Can we talk about...? A podcast on leading for racial equity in philanthropy

Valériana Chikoti-Bandua Estes, executive director of Social Justice Fund Northwest and Maya Thornell Sandifor, managing director of the Kataly Foundation, join Mares for the final episode of season 3 focused on community philanthropy and equity. The episode begins with a conversation on power, and how community philanthropy typically underutilizes the power and influence they have. Together they...

Katie Carter, President of Pride Foundation, and Mindie Reule, President & CEO, Community Foundation of South Puget Sound, sit down with Mares to discuss tangible ways that philanthropy can be more accountable to the community it serves. They begin the conversation by naming how the structures that currently exist do not hold philanthropy accountable to the communities they serve, and discuss...

In episode 6 of our season on community philanthropy, Aisha Al-Amin (Development Director, Social Justice Fund), Heidi Pelletier (Chief Development Officer, Yakima Valley Community Foundation) and Musu Bakoto Sawo (Director of Fundraising and Grants, Community Foundation of Snohomish County), sit down with Mares to discuss that while grantmaking has shifted, donor relationships and fundraising is...

Mauri Ingram (CEO, Whatcom Community Foundation) and Esra Khalil (Senior Program Officer, Community Foundation of Southwest Washington) join our podcast to counter a narrative we hear too often: “we don’t have the budget and time to do equity work.” In this episode, they explore what it means to truly resource equity — not just with dollars, but with time, energy, creativity and intention. Both le...

Lilliane Ballesteros (Executive Director, Latino Community Fund) and Lindsay Boswell (Chief Program Officer, Yakima Valley Community Foundation) join us to challenge philanthropy’s biggest myths and self-imposed rules. Together they explore what it looks like to move money differently: from buying pom poms for community events to setting up ESG investment portfolios and even to making grants direc...

Seth Kirby (Chief Impact Officer, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation) and Sharon Miracle (President and CEO, Yakima Valley Community Foundation) sit down with Mares for a conversation on the notions of neutrality and risk in philanthropy.  They discuss how their organizations have reoriented their thinking around risk so that the central question is not, “what is the risk to our organization?,” b...

Karri Matau (CEO, Community Foundation of Snohomish County) returns to the podcast alongside Matt Morton (President, Community Foundation for Southwest Washington) to explore what it looks like to lead for racial equity at the staff level. They offer insights into how they are taking an interconnected approach that allows them to stay rooted in their values while adjusting to the changing context....

Katie Carter (CEO, Pride Foundation) and Karri Matau (CEO, Community Foundation of Snohomish County) join us to kick off Season 3, where we’re uplifting reflections and strategies on advancing racial equity in community philanthropy.  Together, Katie and Karri share what it means to center community and how equity shows up in their work – starting with their boards. They cover topics from recruiti...

Hosted by Mares Asfaha, this season dives deep into the evolving world of community philanthropy — featuring honest conversations with leaders from community foundations, identity funds, United Ways and public foundations. Each episode spotlights lessons from Toward Transformation , Philanthropy Northwest’s equity-focused guide, and brings you real-world case studies, tough questions and tangible...

In our final episode of Season 2, Katie Hong and Abby Sarmac sit down to recap the season, recount their ‘why’ for engaging in racial equity work, and celebrate achieving their dream of hosting a podcast!  They ground the episode in what we set out to do this season, which was to uplift the nuances of operationalizing equity commitments across a diversity of contexts . From these various contexts,...

Executive Director of Seeding Justice Se-ah-dom Edmo and Board Chair Esperanza Tervalon sit down with us to reflect on the foundation’s nearly 50-year history of convening movement leaders to build collective power across Oregon state – and more recently, Washington and Idaho – towards justice and liberation for all communities.  Together they open their doors and invite us into a foundation that...

Gloria Dixon, the director of philanthropy at BECU and the executive director of BECU Foundation joins Katie for a discussion on how corporate funders can show up for communities using trust-based practices.  In this episode, Gloria shares how the credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’ is aligned with BECU’s philanthropic work. BECU takes an equity and community-based approach to suppo...

