Nonprofit Utopia Podcast

You Said You Want to Partner. Now What?

Partnerships can take on any number of forms, including co-locating, sharing back office or fundraising staff, permanent joint programming, and mission-based mergers.  Whatever form your partnership takes, there is always more to it than meets the eye.  While no two collaborations are the same, there are always financial, legal, cultural and other relational issues to consider. Forefront’s Mission Sustainability Initiative (MSI) gives nonprofits the resources they need to sort it all out and position their partnerships for long term sustainability.
Genita C. Robinson, Director of the Mission Sustainability Initiative for Forefront, will talk about MSI; ways organizations can assess their readiness to participate and case studies from some of their grantees.
Call in live at (347) 884-8121 to join the conversation. You can also participate in the live chat.  Archived episodes may be found at iTunes, Podcast Chart, Blubrry and Stitcher.
 

Why Nonprofits Should Care About the Illinois Supreme Court

If you are a nonprofit practitioner, you should be very interested in the innerworkings of the Illinois Supreme Court—particularly if you work in the areas of family services or social, criminal and/or restorative justice.  The rules and practices surrounding evidence; access to competent counsel; sentencing guidelines and diversity, equity and inclusion determine the degree to which justice is truly served.
Join Daniel Epstein, Esq., Candidate for Illinois Supreme Court, for a lively discussion on the issues surrounding the role of the Court; the negative consequences of faulty practices around preserving DNA evidence; restorative justice community courts and how community stakeholders can help create equal justice for all.

Economic Opportunity Challenge

Lever for Change is a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Affiliate, whose mission is to unlock philanthropic capital and accelerate positive change around the world’s biggest challenges. Consistent with this mission, the Foundation recently launched the Economic Opportunity Challenge to award $10 million to scale a game-changing solution aimed to improve the economic health of low-income families in the U.S.
Join us as Cecilia Conrad, PhD, CEO of Lever for Change and Managing Director of the MacArthur Fellows and 100&Change at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, shares an overview of the Economic Opportunity Challenge, and the application process

Protecting Arts Spaces from Gentrification

With average annual earnings from art projects of around $5,000, the term “starving artist” is closer to reality than cliche. As a result, it is not uncommon for artists to live in marginalized communities.
Most arts organizations that create new work have annual operating budgets of less than $50,000; the artists themselves subsidize the bulk of community culture. Grants from government and corporate sponsors account for less than 15% of arts budgets.
Ironically, local artists generate significant, measurable economic impact to their communities, returning $8 for every $1 invested. While artists are often the drivers of community re-development, they are not always able to capitalize upon the value they create, as rising real estate values make it difficult to stay.
Join Kiela Smith Upton, Legal Shield Independent Associate, and Laura Weathered, Executive Director of the Near Northwest Arts Council, for a discussion on design/build strategies to prevent displacement of local neighborhood artists.