The Whitman Institute

Funder Spotlight: Satterberg Foundation

By January 30, 2018

The Satterberg Foundation is a values-driven family foundation focused on promoting a just society and a sustainable environment. Several years ago, Satterberg’s leadership decided to transform its grantmaking processes in an effort to build greater transparency and better alignment with their core values. One of the most dramatic changes was a shift from program-specific support…

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Funder Spotlight: Swift Foundation

By January 9, 2018

Swift Foundation, which predominantly funds Indigenous-led social justice efforts, is on a journey to reverse the Western-centric paradigm of philanthropy. Through their trust-based approach, they prioritize relationships and listening with grantees. They are continuously evolving their process to better reflect their values of inclusion and justice. As part of our ongoing series on trust-based philanthropy,…

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Funder Spotlight: Thousand Currents

By November 27, 2017

Thousand Currents is an international development organization focused on the Global South. Their funding model is inherently trust-based, with an approach rooted in trusting the expertise of the leaders in the communities they serve. As part of our ongoing series featuring trust-in-practice, The Whitman Institute sat down with Deputy Director Solome Lemma to learn more…

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Funder Spotlight: Durfee Foundation

By November 15, 2017

Since its inception in 1960, the Durfee Foundation in Los Angeles has been investing in extraordinary leaders through an almost hard-wired approach to trust-based philanthropy. As a place-based family foundation devoted to leadership, relationships, and constant learning, Durfee is seeing some incredible long-term results. As part of our series on trust-in-practice, we sat down with…

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How Does Trust Show Up In Your Practice?

By October 30, 2017

The Whitman Institute has been mildly obsessed with the concept of trust-based philanthropy for quite a while now. For us, this doesn’t just mean giving multi-year unrestricted grants (even though that’s an important part of it!). For over a decade, we’ve made a point to make sure trust is embodied in our overall practice. We’ve…

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