When I wrote my December column with a call for funders to lean in during the continued CEO search I could not have anticipated the need for the same – and amplified – call in this column, both as the CEO search continues and with the wide-ranging array of federal executive orders that continue to come from Washington, D.C. Anticipated or not, staff and board members are all leaning in and are deeply committed to the work to be done this year.
First, the Philanthropy Ohio Board of Trustees is leaning in as the search for the next right leader continues with a laser focus on the skills, experience and knowledge needed in a president & CEO who can lead an exceptional staff through rocky policy waters while keeping and strengthening our values and culture. At its March meeting, the Board of Trustees reaffirmed its support for the vision, mission, core values and equity statement in response to the recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Your staff is also leaning in. With the rapid pace of executive orders being issued, Philanthropy Ohio staff outlined a quick response plan to inform staff and members about the orders and their potential impacts. We convened nearly 100 members in a call with local and national leaders, bringing up-to-the-minute information and providing an opportunity to connect and share how attendees were responding. We also convened a webinar on immigration issues under the new administration; held democracy, education, health and housing policy tables; and focused on planning Philanthropy at the Statehouse meetings and speakers. And, planning continues for the Equity Summit and quarterly Blacks in Ohio Philanthropy meetings, as well as the use of an equity lens in all programs we offer.
And we know that you, our members, are also leaning in. A quick survey we administered in February highlighted the variety of ways you are responding to the political reality of potential funding cuts, eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, deportations and other challenges to “business as usual.” Among the ways funders in Ohio are leaning in are:
- Surveying grantees about impacts
- Dusting off COVID-19 rapid response grants and processes
- Increasing the frequency of nonprofit leaders creating safe spaces to support each other
- Exploring a flexible, responsive grant pool to fund advocacy and storytelling
- Connecting with county officials about plans and impacts
- Leaning into grantee flexibility, lightening the load of grantee application and reporting processes
- Removing restrictions and extending time frames for grant completion
- Allowing planned 2025 payments to be fast-tracked and more flexible
I am sure many of these actions resonate with you as you work in local communities across the state, and for that, I am immensely grateful. Knowing that the legal system is addressing many of these orders and actions, I try to balance the cynicism that comes from working in the policy field for a couple of decades with my hope in humanity. Let’s all lean in, not out, in the coming months. Please let me know what you are learning and doing, and if I can be of any assistance while I remain in this Interim CEO role.
Claudia Y.W. Herrold
Interim President & CEO