SCG's 2024 Annual Conference - Better Together: Creating a Collective Legacy

The results of our national, state, and local elections have long-standing impacts on our daily lives. For this reason, it is vital to create the conditions for individuals and communities to feel empowered to participate in our democracy. Recent election cycles have exacerbated doubts and anxieties about the integrity of our voting systems and democratic institutions. Amid increased division in our political and cultural landscapes, how can philanthropy help rebuild trust in our electoral processes? How can our sector help prepare and strengthen our political infrastructure for the next election cycle and beyond? In our opening plenary session, we will hear from philanthropic and civic leaders working to strengthen our institutions to build a resilient democracy and foster public trust.

Southern California faces unique climate challenges, from prolonged droughts and wildfires to coastal erosion and flooding. This breakout session will bring together philanthropic organizations, community leaders, government agencies, and private sector partners to discuss and develop strategies for enhancing climate resilience in the region. Participants will explore successful collaboration models, share best practices, and identify opportunities for new cross-sector partnerships. By the end of the session, attendees will have actionable takeaways and new connections with key players committed to advancing climate resilience initiatives across Southern California.

The LA Performance Partnership Pilot’s (LAP3) “Horizons 32K Strategic Plan” is a roadmap to a future where all Los Angeles opportunity youth secure and persist in quality education, training, and employment pathways. This session, led by the youth, education, workforce, and social support system leaders who helped develop the Horizons 32K Strategic Plan, will explore the strategies and initiatives outlined in the roadmap to create a more supportive future for young people. Our speakers will also review the progress made under the previous LAP3 plan, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth disconnection, and the renewed commitment to serving LA County's 143,000 opportunity youth. Participants will learn how government and community leaders can work together to change the systemic conditions contributing to youth disconnection in Los Angeles County.

As we approach the 2024 Presidential Election, philanthropy can be a steadying force in the face of uncertainty by helping our sector remain focused on our priorities and committed to our communities. Regardless of the outcome, funders can play an essential role in holding the government accountable by protecting hard-won rights and resourcing communities amid potential social unrest. Join this session to hear from funders already planning for this post-election period. Speakers will discuss how foundations can begin preparing for the next administration and outline the needs of grantees in the months and years ahead.

Global events in Los Angeles, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, will have drastic regional impacts and will naturally raise the question of how best to protect and support vulnerable individuals. Issues that funders are working on every day, including homelessness and justice reform, intersect in unexpected and important ways with other issues, including human trafficking. Media portrayals of sex and labor trafficking often distort public understanding, perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and even lead to the criminalization of victims. Join us to dispel myths, understand the real impact of these events on vulnerable people, and consider your role as a funder in advancing systemic change on these interrelated issues.

As any nonprofit seeking funding knows well, every foundation has its own mission, strategic goals, application steps, funding timelines - the list goes on! While many funders recognize the value of collaboration to maximize impact and streamline the funding process for community based organizations, navigating the complexities of aligning different priorities and processes can often be a daunting challenge for funders too. In this session, we will delve into the transformative power of collaborative funds to tackle our region's largest and most complex issues. Drawing on case studies of pooled funds advancing power-building, affordable housing, and arts and culture initiatives in California, our speakers will explore how these funds can unlock additional resources for communities, cede decision- making power, and drive impactful grantmaking and investments.

California’s 2045 clean energy goals have set the stage for cross-sector leaders to think differently about workforce development and training. With new job creation on the horizon to meet climate goals, how can the philanthropic sector help prepare communities to learn and take advantage of these future employment opportunities? This session will explore how funders can work together to ensure underserved communities have a competitive edge in our current and future workforce. Our speakers will discuss how innovative partnerships between the corporate, non-profit, and government sectors are creating sustainable pipelines to employment for families and communities to help break cycles of generational poverty. Participants will also engage in small group discussions to identify common barriers to employment and imagine new equitable workforce pathways. 

Foundations have a powerful yet often underutilized tool at their disposal: impact investing. This session will introduce philanthropic professionals to impact investing by exploring the different tools available to foundations, including loans, equity investments, and guarantees. Using real-world examples and case studies, attendees will learn how to leverage different impact investing strategies to help unlock capital, reduce risks, and support high-impact projects. Our session speakers will also help participants introduce impact investing strategies to their foundations and implement them into their organization’s programmatic efforts.

