NurtureGirl

Philanthropy - field changing October 28, 2008

This is extracted from a note I sent out to Leaders engaged with Inspired Legacies:

The theme for my trip seemed to be democratization of philanthropy and knowledge sharing across internet sites and organizational silos.

Tracy and I met up and joined Leif and Eric Utne along with several of my friends for dinner. Eric is doing some amazing work bringing multi-generational folks together for salons. See Utne Reader or Earthcouncils.org. He met up with Peggy from Wiser Earth to talk about adding a layer to Wiser that would enable peer standard form peer feedback across multiple criteria - rate the nonprofits based on your experience with them. It could be something to watch regarding donor attention.

This all flowed very smoothly into a conversation with Christine Egger from SocialActions (a tool that brings together actions from over 30 sites to be redistributed across the net). Christine is quite a thinker, and we had felt like we were path sisters when I met her in May. We want to have an event and produce a book/report/catalog with the aim of catalyzing philanthropy as gentle compassion (more than money and more than just an act of doing). We discussed transformative philanthropy, thrivability, moving from giving to sharing, and much more.

4 years ago there was a Giving conference in Chicago. Christine and I want to do something of a follow up on that. Much progress has been made, and we want to assemble the players for the next stage of the co-evolution. I will keep you posted. The event is tentatively planned for April. See what Christine had to say.

Finally, as I find more and more people in philanthropy on twitter, I also discover better and better information. Just yesterday one of my followers (from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation) linked me to an awesome report which includes about 70% of the trends I have been paying attention to in the field of philanthropy. I strongly encourage at least a perusal of this important report.

The report called Intentional Innovation: How Getting More Systematic about Innovation Could Improve Philanthropy and Increase Social Impact, calls to the importance and value of thinking and using more systematically about innovation in the work of philanthropy and nonprofit sector.

Through this study, the Kellogg Foundation, working with Clohesy Consulting and the Monitor Group, learned some concepts for helping change the way the social sector thinks about innovation.
ttp://www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=94&CID=6&ItemID=5001167&NID=85&LanguageID=0

Next, the same contact, Stephanie McAuliffe, also shared a bunch of pdfs about network weaving, strategy, social media etc.

I also was pointed to change.org blog — “In Defense of Raising Money” Very cool post discovered by my fellow Chicagoan and brilliant change agent, Nathanial Whittmore.

It is very exciting to see the convergence emerging, and there is no better time than now to shift gears for uplift in the philanthropic sector. Thank you for your part of this effort! Please share your articles, links, insights, and intentions!

Savoring People in San Fran October 23, 2008

Wow, what an incredible trip.

Friday night I arrived in San Francisco. Michael Maranda and I drove to the San Fran University area to meet with the Appropedia folks organizing the Open Sustainability Network camp. Discovering that they didn’t have a clear plan for facilitation, I stepped in. I knew if I didn’t that it would not be where I wanted to be. Do-acracy, right. The amazing and delightful Evonne Heyning along with her handsome, Brent, joined us. (Despite her living in LA, we do manage to make our paths cross several times a year.) I have a tagging project in mind based on an idea I came up with during the Omidyar.net days. It will be perfect for collaborating with Amoration and Evonne’s circles of love. I will tell you about it when we are ready. (Too bad I missed Tony Deifell, because he is such a whiz at spreading mind-opening ideas.)

Saturday the conference began. An amazing woman, Amber Word, arrived to act as our greeter and artist. I wrote up the four principles of Open Space and the two laws, then Amber drew a splendid butterfly and bumblebee. Collectively we created our marketplace, and I was pleased to see a rich collection of ideas being explored next to projects being shared. We, of course, had a session to discuss what sustainability means. I am thrilled to share that people really loved the thrivability framing. Let the thrivability meme propagate!

I left a bit early (Michael Maranda took over running the evening news). Kaliya had arrived, and we talked until it was time to head to the East Bay. (Kaliya missed the Sunday session where her knowledge of open standards would have been incredibly useful. Perhaps her energy helped create that space/conversation.) Kaliya and I jumped on public transit and talked on the ride to Rockridge. I always enjoy her discerning insight into process and identity. We parted with promises to hang out at the Bioneers after-party on Sunday.

