Fundamentals of Effective Grantmaking
Agenda and Speakers*

Session 1 - Monday, September 13, 2010:

• Foundations as Public Service Institutions: Overview and Context. This overview will provide the broader context for our work by highlighting the unique role of U.S. philanthropy as well as the challenges and opportunities facing our field.
  
  
• Doing Your Homework: The Process of Assessing Proposals. During this session, you will trace the life of a proposal from the day it arrives in your office, through the process of evaluation and on to final determination by the board. General administration tips as well as criteria for evaluating proposals will be discussed.
  
  
• Evaluation. This session will include information for conducting successful evaluations, exploring methods and their outcomes. Participants will learn how to improve implementation, track progress toward goals and better plan their work.
  
  

Session 2 - Wednesday, September 29, 2010:

• The Numbers Tell a Story: Understanding Financial Statements. Do you find that reading financial statements causes your eyes to glaze over and your stomach to knot? This participatory workshop is designed to provide practical, hands-on experience and resources to explore nonprofit financial materials from a programmatic perspective. Participants will discover what the rows and columns of numbers and other components reveal about an organization’s strengths, priorities, management and challenges. We will discuss both audited financial statements and IRS 990 tax returns. 
  
  
• Understanding Financial Statements Study Group Breakout Session
  
  
• On the Road Again: Site Visits--The Basics. The purpose of “site visit basics” is to provide an overview from different grantmakers on how and why to conduct site visits as part of the grantmaking process. Participants will learn about setting up, conducting and following-up the site visit. Ultimately, the goal is to provide an opportunity for everyone to consider ways to improve and enhance their site visit practices. Cultural competency in doing site visits will also be discussed.
  

Session 3 - Wednesday, October 13, 2010:

• Do the Right Thing: Ethics in Grantmaking. Truth versus loyalty, individual vs. community… how do we decide between right and right? As grantmakers, we are often confronted with ethical dilemmas as we try to act responsibly toward our grantees, our boards of directors, our peers and the general public. In this session, grantmakers discuss how they would respond to hypothetical situations, and tell their own real stories, as well.
  
  
• See Yourself as Others See You: Some Viewpoints from the Nonprofit Community. For this discussion, we will step behind the looking glass to see ourselves as others see us in an attempt to discover how funders and nonprofits can develop a better understanding of each other’s work. We’ll address some of the most pressing and challenging issues nonprofits face today, how different sources of funding undefined government, individuals, etc.undefined impact their work, and how we can jointly strengthen the independent sector.
  

Speakers

Mary Anne Doyle
California Community Foundation
In her role as director of organizational learning at the California Community Foundation (CCF), Mary Anne Doyle oversees efforts to improve organizational effectiveness, including institutional learning initiatives, program evaluation and grant reporting. Prior to joining CCF in 2008, Doyle served as a senior program evaluation analyst at the nonprofit education organization The Fulfillment Fund, a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, a senior analyst and marketing scientist at JD Power and Associates, and as a senior analyst at Evolving Logic and Maritz Research, both private companies. She holds an M.A. in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. from the Pardee RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies.

Wendy Garen
Chief Executive Officer, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation
Wendy Garen joined the staff of the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation in 1986 and was appointed President and CEO of the Foundation in 2001. Prior to her service at the Foundation, she developed and administered programs for families. Her work experience includes service delivery, research, fundraising and advocacy for a wide range of projects serving children and families. She has previously served as a senior fellow at the School of Public Policy at UCLA and sat on the Women's Leadership Board at the Kennedy School of Government and was a founding Board member at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. She was elected to membership in the International Women's Forum in 2008. Garen holds an M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA.

Angie Kim
Director of Programs, Southern California Grantmakers
Angie Kim is director of programs at Southern California Grantmakers (SCG) where she is responsible for the development and implementation of programs and member services. She has over 10 years of grantmaking experience, having worked previously at the Getty Foundation where she was responsible for grantmaking, communications and program evaluation, and at Flintridge Foundation where she managed grantmaking programs serving individual artists, ensemble theatres and environmental organizations on the West Coast. Kim holds an M.A. in Art History from the University of Southern California. She also serves on the boards of Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) and as the Chair of the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI).

