins, TFN 20th Anniversary Conference Co-chairs
We are thrilled that registration is now open for TFN’s 2019 Anniversary Conference: Power Forward, which takes place March 18-20 in Miami.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary for the network, and we’re excited for the opportunity to reflect on the past, explore the present and look forward to the future. For this milestone, TFN returns to Miami – the site of its inaugural conference and home of its main office.
As funders active in Miami, we know that the city possesses myriad charms: beautiful beaches, a thriving arts scene, and a local vibrancy influenced by cultures from Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond. We also know that Miami is also trying to find solutions to many of the critical issues facing communities across the U.S. and Canada, such as the very real effects of climate change, social and economic inequities, and stewardship of natural resources. We’ll look to Miami as a learning laboratory as we explore the intersections that cut across these issues and have informed this year’s conference program.
Our conference theme, Power Forward, is a call to action for philanthropy to leverage the sector’s collective power to create communities and regions that are truly sustainable and just — work that has taken on new urgency as we face increasingly challenging times.
We hope you’ll join us to learn more about philanthropy’s potential for meaningful impact in our regions and communities, and hear from diverse and thought-provoking voices on issues such as protecting our natural resources, building inclusive economies and addressing injustices.
There will also be plenty of opportunities to connect with other leaders in philanthropy – and not just during breakout sessions. TFN’s 2019 Anniversary Conference will also offer a chance to socialize and explore – from our Eat Here! reception showcasing Miami’s locally grown and produced culinary scene to our popular Mobile Workshops that are ideal opportunities to experience just some of the compelling stories that are shaping the city’s neighborhoods.
This year also marks the tenth anniversary of TFN’s PLACES Fellowship, a year-long learning experience focused on equity and inclusion. We’ll kick off the pre-conference festivities with a Sunday night bash – open to everyone – that celebrates this this milestone.
Please be sure to check out our conference webpage for more information on registration, events, and updates on speakers and sessions. (And be sure to follow us on Twitter @funders_network).
Don’t forget to register today!
See you in Miami,
Partners for Places: New grant opportunities for sustainability & stormwater projects
By Ann Fowler Wallace, TFN Director of ProgramsToday we announced the latest round of grant opportunities for Partners for Places, a joint effort by TFN and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), which pairs local governments with philanthropy to support sustainability projects across the U.S. and Canada. In addition to the general grant program, Partners for Places Round 14 also includes dedicated funding to support green stormwater infrastructure projects that advance water-related sustainability goals. TFN and USDN are excited to partner with Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange, a practitioner network that supports communities seeking to grow green stormwater infrastructure programs, to support outreach efforts and participate in reviewing stormwater infrastructure project proposals. Partners for Places is a successful matching grant program that creates opportunities for cities and counties to improve communities by building partnerships between local government sustainability offices and place-based foundations. National funders invest in local projects to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being of all residents. Through these projects, Partners for Places fosters long-term relationships that make our urban areas more prosperous, livable, and vibrant. The grant program provides partnership investments between $25,000 and $75,000 for one year projects, or $50,000 and $150,000 for two year projects, with a 1:1 match required by one or more local foundations. The grant program provides partnership investments between $25,000 and $75,000 for one year projects, or $50,000 and $150,000 for two year projects, with a 1:1 match required by one or more local foundations. To date, Partners for Places has awarded nearly $7 million across North America in this successful matching grant program, leading to nearly $14 million in investments. |
 Creating a Successful ProposalIn 2018, Partners for Places adopted a 2018-2023 strategic plan. This RFP has been updated and designed to award projects that advance the vision, mission, theory of change, and goals of this new fund strategy. Please carefully review the newly created Proposal and Award Guidance document while preparing your proposal. The application deadline for Round 14 is January 31, 2019 (by 11:59 p.m., any time zone). Please visit the Partners for Places webpage for more information. Here you can view our promotional video, download the Request for Proposals (RFP), access our Proposal Form and Budget Form, and consult our new Proposal and Award Guidance document. |
Additional ResourcesInfo Webinar TFN will host a webinar to answer any questions about the grant program on Tuesday, December 11, at 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Please register for the webinar here. A recording of the webinar will be made available through our website for those of you unable to participate. Meet the Newest Grantees! We're excited to announce the Round 13 grantees of the Partners for Places matching grant program: Six communities across the U.S. will receive more than a million dollars to fund sustainability efforts that will help them better withstand the impact of climate change, prepare for natural disasters and engage local voices in planning and decision-making.Read more about our newest grantees here. |
Funder InvestorsPartners for Places general grant program is supported by The JPB Foundation, Kendeda Fund, The Kresge Foundation, New York Community Trust, the Pisces Foundation, The Summit Foundation, and Surdna Foundation. |
Selection ProcessA selection committee comprised of foundation representatives and urban sustainability directors will make grant selection decisions on behalf of Partners for Places, and awards will be announced in May, 2019. If the RFP and the Proposal and Award Guidance documents don’t answer all your questions, please contact Ashley Quintana at ashley@www.fundersnetwork.org for more information. We look forward to hearing from you!
