Redistributing Power Through Trust-Based Philanthropy

If we want to build toward a more equitable and democratic society, we need to reflect on how and where we concentrate power in our relationships and systems. We have to ask, how can philanthropy better share, cede, and build power among the communities we seek to serve?

During this breakout session of the Global Philanthropy Forum in 2021, two funders—Thousand Currents and the Surdna Foundation—describe the organizational structures and mindsets, rooted in trust, required to get at the heart of our questions about power. Not only does trust-based giving foster better funder-nonprofit relationships, it reshapes those power dynamics so that nonprofits have the agency and resources to nimbly address the long-term, interconnected, dynamic, and complex challenges we face.

Speakers

• Don Chen, President, Surdna Foundation

• Solomé Lemma, Executive Director, Thousand Currents

• Shaady Salehi, Director, Trust-Based Philanthropy Project

• Moderator: Rohit Menezes, Partner, Bridgespan