Reflections on the Segal Family Foundation’s 2019 Annual Meeting
By: Aria Vyas, Chapter Coach 2019–2020
Introduction
As I walked towards the registration table, I passed by canisters of freshly brewed coffee and overheard bits and pieces of buzzing conversations. Almost instantly, I was filled with excitement; the very energy at the Segal Family Foundation’s 2019 Annual Meeting was infectious. I was officially attending the conference as a chapter coach for GlobeMed chapters at universities in the Northeast region, and unofficially as an enthusiastic first year MPH student at the University of Pennsylvania. I knew at the very least I would have the opportunity to attend workshops, take notes, and learn from those around me. Even more so, I hoped that I would get to learn from the exemplary grassroots leaders and changemakers in attendance. My basic expectations were not only met, but exceeded. The opportunity to engage fully was omnipresent: during the workshops, in between sips at coffee breaks, and even on elevator rides. My learnings are summarized in the same way the sessions were divided up — by topic area. I was able to sit in on workshops across the tracks of Progressive Philanthropy, Bold Conversations, Learning and Innovation, and Nuts & Bolts, and each of them contributed a unique perspective to my general takeaways.
Progressive Philanthropy: Exchanging Flip Flops for Ferragamo: Donor-Doer Reversal
In this interactive workshop, grassroots organizers and community leaders swapped places with donors and investors. This activity began with a comedic skit in which Andy Bryant (Segal Family Foundation, Executive Director) sat down with Jana Hardy Kinsey (AfricAid) and Linda Kamau (AkiraChix) to convince them that Segal Family Foundation was the right donor for them. After watching the role-reversal skit, participants were divided up similarly so that they would have to take on a different role than they might be used to. Those who are typically on the donor end found themselves having to nervously compete to get funding while the traditional “do-ers” had to make the decision of awarding the fund amounts. While this atypical role reversal was filled with jabs and jokes, the underlying message was evident throughout: to accomplish our respective goals through partnership and collaboration, we cannot disregard the role of empathy. Even more so, regardless of our roles we are often times working towards a very similar, if not the same mission, further elucidating the need for empathetic, respectful, and effective collaboration.
Bold Conversation: Fe<men>ists: Bringing Men & Boys on as Allies in the Fight for Gender Equality
Often times, when the phrase “gender equality” is brought up, it is only in the context of girls, women and other under-represented gender identities. While they should be at the heart of the fight for gender equality, that fight cannot be fought without including boys and men in the discussion. In this session, Wendo Aszed (Dandelion Africa) and Willie Mpasuka (Rays of Hope) challenged my existing notions of what feminist looks like on a global scale. We talked about the necessity of employing the coeducational model to foster inclusive conversations regarding gender equality and drive forward progress.
The most striking point for me in this breakout session was when Wendo and Willie posed questions about how grassroots organizers can navigate donor concerns about this model. They noted that when donors are investing in organizations with an emphasis on gender equality, they may prefer to see only girls and women as beneficiaries. This presents a tricky scenario to navigate at the community level: Do partners tailor their programs so the outcomes reflect the donor’s expectations or do they push back a little to create some much needed leg room for boys & men to also join? And if they choose the latter, how do they open that discussion?
Though we didn’t get all the answers in this breakout session, we did ask some highly relevant and at times, controversial questions. I left feeling increasingly willing to step out of my somewhat limiting perspective of feminism and gender equality. My greatest takeaway from this session however, was not about feminism or gender equality at all. Rather, it was about partnership that is rooted in listening to grassroots partners and growing towards shared goals and visions together.
Learning & Innovation: Using Art to Capture a Unique Impact Story
This session was not only one of my personal favorites to participate in, but in retrospect, was one of the most important ones I attended. I had initially thought that the theme of this workshop was about the power of art in the world of social justice and storytelling, but that was just the introduction. Serafina (La Tumaini) and Zack (WISER International) started off by using atypical methods to think about the ways in which we think about ourselves, and the ways we present ourselves to others. By working with other session participants to step out of my built-in habits of introduction and introspection, I was able to dig a little deeper into conversations and learn more about my social environment as well as myself.
It’s evident that I found this session to be impactful, but it wasn’t until I was engaged in a class discussion in my graduate school course about cultural competency that I was able to better understand exactly why. While learning and thinking about the existing frameworks for cultural competency, there seemed to be a theme about the necessity of self-reflection of one’s own culture as well as the expectations and norms that create that culture. I learned that by actively making attempts to increase my own self-awareness, I can better acknowledge and address the internalized biases that might impact my ability to understand and work within different cultural contexts.
The SFF Annual Meeting brings together grassroots organizers, donors, and stakeholders to strengthen existing partnerships and create room for even more progress. This session reminded me how the hands of good storytelling extend well outside conference rooms and donor meetings. Attempting to capture a unique impact story feels like a difficult task. However, when used in conjunction with the universal language of art, it has infinite potential to reframe our perspectives and create space for upward progress.
Nuts & Bolts: Personal Sustainability of Social Leadership
The nuts and bolts sessions offered throughout the weekend covered a broad scale of topics as well as subtopics. While I attended some sessions that on the surface seemed to be radically different, I ended up finding a myriad of overlap in the underlying themes and ideas. When discussing the goals of an organization whether you’re operating in the world of social justice and nonprofits, or private equity and finance, the path to success was rooted in “health”: physical health, mental health, social health, and organizational health. There were consistent notions that by taking care of your own health and actively working to fight burnout by practicing self-care, you can then give even more to your organization. And within your organization, ensuring that the right people are in the right roles and are able to work with each other, there should hypothetically be no limit as to what you can accomplish.
While these were not novel concepts to me, I did realize that there is often a divide between the theory and the practice. While we can all agree that personal and organizational health is critical in successfully reaching a goal, we often cut corners when the time comes to execution. To combat this, breakout sessions provided tangible methods of measuring things such as organizational health. These sessions bridged the gap between idea and practice, and left participants with optimistic goals and realistic ways to reaching them.
Conclusion
When I first arrived at the Segal Family Foundation’s 2019 annual meeting I was excited, yes, but I was also nervous. As a first year chapter coach at GlobeMed, and as a first semester graduate student, I felt intimidated by the wonderfully accomplished individuals who I would be surrounded by. This nervousness faded quickly however, as I was reminded that neither the title of my role nor the number of years I’d worked in the field were accurate defining indicators of my ability to listen, engage, ask questions, or even contribute. Moreover, I realized that the very reason that I found the discussions, workshops, and presentations to be dynamic and high-energy was because of the diversity in perspective that was present. At Segal Family Foundation, I could confidently say that all participants were able to add to their own personal learning as well as to that of those around them. It reminded me of the importance of “growing together”, a leadership practice that is central to GlobeMed’s values.
GlobeMed students across the country work with both international and local grassroots organizations to support sustainable change and progress towards global health equity and social justice. By working towards this shared vision, students have the opportunity to strive towards mutual and collaborative growth. In the constantly changing world of grassroots partnerships and global health, there is room to increase diversity and empathy in order to grow upward and move forward, together.
