TWI Blog

Messages To Trust when Hate is the Headliner

By September 15, 2017

Like so many of you, we at TWI are wounded by the events of Charlottesville that took place in August. Our values for equity, humility, critical thinking, dialogue, and human decency are being courageously demonstrated by so many, in so many places like Charlottesville on behalf of the criminalized and vulnerable.  Let us continue to…

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The Potential of Limited Life Philanthropy in Uncertain Times

By June 12, 2017

(Orginally posted on the Center for Effective Philanthropy blog) CEP’s new report, Shifting Winds: Foundations Respond to a New Political Context, reveals that two-thirds of foundation leaders surveyed said that in light of the current political climate, they are at least contemplating new strategies for their foundations. That finding certainly underscores what I’ve heard in…

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Philathropy and Civic Engagement

By May 30, 2017

By Kristen Campbell, Executive Director of Philanthropy for Civic Engagement (reposted from the Center for Effective Philanthropy blog) It doesn’t take a meteorologist to reveal the shifting winds in America. CEP’s aptly-titled report illustrates the sentiments many foundation leaders have felt as we make sense of the swiftly changing context in which we work. Its findings…

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4 Lessons in Rapid Response Grantmaking

By May 4, 2017

In December of 2016, TWI allocated $250,000 in rapid response funds to protect and build power within communities most vulnerable to the rollback of civil and human rights promised by the then new administration.   Rather than create a new system, we leaned into our trust based grantmaking process to expend the $250,000 by the…

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The Trump Effect at TWI, and Elsewhere

By April 20, 2017

The Trump effect, at The Whitman Institute (and elsewhere) By Marc Gunther The Trump administration is having an unmistakable impact on philanthropy. That was brought home to me at this month’s Skoll World Forum, notably with the Omidyar Network’s promise to commit $100 million to support independent journalism and combat hate. On a panel about philanthropy, Laleh Ispahani of…

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