Next, Tom Portante met me at the train stop. We have been talking about going out to Tilden for a carousel ride for a couple months. We made it just in time for two twirls around the merry-go-round. As we walked up to it, I realized that it might be sort of silly for two adults to be riding, but I let that inner voice fade into silence as the horses went up and down, and the spin nearly pulled me off the saddle. What a thrill. How alive! We had time for dinner and espresso in Berkeley before arriving at Wisteria Ways for a house concert. (I did their web design years ago.) After hugging my old friend Lisa Tracy, we reveled in the amazing voice of Amy X Neuberg. WOW. Fantastic experience, and Tom is just the person to share it with. He really knows how to savor experiences.

Sunday at the conference found new friends easily discussing projects, actions, and possibilities at the Open Sustainability Network conference (#osn). I enjoyed conversations on geo-mashups, messaging the network, and building a coalition for Open Sustainability. I think we came away with a group committed to sharing data and creating data-standards–yeah!!! Post-conference de-brief dinner was lovely ending with goodbyes to several of our amazing circle. But I managed to steal away Lonny, Amber, Chris, and Scott for the Bioneers afterparty.

We arrived miraculously (without clear directions) at the Sacred Grove. I managed to find both Kaliya and Kachina Katrina. We thought we might stay an hour, but we wandered, danced, and played until 3am. (I believe the band we danced to was Dogon Lights.) I might have mingled more, but it was gret to focus on playing with the people I brought.

Monday started late. I met Lisa Parker on Haight at The People’s Cafe. (I met Lisa at our Inspired Legacies event in late June.) We have much in common and a shared vision, so our time together went fast. I am eager to see what Lisa does next with YouthGive as well as her own efforts to help democratize philanthropy.

Monday evening was our dinner party! Rather than run around the Bay Area having one on one meetings this time, I had decided to have a dinner where people could meet each other. Jerry was one of the people I invited, and he had plans with some friends that night. So he brought them with. (Jerry and I are working together with some amazing people on guildsmiths.) Tracy Gary made it! (And my dear co-founder showed me our Inspired Legacies bi-annual report which consumed my life since early August along with our trade show booth banners - so terrific!). So the crew who turned up for dinner at Chow included: Jerry Michalski, April Rinne, Tracy Gary, Eric Utne, Leif Utne, Leif’s friend JP, Amber Word, Kaliya Hamlin, and later in the evening David Harris and his partner. Topics on the table included TheUptake (Leif is on the board), Zanby, EarthCouncils.org (Eric’s project), Global Lives (David’s work), Inspired Legacies (showing off the report), microfinance, and more. As the party broke up hours later, Leif invited those remaining to karaoke. Eric, Leif, JP, Amber and I wandered down the street, with all our bags in tow, to a fabulous little bar and some fun. I have never been to a karaoke night, so I had to turn off the little inner voice arguing not to do anything to look silly, and be open to whatever might happen. It was fabulous!

Tuesday again started late. I met with David Harris for more conversation (I have done some limited pro-bono consulting for Global Lives since I met David at Omidyar.net in 06.) He is consulting for Institute for the Future, so he gave me a tour and a handful of introductions. IFTF maps on the wall made me feel right at home. The experience was highly encouraging. We caught up a bit - David has been doing a lot of traveling for his project; then he kindly coached me some on the services Nurture offers. Since I passed Redwood City on the way to see David, I messaged Thomas Kriese. We met at Peets around 4pm for a fast-paced exchange and update. Next, I went back into San Fran to meet with Jodee Rich of Peoplebrowsr for a demo and discussion over dinner.

What a phenomenal trip. Thanks to everyone I met with! And apologies to many I missed this time through.

Unlock Capacity and Capital October 7, 2008

I had a wild brainstorm last night. I wish I could share all of it with you. I was pattern finding in history to get a sense of the convergence of shifts we are experiencing. And I was sensing that what goes beyond post-modernism, from what I can see, is a pragmatic humanism. In this, there is a search for what is useful rather than finding some grand overarching theory that explains it all and determines interpretations and meaning. Help me here if you can, the key elements I see from NLP to Integral Theory and beyond: value our nature as humans, seek fit, self-evolving collective organisms, and a search for utility - what works. (By “seek fit” I reference the misinterpretation of Darwin as survival of the fittest being the most capable and assert the other possible interpretation - that what thrives is what fits in that ecosystem.)

