2020 Membership Week Review: A Closer Look
The Council hosted a series of virtual events inspired by some of philanthropy’s most important challenges and opportunities in our first-ever inaugural Member Week (December 3-7th 2020). These free events prioritized the need for Council members to connect and share insights and inspiration for the future. Here’s a quick recap:
Annual Member Meeting
Our Annual Member Meeting kicked off with remarks from Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Community Foundation who talked about his journey in adopting racial equity and economic inclusivity in his leadership and ultimately at the core of SFF’s work. During the speech Fred said:
“Equity is the new coconut water. You hear a lot of people talking about it but not a lot of people drinking it."
If you missed this dynamic conversation, watch and share with your team.
The Member Meeting concluded with remarks from Kathleen Enright, Council on Foundations President and CEO, who gave the annual State of the Council address after the Board of Directors approved the new Board slate.
Member Hour
We ended the work week with a member-only hour of wellness and connection. The resiliency themed meditation was led by our partners at Chill Anywhere, who reminded us about the importance of mindfulness, especially in our current season of isolation, change, and crisis. After the meditation we all played an interactive trivia game and broke out into small groups to further connect members across geographies, roles, and funding priorities. Many of our members mentioned the value in coming together as a Council community just to hang out and have fun.
Ask Me Anything
The questions poured in for our first-ever Ask Me Anything event with Kathleen Enright and the Council leadership team. Members enjoyed the opportunity to connect with the Council on everything from policy priorities, Donor Advised Funds, and Sustainable Development Goals, to how members of our team are finding joy and what they’ve learned these past years. The discussion took place on the Philanthropy Exchange, the Council’s peer-to-peer exchange site. Members can login to catch the full discussion thread.
Look out for more events like these in 2021 as we continue to find opportunities to engage, celebrate and support our Council community. If you have ideas on what we should consider next or if you have feedback on this years’ events, please email us at membership@cof.org.
