11:00-12:30
Workshop rooms
Three parallel dialogues:
Dialogue 1:
Transition moves: with Stefan Binder, Raji Hunter chaired by Celia Hannon
This session will be a space to explore new approaches to stewarding and transferring philanthropic resources, both from the perspective of a long-established foundation and from those operating outside of institutions.
We will hear from Raji Hunter, the CEO of the Tudor Trust in the UK, which is in the midst of a transition away from being a family-controlled foundation, towards a ‘total asset’ approach predicated on racial, social and economic justice. She will be joined in this dialogue by Stefan Binder, a ‘wealth holder’ searching for radically different ways to liberate accumulated wealth away from the dominant system. Stefan is the funder behind the Arising Quo initiative, which is currently pioneering a series of micro-demonstrators to explore alternative ways of moving wealth. Stefan will also speak to his experience as part of the Guerrilla Funders Circle, which has rejected many of the orthodoxies of traditional foundations in pursuit of finding more responsive ways to channel resources to marginalised communities in Europe.
Dialogue 2:
In the middle with you: with Mohammed Afridi, Rajasvini Bhansali and chaired by Halima Khan
Into the gaps left behind by existing foundation practice, a new breed of intermediary is emerging.
In this dialogue, led by the CEO of Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Halima Khan, we will explore how new partnerships and hybrid organisational models might extend and supplement what traditional foundations are capable of doing alone. Mohammed Afridi will introduce the underpinning philosophy and genesis of the UK’s Civic Power Fund, and we will explore parallels with the Solidaire ‘donor organising’ model in the US outlined by Rajasvini Bhansali in the day’s opening panel. We will consider how funding can become more responsive to short-term crises and also the long-term trends threatening to destabilise civil society. If community organising is to be one of the last lines of defense in countering the rise of a populist and divisive narrative, what lessons can Europe and the UK take from the experience of those funding grassroots work in the US?
Dialogue 3:
Next gen: how can foundations invest in the wealth of future communities?
In conversation with Derek Bardowell and Eli Manderson Evans (the CEO of Blagrave Trust). Chaired by Charlie Leadbeater.
Eli Manderson Evans will share his learning on how to start moving from a wealth preservation mindset, towards strategies which centre investment in future generations. With his board, Eli has been exploring how best to resource infrastructure and democratic governance structures in communities over the very long-term.
Ideas such as this are being spearheaded by a new cohort of leaders who are openly pushing back against some of the fundamental precepts of philanthropy. As these ‘silent engineers’ stretch our collective ambitions, how do we support new talents and leaders into the sector to take much-needed risks?