I have been listening to a CD on Influence, thinking about Clay Shirky and the success of tools like wikipedia in harnessing human capacity…so…

So from there I wondered, how do we unlock our collective capacity and capital (in many forms)?

a shared sense of ownership and agency
opportunity
small tight feedback loops
connection and a sense of collective self
usability
higher purpose/mission/shared values

What else or what would you include?

By shared sense of ownership and agency, I mean we as contributors need to feel we have some claim over and investment in what we are giving too as well as a sense of our own ability to take action.

By opportunity, I mean there must be a clear path to taking action that we can recognize as a possibility. This might be the very existence of a website that we can find and participate on.

By small feedback loops, I want to be clear that we need to get information quickly and directly that our contribution is accepted and valued. We need regular positive affirmation and attention that what we do matters. And we learn when this attention offers constructive criticism.

We are beings who thrive on connection, social animals. Whether leaders or followers, we are drawn to opportunities where we know we are connected to others and to a collective (especially a meaning-making mission driven collective).

Usability. Well, lofty ideals and warm friends won’t get you there unless you can navigate the systems of an organization organism -whether that is a website or a group process.

Higher purpose/mission/values. I was thinking about why the social networks working for good arouse so many passionate committed individuals giving their time and talent. We strive for a meaningful life and a purpose to our identity, and thus organisms/organizations that call to our higher purpose, mission, and/or values pay us in identity credit–the most valued credit in our times.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what unlocks capacity and capital, as this is surely just preliminary thinking on the subject.

Thank you.

Rebuild August 21, 2008

Absolutely brilliant article by my new Chicago pal, Jo. Not only does she write in a way that explains why things are the way they are, but she does it in an elegant and engaging fashion.

“The nation’s skeleton is as fragile as the candy-cane bones sucked down to threads on Cinco de Mayo.”

Gorgeous! Scary. Informative.

Don’t finish that! April 3, 2008

I have the sense that there are lots of people doing really great work…but they want to get it to a finished point before sharing it. Really? Sure about that?

In the age of participatory, nay, collaborative culture, as soon as something is finished it can’t be collaborative. If you want other people pitching in to make an idea work, software better, or actions more impactful…don’t dictate what should happen and push out what has been finished. Open with curiosity. Share vision and motivation…share ideas as rough sketches for group discussion. Collaboration doesn’t work as well if comes off as “I made this, now will you implement it?” *

Collaboration works better as “I had an idea, what would you do…? or would you help me figure out…?” And it can really work well with a bit of acknowledgment like, “You are such a whiz kid at x, and I was working on this idea related to that….could you help me think it through?” or “You are so well connected in z neighborhood/network, I would like to vision there. How do you think that could work?” So I encourage those of us in collaboration to stop finishing things. Let documents come alive–living documents invite collaboration… Let ideas and actions live.

*This worked better in pyramidal structures where authority or perceived authority can push things to happen. In collaborative culture, work is accomplished by attraction–the pull of an idea, person, thing, or vision. And the key to get in the door of collaboration is invitation. Don’t invite people to a party that is finished.

Collaborative Organization March 30, 2008

For now, see the image…I had a delightful insight this morning…and I will get around to explaining it. This is the placeholder for now.

It might be no surprise that organizations can collaborate this way. Many already do. However, what I see collective intelligence efforts doing creates the hub and spoke network shape. Being intentional about creating collaborative organization at face to face events and collaborations seems valuable to me. Furthermore, processes like Open Space, to a great degree, enable this form of collaborative organization. However, until we deeply celebrate the roll of butterflies and bees….we aren’t truly capturing the intelligence between sessions in a powerful, useful way.

More to come…

MacArthur announces Digital Media and Learning awardees February 21, 2008

Great to see the list of winners. I helped several friends with their application. Unfortunately they are not on the list. However, the projects listed appear to be strong and valuable.

Projects like Fractor are both innovative and potentially powerful. Fractor links news stories to opportunities to take action. Don’t just read the news, do something about it. Hypercities would be wise to connect to Global Lives (who applied but didn’t win). Global Lives has the digital storytelling that Hypercities needs to be successful.