|
Sustainable solutions at the local level: Meet the newest Partners for Places grantees!
By Ann Fowler Wallace, TFN Director of ProgramsWe're excited to announce the latest grantees of the Partners for Places matching grant program: Six communities across the U.S. will receive more than a million dollars to fund sustainability efforts that will help them better withstand the impact of climate change, prepare for natural disasters and engage local voices in planning and decision-making. These sustainability efforts will take place in communities both large and small, from a project to create resiliency hubs that would serve the residents of New Bedford, Mass., in the wake of hazardous weather, to a plan to create a greener, more pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare in a bustling and culturally diverse neighborhood in Denver, Colo. The funding is made possible through the Partners for Places matching grant program, led by the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) in partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. Partners for Places pairs local governments with philanthropy to support sustainability projects that promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being for all residents. |
Two of the projects build on important earlier efforts funded by the Partners for Places matching grant program: an ambitious project in Portland, Ore., to ensure that efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a community-led energy plan directly benefit low-income residents, and efforts in Hartford, Conn., to address flooding and stormwater challenges while ensuring those efforts act as a catalyst for improved social equity, public health, and economic development. |
|
Both cities are prior recipients of Partners for Places grants, and reflect one of the matching grant program’s priorities: projects that empower and engage low-income neighborhoods — communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change and extreme weather. “Whether it's preparing for natural disasters or trying to predict the fallout from other environmental hazards, communities are on the front lines of climate change," said Darryl Young, director of Sustainable Cities at the Summit Foundation and who serves as secretary of TFN's Board of Directors. "More and more, city mayors and other local leaders are stepping up, speaking out, and showing that they are going to act proactively to ensure their communities not only survive but thrive in this changing world.” |
In Bend, Ore., Partners for Places will renew funding for ongoing efforts to create a climate action plan, including efforts to educate the community about the risks posed by climate change and identify actions that can transition Bend to a low-carbon future. Meanwhile, the grant program will support efforts in the city and county of Sarasota, Fla., to help local non-profits become more energy efficient — helping Sarasota achieve its sustainability goals while allowing local environmental and human-service organizations to reduce costs and focus their limited resources on their core missions. |
Partners for Places will provide $507,459 in funding to these six cities through its general grant program, which will be matched by local funders. That means a total of $1,014,918 will be leveraged to fund sustainability projects in these selected cities. The general grant program is supported by seven investor foundations: The JPB Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, The Kresge Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the Pisces Foundation, The Summit Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation. This grant cycle includes $139,959 awarded to two green stormwater infrastructure projects — in the cities of Denver and Hartford — designed to advance water-related sustainability goals, made possible by the support of the JPB Foundation, Kresge Foundation and the Pisces Foundation. “These projects demonstrate how innovation, partnership and investment at the local level can truly drive change,” said Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome, a senior program officer with The Kresge Foundation’s Environment Program and who oversees the foundation’s Climate Resilience and Equitable Water Systems (CREWS) initiative. “They will improve water management, climate resilience, water quality and help create communities that are healthier, safer and more desirable places to live.” |
