October was a big month for Filantropía Puerto Rico, as we celebrated our biggest in-person event of the year with grantmakers from all over Puerto Rico and the United States. The Annual Convening: Lean In to Co-Create took place on October
19 & 20, where we fulfilled our commitment to the philanthropic ecosystem of offering and sustaining spaces for connecting and strategizing as a collective. We’ve been trying to create a community for two years without in-person interactions, and finally we had the chance to spend two amazing days full of learning
and reimagining with everyone in the same room. We reaffirmed that grantmakers have a responsibility to continue improving their philanthropic practices in order to contribute to a more just and equitable social sector. Once more, we confirmed that we are stronger when we lean in and come together.
We kicked off the 2022 Annual Convening by having an internal process of Leaning In. We held various sessions designed to give everyone the
opportunity to share their experiences and find themselves in other people’s stories. One of these sessions was titled Trust-Based Philanthropy Practices, and another explored fiscal sponsorship as a Tool for Collective Impact. The day finished off with a session based on our project Learning to Listen, which you can read more about in the Learning to Listen section of this Action
Summary!
We continued the Annual Convening by Co-Creating through a variety of workshops on topics that range from strategic planning on disaster relief on our
Funders Alignment meeting, the value of data collection in a session called Recent Outlook on Endowments and exploring new opportunities that strengthen the social network based on equity and sustainability in a workshop titled Collective Reimagining. The session titled Peer Groups divided the participants into groups to continue to listen to our network and strategize for the future, which led us
into the last session titled Innovating: The Why and What of Co-Creation. As a convener, we know that creating spaces of interaction in a relaxed environment is essential to fulfilling our work
as grantmakers. This is why we wanted to bring our bi-monthly Member Meetups into the Annual Convening and finish off the event with a Party with Our Network. The whole network had fun listening to the live DJ and being drawn by cartoonist Había Una Vez! We also had a Community Expo, where over ten local exhibitors including farmers, artisans, leaders, and other members of community-led
organizations were able to sell their products. To see some of the best photos and recap the event, visit our Instagram Profile! As part of our monthly strategy conversations, during the Annual Convening, we
continued the Funders Alignment meetings that began in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. These meetings were used to strategize, mobilize, and coordinate an effective response to the disaster from the philanthropic ecosystem. Here is one of the takeaways from that session: “The importance of coming together is that,
no matter how big the challenge is, you can trust that a group of people will help you climb and reach the top of the mountain." We will continue the conversation with our peer funders to co-create social change strategies that will have a significant impact on our island. La voz del sector social en la recuperación del país The final session of the “La voz del sector social en la recuperación del país” campaign was held with Raúl Ríos of iCASA, where he spoke extensively on the
importance of exalting communities through locations, addresses and geographic areas. Filantropía Puerto Rico continues to serve and amplify the voices of those who are pushing for Puerto Rico’s socioeconomic development, recognizing the social sector as a catalyst for social needs and the island’s
transformation. Click here to see full recaps and recordings on all four sessions! |
SUPPORTING THOSE WHO ARE SUPPORTING Through the FORWARD Puerto Rico Fund, we will support mutual aid efforts that are changing and building social relationships to quickly and effectively provide the services needed to move from crisis to solidarity. We started holding conversations with Centros de Apoyo Mutuo (CAMs) throughout the island last week to align efforts and lay out next steps in order to
support established networks that are essential for Puerto Rico's transformation. Robusteciendo la Justicia
Social (Strengthening Social Justice) The Robusteciendo la Justicia Social project is one of the ways in which Filantropía Puerto Rico leads the philanthropic ecosystem into innovative and
participative communities of practice. At the start of the project, we had the participants use the Organizational Mapping
Tool (OMT), an open-source, organizational assessment tool that is designed to help nonprofits identify and prioritize their organizational strengthening needs. This is why we trained two resources that can facilitate the
(OMT), who are prepared and ready to help nonprofits with their self-diagnosis. If you are a nonprofit that wishes to better understand your organizational needs, do not hesitate to contact them and start your OMT process. To learn more about the importance and impact of the OMT, click here. Commitment to a Sustainable Recovery Filantropía Puerto Rico facilitated a follow-up meeting between several non-profit organizations, HUD and PRDV to check on on the agreements of the last meeting, held in March 2022, and to discuss the current challenges that have emerged as a
result of Hurricane Fiona. Read more on the topics and agreements discussed at this meeting here. Including Participatory Grantmaking practices into the Annual Convening was a priority, which is why a session titled Learning to Listen:
Workshop to Co-Create was included into the agenda for the first day of workshops. In it, El Enjambre led an interactive session where grantmakers reflected on the collective they seek to support by critically analyzing the experiences and lessons learned by Filantropía Puerto Rico through the "Learning to Listen" project. Here is a quote from
one of our participants in that session: "There’s a perception that slowly but surely, organizations have empowered themselves and have caused a shift in the way that power dynamics evolve in the philanthropic sector. Today, organizations have rebalanced this dynamic and are more involved than ever. Access, equity, justice and empathy are the building blocks of an effective and genuine system that works for all. There’s still a long way to go, but we are on the right
track." |
Filantropía Puerto Rico is a philanthropy-serving organization (PSO) connecting philanthropic entities and amplifying their voice and impact in areas of equity, collaboration, transparency and social justice. As a convener of funders with grant making focus on Puerto Rico, we lead efforts to improve the lives of the
marginalized.
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