FORUM Through The Years
The FORUM is Charities Review Council’s long-standing event. Through the years it’s taken many forms, including a traditional keynote-style luncheon up until 2014.
In 2014, we hosted FORUM 2014: Disruptive Philanthropy, a space for the full spectrum of Minnesota’s philanthropic community to come together to imagine a new future with donors, funders, and nonprofits doing even more good together. What we found was that people were ready and excited to challenge the philanthropic status-quo, but changing systems, institutions, and structures would require time and small micro-intentions/actions to move the needle. So, we asked our FORUM 2014 attendees- What small action can we take to move philanthropy in a new direction?
With over 850+ ideas generated at FORUM 2014: Disruptive Philanthropy, the Council identified five significant themes:
- Philanthropic education & skill-building;
- Authentic collaboration;
- Increased transparency & improved communication;
- Advancing technology for greater good; and
- Shared value of capacity building & impact measure.
With input from our community, we took these themes and applied them to programming for FORUM 2015: Radical Collaboration and FORUM 2017: Forging Trust.
Jump forward to 2019
On Tuesday, May 14th, we continued to build on what we heard in 2014, 2015, and 2017 with our biennial event, FORUM 2019: Breaking Patterns. Why Breaking Patterns you might ask? Well, when we look back to learnings from previous FORUMs and moving ideas into action, we know that we have to explore power and patterns.
This year, we welcomed keynote speaker, Uvinie Lubecki Founder and CEO of Leading Through Connection. Uvinie grounded our conversation in how sector leaders are incorporating mindfulness and compassion to bring fundamentally new methods of connection into their work. We also heard from local leaders who are reframing connections, power, and patterns right here in Minnesota. Our Local Leadership Showcase included:
- Maria De La Cruz – Associate Executive Director at Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- Tuleah Palmer – Executive Director of Northwest Indian Community Development Center
- Kris Kewitsch – Executive Director of Charities Review Council
- Damon Shoholm – Director, James P. Shannon Leadership Institute – Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
FORUM 2019: Breaking Patterns was refreshing and inspiring, and we can’t wait to do it all again soon!
FORUM Videos
Check out our video recaps through the years.
- FORUM 2019: Breaking Patterns
- FORUM 2017: Forging Trust
- FORUM 2015: Radical Collaboration
- FORUM 2014: Disruptive Philanthropy
Stay Connected Between FORUMs
Stay connected with Charities Review Council between events. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Now is also a great time to subscribe to our monthly E-Newsletter, where we share exciting Council updates, sector news, Meets Standards® nonprofits, smart giving tips, and more!