The latest Partners for Places grant recipients and their matching funders are:Bend, Ore. ($42,500): To continue the city’s ongoing work to create a community climate action plan, convening diverse voices in the community – such as businesses, civic equity leaders, local youth and neighborhood residents – to collaborate with government agencies, environmental groups and subject-matter experts to identify strategies and build support for the plan. (Matching funder: The Oregon Community Foundation Donor Advised Funds.) Denver, Colo. ($74,959): To strengthen the impact of a green infrastructure along a major thoroughfare in the Little Saigon business district that improves stormwater management and air quality while providing a safer, more enjoyable experience for residents walking or using public transit – especially those who can’t drive because of age, income, or a disability. (Matching funder: Colorado Health Foundation.) Hartford, Conn. ($65,000): To support green infrastructure efforts that will improve localized flooding and stormwater management and create a more resilient city, including developing design specifications and scaling a program that encourages residents to redirect water from gutter downspouts to help alleviate sewer overflows, basement flooding, high water bills and other issues. (Matching funder: Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.) New Bedford, Mass. ($25,000): To create a resilience hub and community alert system pilot project, working with environmental/social justice partner organizations to identify locations within the City’s Gomes Neighborhood and the Near North End Neighborhood to build on existing community ties, create new relationships with underserved communities, and bolster community resilience. (Matching funder: Island Foundation.) Portland, Ore. ($150,000): To implement a community energy plan in the Cully neighborhood through community-led investments that address both environmental needs as well as economic and social disparities, ensuring efforts directly benefit low-income residents. (Matching funder: Meyer Memorial Trust.) Sarasota, Fla. ($150,000): To empower and encourage local non-profits to improve energy efficiency, allowing them to focus limited resources on their core missions while furthering both the city and county of Sarasota’s sustainability goals. (Matching funders: Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation.) To date, Partners for Places has awarded more than $7 million across North America in this successful matching grant program, leading to over $14 million in investments. Partners for Places will open a new round of funding for the general grant program in early summer. The Round 14 RFP will be released on Dec. 5, 2018, and proposals will be due on Jan. 31, 2019. Want to learn more about the next round of Partners for Places grants? We're hosting a Round 14 Info Webinar at 2 p.m. ET Dec. 11. Register here. For more information or media requests, please contact Communications Director Tere Figueras Negrete at tere@www.fundersnetwork.org. |
 |
The Power of Collaboration for Clean Water
By Andrew Johnson, Watershed Protection Program Director, William Penn Foundation
The Delaware River Basin supplies drinking water to over 15 million people throughout the mid-Atlantic, and is the lifeblood of the region’s cities, suburbs, forests, and farms. Today, in spite of an impressive recovery over the past four decades (thanks largely to the Clean Water Act) the watershed is at risk of “death by a thousand cuts” due to severe fragmentation of local land use decisions, farming practices and stormwater management. These thousand cuts, in the long term, jeopardize clean water for five percent of the US population. These challenges are not headline-grabbing crises. Rather they are incremental, cumulative and deeply embedded in local land use policies.
How can a regional funder effectively catalyze change in such a complex system? No doubt many TFN members grapple with this question in your work for livable and healthy communities. This question is rich for us, especially today as the federal government is increasingly less likely to take the lead on driving change at the regional scale, even as a rapidly changing climate hits our communities harder every year.
Six years ago, we reworked our environmental grantmaking to focus on the protection and restoration of clean water in the Delaware River watershed. As part of that shift, we developed the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI). Today, five years and more than $100 million in DRWI investments later, we have learnings, both inspiring and humbling, to share as the next three-year phase of this program begins.
When we got started, there were dozens of nonprofit organizations working across the basin to reduce stormwater pollution, protect forests, bring back native plants, and support river-friendly farms. But, absent a shared plan of action and with little coordination, as a community we were missing opportunities to leverage and build upon each other’s successes to meaningfully improve water quality. And, because of this fragmentation, it was nearly impossible to standardize water quality metrics—key to understanding progress over time.