Trust-based dialogue practices can help foundations challenge traditional power dynamics with nonprofits and transform their grantmaking practices. Courageous Conversations are one of these dialogue practices focused on addressing challenging conversations between funders and their grantees through a relationship-building lens rooted in trust and accountability. In this session, our speakers will explore the importance of creating a culture of courageous conversations and equip attendees with the skills and resources needed to engage in trust-based dialogue practices. Participants will return to their organization feeling ready to move through discomfort and be a catalyst for change!

For two decades, a small group of foundations across Southern California have come together to provide each other peer support, rigorous discussion, and lasting community in service of effective grantmaking. SCG's Family Foundation Information Exchange (FFIX) model has grown over the years, and its members have experienced firsthand the many trends, challenges, and best practices of the philanthropic sector. In this session, FFIX leaders will share insights from the many conversations they've explored over the years, including various outward-facing (community-focused) and inward-facing (operations, governance, relationships, legacy, next-gen) topics. Our speakers will also discuss how these safe and confidential spaces have helped them share knowledge, build relationships, and advance their foundation's work. Funders outside of family philanthropy are welcome and encouraged to attend and learn how these foundations are paving the path forward to create our collective legacy.

As our nation grapples with rising social and political division, the philanthropic sector is increasingly looking for new strategies to connect and collaborate across lines of difference to counteract toxic polarization. In a soon-to-be-released set of publications, the Council on Foundations, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, and the New Pluralists conducted a landscape scan to understand how funders are building common ground and investing in bridging belonging conflict transformation, and pluralism efforts. In this interactive session, participants will explore this new research, listen to accounts of California funders actively working to bridge divides and learn how they can develop the mindset, heart set, and skill set to navigate differences and conflicts in the philanthropic sector.

California’s Master Plan for Career Education is considered a blueprint for postsecondary and workforce training across the state. The Plan aims to serve the state’s current and future workforce by making policy and budgetary recommendations and aligning education pathways with careers that reflect the needs of our state, regions, and local communities. In this panel conversation, practitioners from higher education, economic development, and systems-change spaces will discuss the development of the Plan and its upcoming implementation. Our panel of experts will also explore how philanthropy can contribute to the Plan’s implementation by working alongside communities engaged in regional systems change efforts.

This session will spotlight the grassroots organizations and movement funders developing community-led alternatives to harmful incarceration systems. These community-led initiatives include housing communities, resilience centers, and abolitionist healers focused on supporting BIPOC, LGBTQI+ individuals, and youth impacted by criminalization. Our speakers will explore healing justice as a political strategy and highlight the "bright spots" of community-led projects to inspire philanthropy to recognize its role in decarceration and align with principles that can transform our justice system. By sharing their visions and implementation strategies, movement leaders hope to inspire philanthropy to follow the leadership of those directly impacted by incarceration and fund healing and gender-responsive solutions.

Aligning grantmaking with business goals can be a powerful way to drive positive social impact while also benefiting a company's bottom line. In this session, corporate philanthropy leaders will discuss how they are aligning their grantmaking efforts with business objectives to increase brand recognition, reputation, sales, and consumer sentiment while simultaneously supporting communities. Our speakers will then lead industry-specific group discussions where corporate funders can share successes and challenges, brainstorm solutions, make new professional connections, and explore opportunities to make an impact.

Nonprofits play a vital role in the United States. Since the pandemic, we have seen nonprofits step up in the face of unprecedented challenges and continue providing essential community services and tackling complex social problems. But, four years out, how is the nonprofit sector doing, and what challenges is it facing? What do institutional and individual funders need to know about supporting these institutions today? This session will focus on the Center for Effective Philanthropy's latest report, State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know, and elevate the key trends that emerged around nonprofit employee burnout, finances, funder relationships, and more. Our panelists will help participants walk away with tangible takeaways on how they can support the well-being of their grantee organizations.

In the past few years, state-level Medi-Cal innovation has created a potential source of reliable, long-term funding for homeless service providers. But, implementation hasn’t always been smooth. As work at the intersection between health and homelessness grows, health funders have stepped up to build capacity, educate, and advocate with their CBO partners. Join this session to hear about the work of funders at this intersection, including lessons learned from a two-year cohort of homeless service providers, as well as provider and health plan perspectives. Attendees will leave with a clear picture of how they can support nonprofit partners and homeless service providers to ensure long-term sustainability and access to resources.

As Los Angeles prepares to host a series of globally significant sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have a unique opportunity to harness the power of these events to address some of our city's most pressing social challenges and celebrate our rich cultural diversity. Join us for an engaging and forward-thinking plenary session that will bring together philanthropic and civic leaders to discuss innovative strategies for leveraging these global events to create lasting social impact in our region.