At the March 17 Social Innovation Forum (SIF) event, “Promoting Economic Self-Sufficiency for Women,” speaker Deborah Goldberg, state treasurer of Massachusetts, lauded Budget Buddies’ important work and underscored the necessity of promoting wage equality and women’s economic empowerment. Throughout her speech, Treasurer Goldberg spoke passionately about the power of collaboration.

The theme of collaborative power, and especially the collaborative power of women, could not have been more appropriate. Budget Buddies, led by co-founders Anita Saville and Kathy Brough, both promotes and embodies the power of women working together to help other women. Ms. Saville described the financial coaches—women who work one-on-one with the organization’s clients, sometimes for years—as the heart of the program.

Coincidentally—or not!—the SIF track sponsor that ultimately selected Budget Buddies as a 2016 Innovator was also a collaborative of women. The Anna B. Stearns Charitable Foundation, a well-established local entity focused on women and girls in Greater Boston, had the privilege of identifying and partnering with four other funders committed to women’s and girls’ empowerment:  the Miriam Fund, the Story Exchange, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, and Womenade Boston.

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This is an excerpt of an article written by Hannah Blaisdell, foundation assistant at GMA Foundations, for the Social Innovation Forum’s blog (click here to read in full).

WEBINAR & PUBLICATION

A family’s unique set of dynamics is often a significant influence on a foundation’s governance and operations,and can also extend to how family foundations’ experiences with consultants differ from those of other foundations or nonprofits. In this webinar offered by the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers on January 20, 2016, our presenters – a consultant and two executive directors – will explore common experiences that lead family foundations to seek external help and recommendations for managing successful consulting engagements.

This webinar is based on an article published in The Foundation Review’s Spring 2015 philanthropy edition, GMA -The Family Foundation Life Cycle and the Role of Consultants.

Download the GMA Family Fdn – Consultant Guide as a practical resource for your board when deciding to seek third party expertise.

Presenters: Mary Phillips, GMA Foundations; Susan Shore Schwartz, The Cemala Foundation; Suzanna Stribling, The Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation

Dear Reader:

So you didn’t win the Powerball Jackpot.

The recent epidemic of Powerball Fever had many of us, gamblers and non-gamblers alike, lining up to buy tickets against clearly ridiculous odds. It was the triumph of fantasy over realism, to be sure. Each of us, as we succumbed to the mania, said to ourselves, “Well, what if I did win all that money? What would I do?”

As the jackpot grew, we faced the obvious fact that we couldn’t—not to mention, shouldn’t – think of spending only on ourselves. For many Powerball “investors,” this led to the question of how we’d use those riches to improve the world. We’d cure homelessness, help kids go to college, start a dance troupe that performed in public spaces. Imagining untold wealth let us daydream about doing good for countless others. We didn’t win, of course, but our experiment in philanthropy wasn’t for naught. Let’s hold on to our visions of how we can give, even in amounts smaller than $1.5 billion, instead of shredding them with the losing Powerball tickets. Maybe, just maybe, the fantasy itself is the payoff for us and for our communities.

Amy

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Amy Segal Shorey, a senior consultant at GMA, wrote this note to the readers of the Boston Globe on the morning after the $1.5 billion Powerball drawing. She can be reached at ashorey@gmafoundations.com