Mary Odell
President, UniHealth Foundation
Mary Odell is president of UniHealth Foundation, a private healthcare philanthropy which makes grants primarily to hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1999, she served for eight years as president of The Riordan Foundation and its associated public foundation, Rx for Reading. Odell pursued a career in elementary school teaching and administration and worked as an education and instruction specialist for IBM for before becoming a foundation officer. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Southern California Grantmakers, LA’s BEST After School Enrichment Program and Facey Medical Foundation. Odell has done extensive graduate work in early childhood education and early speech and language acquisition and has credentials to teach preschool through 12th grade and adult education. She holds a certificate in nonprofit management from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. 

Jennifer Price-Letscher
Program Officer, Sterling Foundation
Jennifer Price-Letscher has worked in nonprofit arts and education for more than 17 years, holding leadership positions in program development, planning, marketing and fundraising.  She is a program officer with the Sterling Foundation, a private family foundation dedicated to improving college access for Los Angeles area African American and Latino students, and currently serves as board president for Hill & Dale Family Learning Center.  Price-Letscher is pursuing an M.a. in organizational development from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Latonya Slack
Senior Program Officer, The James Irvine Foundation
Latonya Slack was appointed senior program officer for California Democracy in April 2005. Prior to joining The James Irvine Foundation, Latonya served as executive director of the California Black Women's Health Project, where she created a comprehensive policy advocacy program, a mental health initiative and an advocate training program designed to train lay community members as health policy advocates. Before joining the California Black Women's Health Project in 1998, she worked for the Service Employees International Union, Local 399, engaging community, religious, labor and health organizations on health care issues. Slack serves on the board of Southern California Grantmakers and holds an A.B. degree in Biomedical Ethics from Brown University and a J.D. from UCLA.

Belen Vargas
Vice President, Grant Operations, Weingart Foundation
Belen Vargas has served since 2008 as vice president, grant operations with the Weingart Foundation, where she is responsible for the management of grantmaking programs and staff. She joined the Foundation in 2000 as a program associate, overseeing the Foundation’s Small Grant Program, became a program officer in 2003 and a senior program officer in 2007. Early in her career, Vargas worked at several nonprofit legal service organizations focusing on advocacy and policy issues related to women’s issues, school inclusion for children with disabilities as well as outreach and education for child care providers in Los Angeles County. Vargas holds a J.D. from the University of Southern California School of Law.

Vera de Vera
Director, Community Building Initiative, California Community Foundation 
Vera de Vera directs the California Community Foundation’s (CCF) El Monte Community Building initiative, where she works with local government agencies and community residents to ensure that children and youth in the initiative’s three target neighborhoods are healthier, better supported by their families and ready for college and a career. Formerly, she served as the Foundation’s director of grants, managing the team of program officers responsible for competitive grantmaking programs. Before joining CCF in August 2005, de Vera was senior director for the western region of the Fannie Mae Foundation for more than six years. She led that foundation’s efforts to build strategic partnerships and develop solutions to the nation’s affordable housing challenges. She was also a field representative for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, a senior policy analyst for the California Association of Realtors and a staff assistant for former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. She holds a J.D. from Southwestern University and an M.A. in urban planning from UCLA.

Adrienne Wittenberg
Program Officer, S. Mark Taper Foundation
Adrienne Wittenberg is a program officer at the S. Mark Taper Foundation in Los Angeles. She has worked at the Foundation for the past 12 years in both financial management and grantmaking positions. Wittenberg has served as a member of the Southern California Grantmakers Management Committee and the Program Committee. Prior to joining the field of philanthropy, Wittenberg earned her license as a Certified Public Accountant while working as a tax consultant with the public accounting firm, Deloitte and Touche.


*Information on additional sessions and speakers is forthcoming.