By Martha Cecilia Ovadia, Senior Program Associate, Equity and Communications
Navigating government and social services in the United States can be labyrinthine at best, and that confusion can create true obstacles to community change, says PLACES alumni Anneliese Grytafey.
Grytafey, vice president of strategic initiatives and grantmaking at TFN member Toledo Community Foundation, recently delivered a talk at TEDxToledo, breaking down how it got so confusing, and what philanthropic and other nonprofit organizations can do to change it if we want our communities to thrive.
“Accountability is one of our most fundamental political institutions,” she says in her talk, noting that we live in an increasingly polarized society plagued by eroding faith in our systems of governance.
But she posits that the trend can be reversible.
“More often than not, you will find that people across the political spectrum that have a common interest in things like children being fed and housed, education that is high quality, and beautiful public spaces.”
Watch the video to hear her full talk.
A 2015 PLACES Fellow, Grytafey came to the field of philanthropy after career as a legal services attorney. Through an Equal Justice Works Fellowship, Grytafey started a clinic to provide legal advice to low-income entrepreneurs. She later brought small business capitalization services to under-resourced entrepreneurs as manager of the Toledo office of the Economic & Community Development Institute. She has also served as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Regional Growth Partnership, a regional economic development agency serving Northwest Ohio.