What’s Happening in the Field?

Are you looking to expand your network, gain inspiration or gather knowledge from the field? Here’s my latest roundup of events and resources for professionals and activists working at the intersection of philanthropy, social change and environment.

The Song of Trees – On May 10, my good friend Elizabeth Allison, a professor with California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco will host a conversation with David Haskell, a scholar of the natural world. His newest book, The Songs of Trees, explores trees around the world—exploring their connections with webs of fungi, bacterial communities, cooperative and destructive animals, and other plants.

Conservationists working in philanthropy shared their roads to success with the Women’s Environmental Network community in March 2017.

Women’s Environmental Network events. Please visit WEN’s event page for upcoming events including speed networking in Oakland on May 17, a leadership workshop with Wendy Millet on May 20 and a hike in the Berkeley hills to celebrate summer on June 22. For July, an event is in the works to explore coverage of environmental issues in the media at a time when many of us working in the environmental fields are facing new and unprecedented challenges to environmental protections. If you have suggestions, please contact me.

Bay Area Open Space Council Annual Conference – On May 18, the Council will host their annual conference at Richmond’s Craneway Pavilion.

Polar Obsession – You do not want to miss this photography exhibition on the ground level of the David Brower Center in Berkeley. The exhibition ends July 21 and features nearly 40 striking images of the world’s polar regions from National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen. The exhibit will give you a new appreciation for arctic landscapes and wildlife in the face of climate change.

Flower Piano 2017. Save some dates between July 17 – 24 for the third annual Flower Piano music festival in San Francisco Botanical Garden. My colleagues at the Garden are building community using the concepts of “creative placemaking” — deepening collaborations to further engage youth and families from culturally diverse communities and expanding access to the arts and nature in a welcoming public space.

Funding for libraries – Earlier this year the Foundation Center launched a new tool “Visualizing Funding for Libraries.” The Foundation Center developed the tool after they identified libraries as overlooked and underfunded organizations that play a critical role in today’s society.

Why philanthropy must do more on climate change –  Hewlett Foundation president Larry Kramer writes about how philanthropy can do more to support efforts to help avert the worst harms of a warming planet.

Foundation aims to strengthen connections between scientists and policymakers – Inside Philanthropy recently wrote about how the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation works to connect scientists with policymakers through its support of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations like California Council on Science and Technology.

New investment fund for women social entrepreneurs –  Since August 2016, Oakland-based Philanthropic Ventures Foundation has been supporting a new and innovative program for social entrepreneurs: SheEO. SheEO launched its program in three U.S. cities last year: Los Angeles, Colorado, and San Francisco and made its first awards to five organizations. Under SheEO’s model to support female entrepreneurs, up to 1,000 women (called “activators”) each contribute $1,100, which is pooled into a fund and loaned out, interest-free, to local, women-led ventures with a social good mission. Applications for the next round of funding open in summer 2017.

Bay Area Book Festival – Over the weekend of June 3 and 4, 2017​, the Bay Area Book Festival returns to downtown Berkeley, California to welcome 200 local, national, and international authors and speakers
in 100 literary sessions (panels, interviews, keynotes and performances) in auditoriums and
theaters throughout downtown. This year’s festival, with a focus on “literary activism”, will emphasize writers and books that promote social justice, sanctuary, inclusion, freedom of expression and environmental sustainability. Organizers expect 50,000 attendees. The Bay Area Book Festival is the primary project of the Foundation for the Future of Literature and Literacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.