relationship

Spend-Out in Sight: What’s the Story?

By April 23, 2019

In 2012 The Whitman Institute made the decision to spend out our endowment over 10 years.  At the time, 2022 was a distant point on the horizon; now, not so much.  What felt theoretical is becoming more real with each passing month and we are feeling more strongly the hint of urgency that comes with…

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The Power of Reflection: The Story of On The Move

By April 10, 2019

On The Move isn’t your typical youth development agency. Since its founding in 2003, this multi-year grantee of The Whitman Institute has been continuously evolving its work to meet the emergent needs of young people across California. In the last 15 years, On The Move has grown to a $7M organization that partners with local…

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The Gift of Disequilibrium

By April 3, 2019

I just recently returned from a maternity leave that was both an eternity and a blink of an eye. I was deeply and shockingly unprepared for the experience of becoming a mother, something I thought would be so natural and easy breezy for a child-loving longtime auntie and former teacher like me. Perhaps it was…

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From Lunch to Long-Term Relationship: The Story of TWI and Thousand Currents

By August 2, 2018

A Trust-Based, Collaborative Relationship from the Start Thousand Currents became part of the Whitman Institute family in 2013, after an unexpectedly fruitful lunch meeting between Rajasvini Bhansali and John Esterle. “We got together to brainstorm what it would look like for Thousand Currents to model donor education–much like our [grantee] partners do political education in…

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Funder Spotlight: Headwaters Foundation

By June 28, 2018

Headwaters Foundation in Missoula, Montana is a new health conversion foundation that has been committed to embracing trust-based philanthropy since its inception. This commitment has led to a number of innovations – including GO! Grants that are designed to put grant funds in the hands of grantees in less than a month – as well…

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