All good things must come to an end. And here it is, my last blog post at the end of Fund for Shared Insight, the national funder collaborative I have had the privilege and joy of leading since 2014. In April, hosted by the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City where our collaborative first came into being, we celebrated our 12-year effort to improve philanthropy with almost 100 funder and nonprofit partners. Throughout the day of music, laughter, and learning we were inspired and even shed some (happy) tears as we reflected on what we’ve accomplished and the future of listening to community.
We founded Fund for Shared Insight as a national funder collaborative with the goal of improving philanthropy by helping nonprofits and funders listen to the people and communities at the heart of their work. From the beginning, we designed Shared Insight as a time-limited initiative. We chose to operate in three-year phases so current funders could recommit or scale back and new funders could join. Over the course of the 12 years, 15 different funders participated at the core funder table. In 2022, it became clear that there was interest in a fourth and final three-year phase, and we began planning for Shared Insight to sunset in June 2026.
We decided to pursue a more ambitious goal: to embed the principles and practices of high-quality, equity-centered listening into key philanthropy infrastructure partners and make funder listening to shift power standard practice in the sector
It’s a gift to end well
It is a gift to have four years to end well. Instead of fading into our sunset, we decided to pursue a more ambitious goal: to embed the principles and practices of high-quality, equity-centered listening into key philanthropy infrastructure partners and make funder listening to shift power standard practice in the sector.
We collaborated with six wonderful partners to launch a new initiative, Listen to Community, which is a resource and engagement hub for funders ready to adopt listening practices that shift power to impacted communities. We also developed a suite of tools for funders, including the Funder Listening Action Menu, Funder Listening Assessment Tool, Participatory Philanthropy Toolkit, and Community on Board: A Tool for Shifting Power through Foundation Governance.
These tools will live on the Listen to Community website, while the Insights for Change blog — which features the Shared Insight case study, dozens of evaluations by our learning partner ORS Impact, and a library of stories and and videos about funder listening — will continue to reside on the Fund for Shared Insight website for the next three years. And I am delighted that The Foundation Review special issue: “The Power of Listening to Communities,” which reflects so much of our recent work and philanthropy’s growing commitment to listening, will remain as part of the durable literature for the field.
While Shared Insight is coming to a close, the efforts of our key partners in this work of listening — including Listen4Good, Feedback Labs, and YouthTruth — will continue. These organizations need philanthropic support. We encourage every funder reading this to invest in their work ensuring they have the resources to keep advancing high-quality listening practices across the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. We also encourage you to subscribe to Listen4Good, Listen to Community, and Feedback Labs to keep apprised of the opportunities for learning and practice change.
We could not have accomplished so much over the years without the contributions of these organizations and so many other organizations and individuals. I am especially grateful for:
- Our core funders, sidecar funders, and MacKenzie Scott, who contributed to our pooled fund and made this work possible.
- The 160 funders who sponsored Listen4Good capacity building for their nonprofit partners and adopted high-quality listening practices.
- The nearly 600 nonprofits that implemented this work of listening to community, especially our six Listen to Community partners and the hundred of organizations that participated in L:isten4Good.
- The amazing Shared Insight team who brought integrity, excellence, love, and joy to everything they produced.
When I reflect on our collaborative, I know Shared Insight changed the nonprofit sector. ORS Impact’s summative evaluation found that from 2014 to 2024, Shared Insight contributed to building a robust, sustainable nonprofit feedback field; successfully supported growing numbers of nonprofits to listen, respond, and shift power through Listen4Good; and created high-quality resources and examples to support change.
Changing Philanthropy
I believe Shared Insight also changed philanthropy — in both small and big ways. When I started this work, funders asked me: “Why should I listen to community?” Today, I hear funders ask: “How can I listen to community in non-extractive ways?” and “How can I shift power to community?” There is still more changing to do, and I look forward to seeing Listen to Community carry the work forward.
I also know that Shared Insight changed us as individuals — through the relationships we built and the connections we made, and through the equity journey we undertook as a collaborative. It certainly changed me, and that spirit of transformation is captured in the reflections video and narrative case study we shared in New York and are now available on this website.
When I started this work, funders asked me: 'Why should I listen to community?' Today, I hear funders ask: 'How can I listen to community in non-extractive ways?' and 'How can I shift power to community?'
Our closing celebration at Ford was a fitting end to the collaborative and a special milestone of some of the most meaningful work of my career. My daughter Sonia, who attended the event, was barely a teenager when I started at Shared Insight and now works at the Center for Employment Opportunities — one of our very first and exemplar feedback grantee partners! And my good friends from Philly participated in the event: Charles Lattimore Howard narrated excerpts from several of his books and Ruth Naomi Floyd and Friends performed their world premiere of “Hear Us,” a piece Ruth composed especially for this occasion.
It has truly been a joy to do this good work in the company of friends. Thank you for being part of this amazing journey.
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