Meet CWIP’s Programs & Capacity Building Committee
Committee Co-Chairs Jennifer Beller, Jacki Davidoff, and Lauren Seemeyer
In introducing the Social Change Ecosystem Map she designed, Deepa Iyer shares that “in our lives and as part of organizations, workplaces, and movements, many of us play different roles in pursuit of equity, shared liberation, inclusion, and justice.” Each member of CWIP has the opportunity to play their unique role(s) – be it a “visionary”, a “storyteller,” a “healer,” etc. – in attaining our vision of “an equitable, inclusive, and connected social sector.” Each of our members, and the roles they play, is valuable and necessary to move us forward.
As members and leaders of CWIP’s Programs and Capacity Building Committee, we embrace nurturing and developing all CWIP members’ strengths, disrupting harmful status quos, and building connections to engage in social change. Our committee does this by producing programs that educate and empower women and non-binary people in the social sector to grow personally and professionally. Our programs feature dynamic leaders and focus on issues facing the sector, professional development, and knowledge sharing between funders and nonprofit staff.
Equipping Leaders for Roles They Are Most Interested In Playing
Our committee holds the belief that we all have something to learn and share. We strive to open power dynamics to drive the exchange of new ideas and possibilities for the sector and women and non-binary individuals in it. We do this by blending:
- Personal, professional, and leadership development experiences,
- Community-building across personal and professional identity, geography, affiliation, impact area, and
- Racial equity and social justice, both fundamental and directional in program design and implementation
As another contemporary social change leader, Mariame Kaba, said, “everything worthwhile is done with other people.” Not only do we work together as a committee, but our committee’s work also complements, and is often in collaboration with, the work of our colleagues across CWIP. Most importantly, we co-create each experience in real time with each person who participates in the programming.
What Has the Committee’s Recent Work Included?
In the past year, our programming strategy has been driven by CWIP members’ and participants’ feedback regarding new interests and professional learning goals and enthusiasm for “flagship” programming, including a signature CWIP event relaunching after a multi-year pandemic-related hiatus.
Advocating for Personal and Professional Growth
We hosted a two-part series entitled, “Loud and Clear: How to Advocate for Ourselves and Our Colleagues (And Why It Matters!) in May.” Part 1 included a fireside chat and individual and group exercises, facilitated by Jacki Davidoff, Edwindra (Eddie) Johnson, and Alida Miranda-Wolff. Part 2 included a professionally-facilitated peer coaching workshop where participants brought leadership challenges for discussion and reflection.
Taking Action to Drive Workplace Inclusion and Belonging
Based on member feedback regarding full inclusion and belonging for the LGBTQIA+ community and individuals in our work, we hosted two events focused on learning and taking action. First, Shannon Downey facilitated a live virtual Friday Share on LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in the Workplace, sharing tools and frameworks to put immediately in place in our relationships and teams. Second, we gathered in person for a roundtable discussion on LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in the Social Sector Workplace, facilitated by Gabriela Kreszchuk and Whitney Wade. Both events featured supported conversation and real-time idea sharing among participants.
Facilitating Conversations Among Funders and Funded
We were thrilled to bring back our signature Face to Face with Funders event last year! Funder representatives joined small groups of grantseeker representatives for conversation and mutual learning. Across organization types and impact/funding areas, the sold-out event brought leaders from every corner of our sector to share ideas, trade questions and ideas, remove barriers, and build a basis for future connection.
(Re)defining What and Who Counts in Philanthropy
In collaboration with our leader-practitioner colleagues from CWIP’s Membership Committee, we produced two Friday Share events in September 2024 focused on Who and What Counts: Recognizing BIPOC and Women Leaders’ Contributions. Akira Barclay, Christine Munteanu, and Kelly Brown shared perspectives and recommendations for how we push for more accurate, comprehensive, and inclusive data about philanthropy–and philanthropists–so our giving does get measured, and matters more universally.
What’s Coming Next for the Committee?
Stay tuned for a variety of programming throughout the coming year, including a relaunch of our speed mentoring event, new Friday Shares, Face to Face With Funders, and leadership development offerings. Our next event is featured below.
Promoting Real-time Support and Mentorship
Coming this winter, we are relaunching our CWIP signature speed mentoring event as Mentorship Merry-Go-Round. This new format will retain the emphasis on building real-time connections and providing real-time support to colleagues across our sector. What will change from past iterations is that each participant will serve as both mentor and mentee. We all have perspectives that are different from and valuable to each other, and we will facilitate those exchanges while reinforcing our belief that we are all peers in the work we do.
If you’d like to learn more about the committee or have an idea for a program, email Jen Beller, Jacki Davidoff, or Lauren Seemeyer.
We will be promoting these programs via email, the CWIP website, and social media. Your voice adds a valuable perspective and makes each event worthwhile. We hope to see you at these upcoming programs!