We began by tapping the expertise of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and the Open Space Institute to use data to identify the most promising places where, with our funding, we could tip the scale in favor of clean water. Next, we engaged more than 40 conservation nonprofits who work on the ground and provided them with support to develop shared action plans, in teams, to focus their efforts in those places and on a list of four key threats to clean water. Finally, we set up measurement sites in the same places so we could assess impact effectively.
Our goal was to focus and amplify the excellent land protection and restoration work already underway across the basin, by using our grantmaking and convening powers to encourage collaboration and alignment.
Five key components of the initiative are worth sharing, because they seem to be working well as we launch the second phase of this work:
1. Grantee Collaboration: The Initiative was conceived and is run as a collaborative among more than 40 grantees working in teams in eight parts of the watershed. This is both challenging and rewarding, and we’re achieving aligned impact in carefully selected places that serve as laboratories for change and models for expansion.
2. The Power of Intermediaries: Facilitating collaboration across more than 40 nonprofit partners is a huge job and requires significant expertise and ongoing attention. We have invested in the very skilled Institute for Conservation Leadership to develop, nurture and steward the DRWI network.
3. Embedding Science: We are using active monitoring and modeling to ensure that scarce dollars are spent in the most efficient and effective ways. This is often a culture-shift for small organizations that don’t have science-based capacity or culture. We partner with the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University as the science lead for DRWI, and also engaged Stroud Water Research Center—both of which provide essential technical assistance.
4. Funder Coordination: Our collaborative approach has helped unlock other funding streams from local, state and federal sources for core project work on the ground, as we have been able to demonstrate “transformative” partnerships that go beyond “transactional” partnerships. Partnering with the Open Space Institute and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to manage re-grant programs focused on land protection and restoration, respectively, enables us to leverage the expertise of these key partners to direct funds to projects that will produce the greatest return on investment.
5. Storytelling: Communications is a key pillar of this Initiative. It’s important to leverage grantees’ ability to tell nuanced, local, powerful stories about the positive impact of land use decisions on water quality. Strong storytelling grows support, which will allow us to scale up this approach across the watershed.
As the second phase of the work begins, we face three key challenges that are also worth sharing:
- Social equity considerations were not baked into the formation of the DRWI, despite our recognition that clean water is particularly important to vulnerable downstream communities who pay the price for upstream pollution. As we focus in on the equity dimensions of our work, we face challenges connecting these dots.
- An external evaluation of the DRWI reinforced the need for clear, measurable goals. While we can’t reasonably claim that our funding will protect water quality in the entire basin, we are now refocused on demonstrating impact within our key focus areas. This change—from the rhetorical to the achievable—is making a difference as the initiative evolves.
- While science-based decision-making is critical, it is not always enough. Grantees need the freedom to work on policy change that shifts the rules in favor of clean water actions at the local and state levels. This is particularly true as the Trump administration rolls back clean water protections, and local ordinances and state regulations become ever more important.
We are already thinking about where we want the Initiative to be at the end of 2021, and how over the next two years we can meaningfully evolve DRWI from a William Penn Foundation funding strategy to a sustainable regional initiative. To help us navigate this evolution, we’d love to hear from other TFN members about experiences you’ve had with regional initiatives. Feel free to reach out to me at ajohnson@williampennfoundation.org .