Networking Grassroots Knowledge Globally would do well to connect up with the existing Catalytic Communities (of which I am a board member) to get a headstart on collecting successful community-led initiatives.

Social Media Virtual Classroom. Go Howard! I continue to be pleased with the initiatives and ideas he puts out there.

And YouthActionNet Marketplace looks interesting, especially for all my friends interested in empowering young people to get into social entrepreneurship. I do wonder how something like this can connect with the new expanding Catalytic Communities community solutions database.

Yeah! Great to see all these projects full of good intention. I look forward to seeing the progress of each.

Inspired Philanthropy October 23, 2007

Today, we release the website for the forthcoming 3rd edition of Inspired Philanthropy. Phil blogged it.

I have been honored to participate in the development of this edition. Also, Tracy has asked that I refer to myself as co-founder of Inspired Legacies, because of my involvement in some of the development, creation, and projects of Inspired Legacies since August of 2005. I am deeply honored by and grateful for this designation!

Now through November 6th, a Donor Diva Challenge, allows anyone who buys Inspired Philanthropy, to designate a free copy to a nonprofit of their choice! Buy the book and give the book to a nonprofit. Give the gift of transformational giving.

Also, note, National Philanthropy Day is November 15th!

Green Dinners October 19, 2007

Recently an amazing network weaver friend, Steve “Habib” Rose, passed away unexpectedly. I have been thinking about this idea for many months, as it relates to his efforts around neighborhoods connecting. And I decided I best get started! Please feel free, if you knew Habib, to host a Green Dinner in his name. Suggested topics for conversation might be peace and neighborhood networking.

Now is the time. Connect to those you care about and take action on what matters to you.

Green Dinners allow people in our local community to come together, not only to enjoy each others company, but also to bring up relevant issues occurring in our neighborhood that we’d like to change. It’s a great opportunity to meet people, strengthen friendships, eat nourishing food, and to get in touch with your community.

Green Dinners first initiated with Beyond Today.

I think this is a brilliant idea. After attending a gathering in Houston of local spiritual folks to talk about spirituality facilitated by the book and cards of Amazing Faith of Texas, I thought, why are we not doing this for green issues?

What you need to host a green dinner:

* Space to host dinners
* list of neighbors or community members to invite
* invitation (may or may not request food be shared and be local, fair-trade, organic)
* open attitude

Connect face-to-face around the issues you care about and discuss them over a shared meal, potluck style.

Please host or attend a Green Dinner in your community. Invite your friends over to discuss green issues, whatever that means to you.

For now, please use the http://www.wiserearth.org/group/GreenDinners/ to share and discuss. I encourage you to post photos and highlights of conversations. By naming these events and conversations, I hope you will help me spread the word about the importance of a Greener World. The more we talk about it, name it, expand it, the more it spirals out into the world, inspiring and evolving this great work of ours.

Opportunities to help Green Dinners: help write a standard invitation, help create simple guide to facilitation of conversation, sponsor dinners and share online about them. Get other people involved.

Network Weaver, Habib, passes on October 5, 2007

I am very sad about the surprising news that Steve “Habib” Rose has passed away. He was an inspiration to me and a delightful friend. We still had projects in the air, and I feel hesitant to do the work without Habib. I first met him in Seattle at an event for Wiser Earth where Paul Hawken spoke about Wiser Earth and Blessed Unrest.

In honor of a fabulous network weaver, please contact someone you know (best if it is a weak tie) just to do it, just to connect and see what happens.

A memorial celebration of the life of Steve Habib Rose will be held on Sunday, October 7th from 4 to 5:30 pm at University Friends Meeting, 4001 9th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA, to be followed by social networking time.

Habib dedicated his life and his work to building connections among us. He moved us, both individually and collectively, to work joyfully for a deeper community. His vision, humility, generosity, justice seeking,
loving-kindness, network weaving and his phenomenal hugs inspired the many communities he graced with his presence.

Habib, may your presence live on. May we all learn from your spirit.

Donations to the Duwamish Nation are gratefully accepted in lieu of flowers.

Please also contibuting your reflections on Habib to an on-line memorial that can be found at http://wiserearth.org/group/habibsgarden