To give a little context, I live in the lovely state of Minnesota. I live here because for 3 months Minnesota is one of the most glorious places in the world (National Geographic agrees). The other 9 months have me holed up, in front of the fireplace, dreaming of a warm breeze. So as I looked over my calendar for this month, I was surprised that I have completely booked the month of June with meeting after meeting in windowless conference rooms. If this doesn’t stop soon, it will be Fall and I’ll still be the color of printer paper. The solution is the summer bucket list. Thinking about all of the specific things that I want to do, will encourage me to actual schedule it and do it. I’d also like to hear your summer bucket list ideas in the comments.

1. Go to a drive-in movie

2. Strawberry picking at the end of June  We went to a farm by our house, it was one of those experiences where I will look back at the pictures and say “wow, we had such a great time”. The actual experience was filled with complaining children and the smell of manure. On the positive side, the stawberries were delicious and my kids could see that food actual grows somewhere.

3. Concert at Lake Harriet Bandshell

4. Comedy at the Park

5. Kayaking at Lake of the Isles and lunch at Tin Fish Restaurant

6. Twins Game (so what if I hate sports, I want to see the new stadium)

7. Uptown Art Fair- August 5-7

8. Izzy’s Ice Cream I was probably eating the ice cream before the post was complete. MMMM Izzy’s.

9. Minnesota State Fair

10. Wine tasting at Chateau St. Croix Vineyard This was so much fun, if you are in the Twin Cities look for their deals on Groupon and Crowdcut.

11. Visit Northern Minnesota, including a ride on the Alpine Rollercoaster at Spirit Mountain My hubby and I took a short vacation to Duluth and had a great time! I convinced him to go on the Alpine Rollercoaster and it was fabulous. Beautiful view the whole way down.

12. Visit Taylor’s Falls

I just received a press release that made my heart sing. I know that is rare but hear me out. Many nonprofit organizations and consulting firms complain that there are not enough young people with the skills and interest to lead the nonprofit sector. This is an example of a firm that is actually doing something by giving undergraduates the chance to do social change work at their firm. I think it’s a great example for all of us. From Frontline:

 In June, the philanthropic sector will be introduced to six undergraduates handpicked by the social change organization Frontline Solutions. The Hilliard P. Jenkins Undergraduate Fellowship Program, now in its second year, is an internship opportunity for students to receive practical training with senior staff at Frontline Solutions.
Aimed at aspiring professionals with a passion for the fields of social justice and entrepreneurship, the Hilliard P. Jenkins Fellowship Program is a venue to aid and learn from Frontline’s ongoing work of supporting foundations and nonprofits and the communities in which they serve. Through the summer internship, HPJ Fellows are placed at one of Frontline’s offices in Durham, NC, Philadelphia, PA, and Brooklyn, NY. The students receive introductions to organizations in their base office and around the country, and receive professional development opportunities by working on a variety of high-impact projects. 
“Being a part of exposing students to the multiple facets of the social change sector is both fun and fundamental to our mission to invest in the pipeline of emerging social change leaders,’” says Frontline Senior Partner Marcus Littles. “Our work allows us to engage with policymakers, academicians, community leaders, organizers, grantmakers and entrepreneurs. We have been privileged the past couple of years to have the best and brightest students work along with us, and this year is no exception.”

The program is designed to expose fellows to the inner workings and strategy development of a start-up consulting firm in its sixth year of operation as well as the work of Frontline’s clients, such as W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Community Investment Network and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy.  Before the program ends in August, each fellow will take at least one Frontline-supported work trip and participate in multiple meetings with clients and community partners around the country. Read more about the HPJ Fellowship.

Frontline Solutions (helpingchangehappen.com) is a social change organization that invests in the pipeline of social change leaders; provides consulting services to institutions in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors; and engages in field-building in three areas of expertise: Education, Social Innovation, and Males of Color.

The fabulous Rosetta Thurman has a great post about The Voice of Nonprofit Talent Report. Diversity is critical to the sector but most reports dance around this idea. From Rosetta:

About a dozen people sent me the link to The Voice of Nonprofit Talent: Perceptions of Diversity in the Workplace, a new study produced by Commongood Careers and Level Playing Field Institute. I didn’t read it right away because honestly, most reports about diversity in the nonprofit sector pretty much say the same damn thing and are a total waste of funder’s money.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Nonprofit staff isn’t very diverse. Nonprofit boards aren’t very diverse. Nonprofits need more diversity. Nonprofits don’t know where to find people of color. Nonprofits can’t seem to attract young people. Or gay people. Blah blah blah. Whatevs.