More information about the Delaware River Watershed Initiative can be found here.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson manages the William Penn Foundation's Watershed Protection program, which focuses on protecting and restoring water quality in the Delaware River watershed. He oversees a team organized around three related strategies: research, data collection, monitoring and advocacy with watershed-wide implications; on-the-ground restoration and preservation work and monitoring in specific subwatersheds in the Delaware River basin; and building the constituency for watershed protection by engaging people involved in outdoor activities on the Circuit, Greater Philadelphia’s 750-mile regional trail network
Hurricane Florence: What's Next? | Webinar & Funder Resources
By Martha Cecilia Ovadia, Senior Program Associate, Equity & CommunicationsHurricane Florence will have wide-reaching impacts that require strategic, long-term investments across parts of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Although the storm has been downgraded, Florence still poses a significant threat to lives and property, according to the National Weather Service Join the Center for Disaster Philanthropy's upcoming webinar to learn more. Hurricane Florence: What’s Next? Tuesday, Sept. 18 3 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. CT. CDP is also launching its 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund; details about this fund will be provided during the webinar. This webinar is co-sponsored by the Funders' Network, the Environmental Grantmakers Association, Southeastern Council of Foundations, and the Council on Foundations, with funding from the UPS Foundation. |
Additional ResourcesAs people across North America grapple with the realities of climate change and extreme weather events, the Funders' Network is committed to providing funders with the opportunity to learn and share strategies that address these issues and help communities become more resilient and equitable in their disaster preparations and recoveries. Here are additional events and resources from CDP, which serves as the technical assistance and curriculum partner for TFN's Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Partnership (PPREP): Webinar | Hurricanes Irma and Maria: State of Recovery Blog | Strategies for Funding the 2018 Hurricane Season Data | Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy: Data to Drive Decisions For more resources and updates, visit the Center for Disaster Philanthropy's website. |
Let's get moving: Join our Funder Roundtable on sustainable mobility and equitable access
By TFN Staff
Anyone who slogs through an endless commute, worries about how their kids can get safely to school or struggles to find reliable transportation will agree: We need to do a better job of connecting people to where they need to be and want to go.
Providing safe, convenient, attractive and affordable options is complex work that intersects many priorities: climate, equity, health, housing and economic development, to name just a handful.
If you're interested in learning more about strategies and collaborations, join us in Atlanta on Nov. 13 for TFN's Funder Roundtable: Sustainable Mobility and Equitable Access.
A group of funders active in this area will discuss shared strategies and the value of a funder learning community. Participants will explore possible collaborations and plan next steps.
This will be a dynamic interactive session with actionable outcomes. We welcome interested funders.
For more information, please contact Martha Roskowski at martha@furtherstrategies.com or Ann Fowler Wallace at ann@www.fundersnetwork.org.
The meeting takes place from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. at Southface Energy Institute, followed by a reception and dinner with TFN’s GREEN working group. The GREEN working group will be holding its annual meeting at Southface Energy Insititute Nov. 14-15. Click here for more information.
This Funder Roundtable is sponsored by TFN in partnership with:
Mary Skelton Roberts, Barr Foundation
Neelima Shah, Bullitt Foundation
John Mitterholzer, The George Gund Foundation
Elizabeth Love, Houston Endowment
Darryl Young, The Summit Foundation
David Bragdon, TransitCenter
Explore sustainability strategies at TFN's GREEN Annual Meeting in Atlanta
By TFN Staff
Atlanta has emerged as a leader among southern states in its commitment to clean energy and sustainability – including an ambitious 100 percent renewable energy commitment by 2050.
TFN's GREEN 2018 Annual Meeting Network takes place Nov. 14-15 in this dynamic and fast-growing city, giving funders a chance to network with their peers, explore sustainability strategies and learn how the Southeast is facing its climate, energy, and water resource challenges. Be sure to register today!
Agenda Highlights
Our agenda is designed to offer funders the opportunity to:
• Explore the important role the philanthropic community plays in advancing sustainability, climate mitigation, urban resilience, and integrated approaches to energy and water management;
• Learn firsthand how the Southeast is facing its climate, energy, and water resource challenges in a region with both progressive city leadership but more conservative state complexions;
• Hear from regional and metropolitan Atlanta environment, climate, and equity advocates working to protect one of the most ecologically and culturally vibrant places in the United States;
• Connect with and learn from fellow TFN members and others working in the philanthropic sector.
Wednesday morning will include presentations from Southeast-based philanthropic colleagues who will share their individual and collective strategies for advancing equitable climate, water resource and land use solutions. On Wednesday afternoon, funders will head out on a site visit to see the Atlanta Beltline, West Side, and adjacent neighborhoods that are incorporating green infrastructure, parks, the arts, and affordable housing into efforts to revitalize and equitably redevelop this area. The meeting will conclude on Thursday afternoon following funder strategy discussions and a deep-dive session on the City of Atlanta's aggressive clean energy strategy, which will include a demo of some of the tools used to inform that work.
