“A Paradigm Shift” for Community Power Building: COO Presents at National Grant-Makers Conference
L-R: Michael Brown, Elsa Batres-Boni, and Jackie Vaughn at their PEAK2024 Conference presentation.
Communities of Opportunity Governance Group members were invited to co-present at the PEAK2024 national conference in Seattle recently. PEAK is a community of 8,000 philanthropy professionals dedicated to advancing equitable, effective grantmaking practices – very aligned with COO’s values.
Elsa Batres-Boni, COO’s interim director, joined fellow Governance Group members Michael Brown from Civic Commons, Seattle Foundation (COO sponsor), and Jackie Vaughn of Surge Reproductive Justice. In their workshop, “A Paradigm Shift for Building Community Power through a Public-Private Partnership,” they described COO’s unique funding and shared decision-making model.
Giving Up Power
The “paradigm shift” at the center of this presentation involves shifting community power, and what it means for institutions to give up power. The team explained that COO defines “giving up power” as investing in:
People power – through organizing at scale or in innovative ways, including base building and leadership development.
Alliance and relationship power – particularly among Black, brown, and immigrant organizations.
Governance power – to shape institutional decision making as a legitimate and credible “force to be reckoned with.”
Narrative power – to shape public narrative and discourse. This includes ongoing evolution on the evaluation process, and honoring partners’ own definitions of success.
As an example of how COO works to build power, funded partner Jackie Vaughn shared the story of the Doulas For All Coalition. Led by Surge, this partnership is making significant process in a long-term and historic collaborative effort. They are working with other community-based organizations, elected officials, government agencies and others to change Washington state policy. Soon, Medicaid coverage may be available for birth doula services for the first time in our state. (This South Seattle Emerald piece shares the recent progress.)
The COO workshop was a success, attracting more than 100 local, regional, and national government and private grant-makers.
“The people at the workshop showed a keen interest in learning about COO's 10-year experience investing in community-driven work and advancing King County communities' health, housing, and economic opportunities,” Elsa said.
More about PEAK2024
The PEAK2024 conference, with the main theme of “Reimagining Philanthropy,” featured presenters from across the nation who shared the ways in which philanthropists are working to change and advance equitable, effective grantmaking practices. Held March 18-20, it drew 1,500 grant-makers from around the country.
Keynote speakers with a local tie included Vu Le, who writes the popular blog NonprofitAF. He is the former executive director of RVC, a nonprofit in Seattle that promotes social justice by supporting leaders of color, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration among diverse communities. Vu joined Edgar Villanueva, author of “Decolonizing Wealth,” for the opening keynote, “Reimagining People-Centered Philanthropy.”
Elsa’s view of the opening keynote featuring Vu Le (center) and Edgar Villanueva (right).
For more highlights of the conference, check out PEAK2024’s graphic recordings of the keynotes. You can also visit PEAK2024’s social wall for takeaways and touristy photos (including cherry blossoms!) from conferencegoers.
Visit our website for more information about our Governance Group.
For grant-makers interested in PEAK, their next monthly coffee for Pacific Northwest grant-makers is Thursday, May 16.