But this study is a little different. Yes, the study focuses on ethnic and racial diversity in the nonprofit workplace, but it’s the first report I’ve seen that doesn’t focus on the fact that nonprofits are ruled by white people.

Instead, it examines the repercussions of what happens when organizations do nothing to change this reality.

Read the rest of this post here.

The winner of the Nonprofit Rockstar 6 month anniversary contest is Mary Migliorelli! Thanks for all of the entries and for making the book “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar” a success.

Philanthropy On Trial from Council on Foundations on Vimeo.

Thank you for your support of How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar! In just six months, the book has made a positive impact in the careers of nonprofit professionals all over the world. (Shout out to our very enthusiastic readers Colin in London and Carmen in the Netherlands!)

In honor of the 6 month anniversary of the book we have some exciting things going on this week:

-Free 1-hour teleseminar with me and Rosetta called “Movin’ On Up: 7 Steps to Rock Your Nonprofit Job Search”. Check out www.rosettathurman.com for more detals.

-25% discount on copies of the book purchased this week. Get the ebook here or your hard copy here. If you already have a copy for yourself, have you gotten one for your work BFF, cousin who just finished the Peace Corps, or your neighbor who is getting her nonprofit management degree?

-Last but not least we are having a special contest this week. We want to know what your definition of a nonprofit rockstar is. Leave your answer in the comments and you have a chance to win a signed copy of the book! The contest ends May 6th.

YNPN of Detroit did an amazing summary of the session that I led at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy conference. Check out their blog for other great posts. From YNPN Detroit:

I had the chance to hear Trista Harris (co-author of How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar) discuss how to build your multi-generational network at the National Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) Conference. This serves as a nice complement to the session by Rosetta Thurman at the YNPN National Conference that we blogged a couple of weeks ago.  Here’s what Trista had to say…

In approaching networking, Trista referred to a saying from a fortune cookie: “You are the average of your 5 closest friends.” This means that it is very important that you think about how you keep close to you, and how they relate to who you want to be.  Also, Trista noted, it is important to not limit yourself to people like you. She suggested that some cross-generational insight will make the guidance you receive much stronger. In order to achieve that, however, you must grow your network.

Growing your network

Trista suggested that you start with the network you already have. Make sure you let people know when you’re going through a transition.  Also, don’t rebuild your network with every new job. Take that contact information with you – those are relationships that you have built, so don’t leave them behind.

Of course, if you do this a couple of time your list of contacts can become pretty large!  To make this manageable, create lists as you build your network.  Then, when you run across information you think will be helpful to a certain segment of your network, you can quickly shoot it off without too much effort. This also creates much more robust relationships – it demonstrates that you are putting thought into who that person is and not just spamming them periodically. You become someone who adds value to your network, as opposed to someone who is always just looking for help.

The Power of Your Network

It’s great that you have folks willing to serve as references when you apply for a new job. However, managers are much more impressed by those people who offer their positive opinions of you unsolicited.  The best way to have these people in your corner is to build a strong network.  By having a number of folks who can speak on your behalf as a nonprofit professional, you create more opportunities for these unsolicited endorsements.

Also, Trista noted that people with strong networks are less likely to get laid off by their organization. When you have a strong network and you get laid off, people ask about you and want to know what happened.  This can get pretty uncomfortable for managers.

What about when you’re at a conference?  Introduce Yourself!

Trista asked us all to participate in a practice exercise: Person 1: Introduce yourself with a 1-2 sentence bio. Person 2:  Listen. What questions do you have for the person? What excited you about what s/he had to say?

After having the opportunity to practice this and share, the group learned the following:  Bios get exciting when people feel as though they have a personal connection to what has been said. (This might be where you are from, or the work you’re involved in – whatever strikes a chord with them.)  What this means is that with a really short introduction, you can create an avenue for a much more robust conversation.  Within just a sentence or two, you are creating an opportunity to folks to “hook in” to your passion and interests and share their own.