The GREEN meeting will be preceded by a one-day funder roundtable on sustainable mobility and equitable access on Tuesday, Nov. 13. Funders attending the GREEN meeting are invited to attend the funder roundtable. Stay tuned for more information on the funder roundtable, as well as updates on 2018 GREEN Annual Meeting speakers and sessions!
Agenda Overview
Tuesday, November 13
• 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sustainable Mobility & Equitable Access Meeting, Southface Energy Institute
• 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Joint Reception & Dinner w/ Mobility & GREEN Funders
Wednesday, November 14
• 8:30 a.m. Breakfast Available in Meeting Room
• 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Half-Day Meeting, Southface Energy Institute
• 2:15 – 5:00 p.m. Atlanta Site Visit
• 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. GREEN Reception & Dinner
Thursday, November 15
• 8:30 a.m. Breakfast Available in Meeting Room
• 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Half-Day Meeting, Southface Energy Institute
Lodging
Please contact Ashley Quintana at ashley@www.fundersnetwork.org if you are having problems making a reservation. Who Should AttendRegistration is open to donors, staff, directors, and trustees of all grantmaking institutions. We are seeking to create a small and intimate gathering of funders with the goal of learning, sharing and facilitating strategic conversations about where philanthropic resources can have the greatest impact. |
The Funders' Network has reserved a block of rooms for Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 13 and 14 at the
RegistrationClick here to register. There is a modest registration fee of $250 to participate in this meeting for funders who are not members of the Funders’ Network. For questions or further information, please contact Ashley Quintana at ashley@www.fundersnetwork.org or 305-667-6350 ex. 201. |
Planning CommitteeThank you to our funder planning committee for their ideas, guidance, and assistance in planning this meeting: • Jessica Boehland, The Kresge Foundation About GREENThe GREEN funder working group was created in 2005 by funders interested in better understanding the promise that green strategies hold for improving outcomes for people and place. The working group is currently focused on learning more about green issues, identifying leverage points, and facilitating strategic collaborations in three specific arenas: Climate mitigation and adaptation, sustainability practices in cities and regions, and neighborhood/district sustainability. The GREEN funder advisory committee is co-chaired by Jessica Boehland of The Kresge Foundation and Mariella Puerto of the Barr Foundation.
|
|
|
Beyond the headlines: The power of solutions journalism
By Martha Cecilia Ovadia, Senior Program Associate, Equity and Communications
The Intermountain West Funder Network recently convened in Santa Fe, N.M. for its annual meeting. This year’s event focused on forward-looking strategies that would help funders increase the impact of their grantmaking to create more resilient, sustainable and equitable communities in the Intermountain West region. The meeting focused on exploring Santa Fe to learn first-hand about sustainable development issues in and around the city, learning about the protection of diverse cultural heritages and sacred places in New Mexico and learning from local strategies about how to foster land and water resilience and encourage food justice in the region.
Another area of focus: The importance of journalism and the powerful role philanthropy can play in ensuring local storytelling and investigative reporting remain robust — especially in underserved “media deserts.”
Leah Todd, the Mountain West manager for newsrooms at Solutions Journalism Network, was the keynote speaker at the opening night reception in Santa Fe, sharing insight on effective communications and storytelling through the lens of solutions journalism in the region. Since 2016, Solutions Journalism Network has collaborated with 140 news organizations on solutions-oriented projects. One of those projects included State of Change, a year-long investigation with a group of New Mexico news organizations that looked at the challenges to building resilient rural communities, and found a lack of high-speed internet holds communities back. It was just one example of the type of issues brought to light during this project. The reporters not only looked at the barriers to launching internet connections in rural areas, but also highlighted tribes, towns and schools whose efforts were successful. The New Mexico project was led by the Solutions Journalism Network in partnership with High Country News, and with funding from the LOR Foundation — a supporter of the Intermountain West Funders Network and a TFN member. (Other TFN members that support Solutions Journalism Network include the Ford Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.)
Below are five key takeaways from her presentation, which can be found in its entirety here.
- What is solutions journalism?
