“Power, Grace, And Sisterhood” Defined First Grantee Convening
Building Community Connections Recharged Grantee Partners
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado (WFCO) hosted our first-ever community partner convening for our Women & Girls of Color Fund and WINcome grantee partners this summer. The two-day convening, hosted at The Colorado Health Foundation, centered community building, resource sharing, and learning sessions designed from grantee partner feedback.
“The Women’s Foundation of Colorado is committed to going beyond the check and ensuring that we are a resource for our grantees – from connecting them to other funders to offering tangible skills-building opportunities and capacity building,” said Camisha Lashbrook, director of donor relations and strategic grantmaking.
Twenty-nine organizations sent representatives – from the Southern Ute Indian Reservation up to Fort Collins.
Grantee Convening Day One: Infusing A Sense of Joy
Facilitated by Transformative Leadership for Change, WFCO dedicated day one to connection and support for women and gender-expansive leaders of color followed by a networking reception with fellow grantees, Colorado funders, WFCO trustees, and supporters from the broader WFCO community.
“We rooted the convening in our commitment to the intersection of race and gender, and the unique challenges these leaders face, especially burnout,” said Camisha. “We intentionally built a healing space for women and gender-expansive leaders of color. Infusing a sense of joy and rest before getting into some of the harder skills was critical.”
TLC was represented by Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Felicia Griffin; Program Manager Tania Valenzuela; and Ash Ferguson, co-director of Soul 2 Soul Sisters and a TLC program graduate. They each drew from their lived experiences to create an accessible, safe, and affirming space for fellow executive directors and rising leaders of color. TLC set the tone of the convening by asking participants to reflect on three things:
- What is the impact you want to have as a result of managing, leading your work? How do you want to be remembered?
- What is your personal motto? What are the words/inspiration you live by today?
- As a youth, who did you look up to and why?
As grantee partners leaned into storytelling and honing their “elevator pitches,” WFCO evaluation partner Point b(e) Strategies then facilitated a workshop to help participants build power, momentum, and change through their stories. They identified their superpowers, the dominant narrative they wanted to change through their work, and the resources needed to dismantle it.
The day culminated with an evening reception to highlight and introduce grantee partners to Colorado funders and WFCO donors.
“WFCO believes that a key part of our work is connecting our partners to more resources and elevating their profiles to other funders,” said Camisha. “Most of our Women & Girls of Color Fund grantee partners are working with annual budgets of less than $275,000, yet their work is igniting powerful change in their communities. Funders need to know about their impact.”
I loved the opportunity to connect with WFCO board and community members. I had wonderful conversations about the impact WINCome has had for our constituents. I know that reports are shared, but there is no replacement to hearing the stories. I appreciated the opportunity to engage with them in an authentic way.
Grantee Convening Day Two: Building Power Through Storytelling, Media, and Policy
The second day of the convening focused on more tangible skills, such as media outreach and public policy advocacy to advance and expand awareness of grantees’ impact in their communities. Grantee partners leveraged the storytelling skills they developed in day one.
A panel of Colorado women in media answered questions about how grantee partners can “break through the clutter” with story pitches for reporters. Panelists included Anna Alejo, executive producer of community impact at CBS Colorado; Anusha Roy, anchor and reporter at 9News Denver; and Elaine Tassy, race, diversity, and equity reporter at Colorado Public Radio. Following the panel, WFCO communications partner Progressive Promotions helped grantee partners develop their own story pitches and test them out with each other.
“The storytelling on day one was amazing and I loved the way it led right into the next day’s media segue. Making the connection with Anusha Roy with 9News has turned out to be a great connection,” said one grantee.
The day also included nurturing connections among our community-serving partners and those whose efforts are focused on policy and systems change. We spent time learning about the issues in our grantee partners’ communities that need to be prioritized in policymaking as well as how community members can be supported in policy and advocacy engagement.
It All Comes Back to Community
Although grantees shared how helpful the storytelling, media, and policy working sessions were, the resounding value of the grantee convening for most attendees was a like-minded community of women with whom they could share their joys and challenges as executive directors.
“I think that many of us get in our spirals of our own work that being able to connect and talk about all of the important things happening throughout the many communities was so beautiful,” said one grantee.
Another shared, “I truly felt recharged after meeting with so many amazing women, it was a much-needed injection of power, grace, and sisterhood.”