Read the rest here.

This morning, during the final plenary of the Council on Foundations conference, I had the opportunity to hear from former diplomat and ex-COF president James A. Joseph. “You got to hear the Ambassador!” friends and colleagues told me (Joseph earned that title as the U.S. ambassador to South Africa during the 1990s). They were right.

Joseph’s speech was called “Philanthropy and Pluralism: Diversity That Does Not Divide.” Although he took a sober look at the current state of things—we are “a badly divided nation is a badly divided world”—he offered up wisdom about how intentional diversity practices can start drawing us all together. Foundations, he reminded the audience, have much more than conventional capital to offer, listing those additional assets of social, intellectual, moral, and what he called “reputational” capital (using social capital as collateral to “vouch” for organizations).

During these past three days, I heard a good deal of dollars and cents talk, so it was great to receive that exhortation to do that spiritual work of digging deeper for the sake of building more inclusive communities.

Brian Baughan is Director of Communications at Frontline Solutions (helpingchangehappen.com), a social change organization that invests in the pipeline of social change leaders; provides consulting services to institutions in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors; and engages in field-building in three areas of expertise: Education, Social Innovation, and Males of Color.

I can count on my hands the number of friends of mine who serve on a board of a nonprofit or foundation. As a 33-year-old, I don’t think that this fact is all that unusual, nor does it reveal that my friends are apathetic. It’s just there aren’t that many people from my age group doing much in that particular world–not yet.

Today I went to a Council of Foundations session that promoted a new wave of philanthropists. Called “Challenging the Status Quo: Next Gen Civic Engagement Through Philanthropy,” and moderated by my friend and colleague Marcus Littles, the session featured three panelists: Daniel Kaufman of the One Percent Foundation, Elizabeth Snowdon of the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, and Derrick Johnson, who talked primarily about his roles as board member of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and state president of the Mississippi NAACP. All three individuals made the case for engaging the next generation, with compelling personal examples of how to recruit, train, and inspire young leaders.

The session helped debunk three myths about age and board service:

1. You need a lot of money to be a donor or Board member.

2. You need decades of experience to do what Board members do.

3. The older generation of Board members does not need or want younger leaders to serve.

To quote Trista Harris in an earlier post, “We are here!” Let’s spread the word so that for the first time, more 20-somethings and 30-somethings can imagine themselves as social change leaders.

Brian Baughan is Director of Communications at Frontline Solutions (helpingchangehappen.com) a social change organization that invests in the pipeline of social change leaders; provides consulting services to institutions in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors; and engages in field-building in three areas of expertise: Education, Social Innovation, and Males of Color.

Of all the powerful ideas shared by presenters during today’s sessions at the Council on Foundations, the most powerful among them was the notion that philanthropy, done right, could make itself obsolete.

Essentially, this is the platform of the Working Group on Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace, which shared developments in its plan to form the Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace Network. By funding effective social justice work, these proponents believe that collectively we can help dismantle the systems that leave too many people poor and on the margins.

The group invited discussion during two different sessions today. In the morning, over 60 people crowded into a tiny room to hear what has been brewing since 2007 and to receive a draft of a manifesto put together by the Working Group. The paper was informed by a planning meeting held in 2009 in Cairo, Egypt. (Kudos to whoever chose that meeting site.) Since then, the group has been honing in on the foundational components of the network, including its values, strategies & tactics, and community engagement models.

This is my first COF conference, and I’ve learned today that no session takes place without addressomg the issue of measuring impact. And with good reason. I’m happy to say that my organization, Frontline Solutions, is contributing to a growing body of knowledge on philanthropic support for social justice efforts. For the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), we recently authored a report that showed the positive impact of funder-supported nonprofit advocacy and organizing in the Gulf/Mid-South region. This report is the seventh in NCRP’s Grantmaking for Community Impact series. Look for it to be published in early May.

I can’t predict what will become of the Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace Network. But I do know that if philanthropists can work toward a vision of putting themselves out of work, I’m on board.

Brian Baughan is Director of Communications at Frontline Solutions (helpingchangehappen.com), a social change organization that invests in the pipeline of social change leaders; provides consulting services to institutions in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors; and engages in field-building in three areas of expertise: Education, Social Innovation, and Males of Color.