August 1, 2023
SVP Vancouver
SVP Team Summer Reading list
Knowing that many folks are unavailable or away for the month of August, we aren’t hosting any SVP knowledge or social events. Instead, the SVP team has compiled a Summer Social Purpose Reading List. We’ve collected an assortment of articles, essays, reports, podcasts, webinars, books, and more that touch on some of the most pressing and emergent issues and ideas within the sector, along with some tried and true classics. We do this in an effort to enact our second mission of being a well-informed, effective, and engaged community. If you do take the time to read, listen, or watch any of the recommendations below, we would love to hear from you!
School might be out for summer, but the learning doesn’t stop here at SVP!
Articles
- Why Settle for Cookie-Cutter People and Culture Practices? by Phil Buchanan, Alyse d’Amico & Leaha Wynn for the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Six ideas that could help organizations improve hiring, performance, equity, and more. (Selma)
- Eradicating Ableist Language Yields More-Accurate and More-Humane Journalism by Marion Renault (Amy)
- The Doer and the Payer: A Simple Approach to Scale by Kevin Starr & Laura Hattendorf. An overview of the differences between growth and scale and the key components required to achieve scale. (Helen)
- Transformative Shifts: From Capacity to Movement Power – American Jewish World Service – AJWS by the American Jewish World Service. A fascinating and generative read documenting AJWS’ shift away from power-laden terms like capacity building, and towards the practice of accompaniment, reflecting their approach to working alongside organizations, in solidarity and trust. (Karen)
- The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership by Anne Wallestad, former President & CEO of BoardSource, for the Stanford Social Innovation Review. An excellent overview on purpose driven leadership, and purpose driven work, in comparison to traditional sector approaches. (Karen)
- Rigorous Evaluation Versus Trust-Based Learning: Is This a Valid Dichotomy? – The Center for Effective Philanthropy by Brenda Solorzano. This article explains and explores the value of trust-based evaluation and learning. An excellent companion piece to Demystifying TBP Session 5: What Does Evaluation Look Like in a Trust-Based Context? from the webinar series: Demystifying Trust-Based Philanthropy. (Karen)
- Five Accelerators of Equitable Grantmaking and How to Harness Them by Katie Smith Milway, Amy Markham, Chris Cardona & Kathy Reich (Sohee)
Books
- Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation by adrienne maree brown (Selma)
- We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib (Janelle)
- The Body is not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor (Janelle)
- Erasing Institutional Bias by Tiffany Jana and Ashley Diaz Mejias (Candice)
- Five Little Indians by Michelle Good (Helen)
Podcasts
- Everyday Utopia and Radical Imagination with Kristen Ghodsee by Upstream. Thought-provoking conversation exploring utopian thinking through the ages, igniting hope, radical imagination, and militant optimism. (Selma)
- We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle. Tackling topics from Boundaries with Abby Wamback and Amanda Doyle, to Indigenous Wisdom with Kaitlin Curtice, to Attachment Styles with Dr. Becky Kennedy. (Janelle)
- The Ethical Rainmaker, specifically: Courageous Fundraising Principles with Virginia Community Voice, and Is Community-Centric Fundraising Still Working Two Years Later? with Rachel D’Souza Siebert and Henry Ramos. (Candice)
- The Importance of Conscious Language episode of Association Station, featuring Crystal Shelley from Rabbit with a Red Pen. (Amy)
Videos
- Ted Talk: How to Fund Real Change in Your Community Rebecca Darwent. Front-line New York social worker turned philanthropic advisor. Discusses the importance of community-led philanthropy. A very familiar topic for anyone who attended May’s Social Dialogue Session or listened to Untapped Philanthropy: Will trust-based philanthropy solve the funder to non-profit power imbalance? (Janelle)
- Dan Pallotta: The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong | TED Talk An oldy but a goody, this classic presentation by Dan Pallotta breaks down the fundamental flaws with how we fund, compensate, and incentivize in the social purpose space … to the detriment of us all. (Karen)
Webinars
Demystifying TBP Session 5: What Does Evaluation Look Like in a Trust-Based Context? From the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. This session highlights how grantmakers rely on rigour and continuous learning to understand impact through a trust-based philanthropy lens. (Helen)