Solutions journalism is rigorous, evidence-based reporting on responses to social problems. This form of journalism explains in meaningful detail what worked in a situation, but also looks for limitations and unintended consequences.
- How can we identify solutions journalism imposters?
Always look for overpromising and generalizations. When you see a headline that promises a perfect solution—walk away! Solutions journalism knows that there are no perfect solutions and good solutions journalism takes the time to point out any limitations of a response and to also point the readers in the direction of effective change happening right now.
For effective solutions journalism, Todd encourages journalists to apply these shifts to re-focus their writing:
- Instead of hero worship: focus on systemic change
When writing about someone doing good and making a difference, the focus of the story can sometimes become the individual, taking away from delving deeper into whatever initiative or response they are furthering. While stories that focus on individual successes (or failures) have their place in journalism, solutions journalism works through a broader, more solutions focused lens.
- Instead of a silver bullet: tone down the rhetoric and show downsides too
Keep an eye out for journalistic pieces that overclaim. You will usually see words like “lifesaver” and “breakthrough” attached to this type of writing. Instead, look for pieces that take the time to tell the narrative of what is working, what is not working, and that looks to other communities to find potential parallels in place-based work that could be applied locally.
- Instead of a think piece: show what is working now
This refers to journalism that proposes things that do not exist yet. Solutions journalism speaks to what is happening now, not predictions or recommendations for the future.
- Instead of an afterthought: weave solutions throughout the story
Solutions should be an integral part of the storytelling—not an afterthought at the end of a story. Solutions must be considered seriously and presented with care. This challenges us to embrace the possibilities at hand
- What is solutions journalism’s “Theory of Change”?
Journalists must act as responsible and informed whistleblowers and work to expose wrongdoing. By pointing out social problems, journalist can help in spurring reform and highlighting solutions. But this is not all that should be done. Journalist must also cover information on how to respond to those problems, offering examples and narratives needed for self-correction.
- How does solutions journalism increase accountability?
With responsible journalism that focuses on solutions, problems that were once seen as unavoidable become problems that are seen as unacceptable. The ability to view a problem as unacceptable comes from journalism that presents solutions and deconstructs the cultural narrative of “this is how it has always been.”
- Can solutions journalism also function as a form of societal and self-care?
News fatigue has created a sense of learned helplessness in those consuming the news. When negative reporting is played over and over and over again, it creates a desire to tune out. However, evidence suggests that when people think something can be done about a problem, they are more receptive and attentive to the information. And while negative messages spread faster than positive ones, positive messaging focusing on solutions reach larger audiences. Solutions journalism is a healthier, more effective approach to journalism.
Additional Resources:
- The Solutions Journalism Network’s Solutions Story Tracker lets you search for stories by geography, topic area and success factors, among other categories.
- Check out two case studies presented during the Intermountain West Funders Network annual meeting for a look at solutions journalism in action:
- State of Change: Building Resilience in New Mexico
- The Montana Gap
- Listen to How Investing in Media Can Drive Positive Community Change, a TFN webinar featuring LaMonte Guillory of the LOR Foundation, Keith H. Hammonds of Solutions Journalism Network, Kate Schimel of High Country News and Johs Stearns of the Democracy Fund.
- For more information on the Intermountain West Funders Network working group, click here or contact Amy Swiatek at amy@www.fundersnetwork.org.
About the Author
Martha Cecilia Ovadia is TFN's senior program associate for equity and communications. Contact her at marci@www.fundersnetwork.org.
Do you have a great strategy or story to share? Submit a session proposal for #TFNMiami
ByTFN Staff
The Funders’ Network (TFN) 2019 Annual Conference marks the network’s 20th anniversary. We’ll be coming back to Miami, the site of TFN’s first annual conference, providing the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past, explore the present and look forward to the future.
We’re looking for dynamic, interesting and informative proposals for sessions and speakers, particularly those that advance TFN’s goals of creating communities that are equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically prosperous.
How are communities grappling with climate change, natural disasters and other environmental threats? Addressing social, racial and economic injustices? Fostering opportunities for success and well-being for all, not just some?