Carmen James Randolf, CEO of Women’s Foundation of the South (WFS) comes onto our show to introduce the four-year-old foundation and its vision of health, wealth and power for womxn of color in the South.  She outlines the various aspects of the foundation’s strategies, rooted in genuine care for women of color community leaders who tend to be under-recognized and underfunded. This care looks like...

Join D’Artagnan Caliman, Vice President of Community Partnerships, and Juma Sei, Communications Manager, at 1803 Fund as they introduce the capital investment fund’s approach to advancing long-term prosperity for Portland, Oregon’s Black community.  Throughout the episode, D’Artagnan and Juma share what Black Portland means to them and the importance of closing the gap between funder partners and...

One month into President Trump's second presidency, Susan Taylor Batten, the President and CEO of ABFE and Lyle Matthew Kan, interim President and CEO of AAPIP (Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy), sit down with us to share stories and insights on how philanthropy is navigating the administration's efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. They ac...

Kent McGuire of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Zoe Stemm-Calderon from the Raikes Foundation sit down with Katie Hong to discuss their work on advancing equitable and inclusive public education across the United States. In this episode they share their foundations’ collaborative efforts as well as their own personal and professional experiences – both inside and outside of philanthro...

Abby Sarmac hosts a conversation with Pearl Lujan from the Kindle Project’s Indigenous Women’s Flow Fund. Together, they discuss their work as intermediaries and donors together on this project, and share how slowing down helped build deep and transformative relationships with Indigenous communities. 

President and Founder of New Breath Foundation Eddy Zheng shares his personal story and experiences navigating incarceration and detention for 21 years, and how hope, healing and breath, led him to create a foundation focused on dismantling institutions of policing, incarceration and deportation.  The foundation is unapologetically committed to building long-term power in Asian American, Native Ha...

Empire Health Foundation Vice Chair Monica Simeon and President Zeke Smith provide insight into what advancing equity looks like for a health conversion foundation serving politically and geographically diverse communities across seven countries and three tribes in Eastern Washington. 

Listen in as President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Chris Nanni weaves together personal and organizational reflections on driving equity in the most fragmented community in the Southeast. Chris shares a wealth of knowledge and ideas – particularly for listeners looking to learn from peers who are working to build bridges across their communities. Full Episode Guide: h...

We’re back for Season 2! Join our season’s hosts Katie Hong, Robin Martin and Abby Sarmac as they introduce themselves and share the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ behind Season 2: Equity on the Ground. 

In our final episode, four TGP Senior Advisors – Katie Hong, Lisa McGill, Abby Sarmac and Lalitha Vaidyanathan – reflect on the stories we heard across Season 1, sharing perspectives and advice based on their work as consultants supporting a diversity of philanthropy boards and leaders along their racial equity journeys. Together they reflect on the moment we’re in as a philanthropic sector and ac...

In 2020, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation committed $150M to support racial justice alongside the development of an entirely new office – the Office of Culture, Race and Equity – to incorporate equity efforts across the foundation’s culture, operations, and grantmaking.  In this episode, President Larry Kramer and Chief Equity Officer Charmaine Mercer reflect on what it took to get there a...

In this special episode, founding members of The Share Fund, Estakio Beltran, Bill Marklyn and Holly Marklyn take us beyond the bounds of traditional governance and philanthropy, and into a new world of giving that makes the redistribution of wealth and power a reality. The Share Fund is an LLC rather than a foundation and is managed through a participatory process where community leaders like Est...

Judy Belk (senior advisor and former president and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation, also known as “Cal Wellness”) and Debra Nakatomi (CEO of NakatomiPR, trustee and former board chair of The California Wellness Foundation) exchange powerful stories of their experiences with race from childhood to the present, reflecting on what’s possible when foundations lead with lived experience.   To...