While snacking on the delicious picnic grub, I couldn’t help but wonder, “What do all these organizations really do and how are we all connected?”

What Makes an “Ally?”

MCF is what you might call a nonprofit support organization. Simply stated, our purpose is to help our grantmaker members do their work better. Our fellow allies are, in one way or another, all about the business of helping nonprofits work better and more effectively, too.

Because we share this common purpose of making a great sector even better, we’ve banded together to refer nonprofits to one another, to meet periodically to talk about trends in the sector, and finally to collaborate to help further the field.

So Who are These Allies, and How Do They Support Organizations Like Yours?

After the picnic, Ashley Schweitzer of Nonprofits Assistance Fund, and Shannon McCarville of Minnesota Council of Nonprofits emceed a Nonprofit Allies Trivia game to help us learn a little about each other.

Here’s a little sample of what I found out:

• Charities Review Council mobilizes informed donors and accountable nonprofits for the greater good by engaging donors in informed giving, encouraging accountability and transparency in nonprofits and enabling the thoughtful use of philanthropic resources.
• Hamline University challenges students in and out of the classroom to create and apply knowledge in local and global contexts, while cultivating an ethic of civic responsibility, social justice, and inclusive leadership and service.
• HandsOn Twin Cities brings people together to strengthen communities through meaningful volunteer action.
• Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs is a top-ranked public affairs school at a major research university offering studies in Public and Nonprofit Leadership.
• LegalCorps assists low-income owners of small businesses and small nonprofit organizations by connecting them with free, high-quality legal services from volunteer lawyers.
• The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) mobilizes corporate, government and philanthropic support to provide local community development organizations with loans, grants and equity investments; local statewide and national policy support; and technical and management assistance.
• MAP for Nonprofits unleashes the power of the nonprofit sector in the community by increasing the capacity of individual nonprofit organizations to achieve their missions and providing leadership for the effective management of the sector.
• Minnesota Council of Nonprofits informs, promotes, connects and strengthens individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector.
• MRAC promotes incorporation of the arts into the daily lives of all communities by providing leadership, advocacy, grants and services.
• Nonprofits Assistance Fund’s mission is to build financially healthy nonprofits that foster community vitality.
• Springboard for the Arts’ mission is to cultivate a vibrant arts community by connecting artists with the skills, contacts, information and services they need to make a living and a life.
• St. Thomas University educates students to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely and work skillfully to advance the common good.

As someone noted at the event, the sheer number of support organizations and the diverse ways we serve nonprofits and grantmakers is a testament to the strength of the sector in our state.

Were you aware of all the great support organizations there are? If you’d like to learn more about them, visit the sites linked to above. You’ll be glad you took the time to get to know them a little better. I know I am!

- Annette Wind, MCF administrative assistant

Image CC The Welsh Poppy

Melissa Eystad, 2010 Annual Convening planner

One of the biggest challenges in planning an event like the 2010 MCF Annual Convening is designing how people are going to “be together.” How often have you attended events where the old lecture method is alive and well? Or there’s a panel of talking heads with no time for participant interaction or questions? Or how about the PowerPoint presentation where every slide is read to you – verbatim?

For many years MCF has been giving members the opportunity to gather as a whole to discuss and learn about philanthropy opportunities and issues.  Can you think of a conference format or feature you’ve experienced? Well, we’ve probably tried it.

It would be easier to offer the same design and format year after year.  But our goal is never what is easier for us, but what will make each event interesting, informational, engaging and energizing for as many busy grantmakers as possible. And ultimately, to create an event that plants the seeds for new ideas, solutions and relationships that will increase philanthropy’s impact into the future.

One of the first changes you may have noticed about our 2010 event is the name.  Planning committee members and staff felt strongly that we needed a different image for our annual gathering.  A conference is a conference. The term “convening” conveys more — that it’s about bringing people with common interests and purposes together to learn, discuss, and be inspired about the work ahead.  This will be a truly participatory event.

So, to “break the mold” again with new features and formats at the 2010 MCF Annual Convening, we are:

• Exchanging the traditional CEO/trustee dinner with a dynamic morning of presentations, conversations and explorations between CEOs, top philanthropy executives and their boards of trustees. These peers will join together to hear about innovative governance and philanthropic leadership opportunities.
• Reframing breakout sessions as “idea sessions.” Our planning committee challenged us to create more engaging small-group formats that deliver three things: relevant topic content, more attendee discussion and sharing, and clear, tangible tools and applicable strategies.  This may be a tall order for 75- and 90-minute sessions on complex topics – but we’re up to the challenge!
• Partnering with the MCF Arts and Culture Funders Network and Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media to offer our first dinner and film option on Thursday evening. Special thanks to MCF members Cindy Gehrig and Robert Byrd from the Jerome Foundation for helping to make this possible!

As planning continues, we’ll have more new developments to report. We know that grantmakers’ time and resources  are limited and valuable, especially in these changing times. But we also know that coming together to build our field-wide strengths is essential, too.

MCF members as well as other grantmakers from Minnesota and the upper Midwest are invited to attend.  Stay tuned to this website for more details and to register.  For a whole new convening experience, join us October 28 & 29 in Plymouth, MN!

- Melissa Eystad, former MCF vice president and current 2010 Annual Convening planner from World Spirit Consulting

Fortunately, here at Minnesota Council on Foundations we track all this information for our grantmaker members and the nonprofit community.

Today I’d like to talk about Giving Memo, our enewsletter for the nonprofit community. It’s one of the best ways to stay on top of all of this information, and best of all, if you’re subscribed, it’s delivered free every other week to your inbox. It’s kind of like the helpful staff member you didn’t know you had, ready at hand to provide you with need-to-know information about foundation and corporate giving in Minnesota, and much more.

Giving Memo Sums Up the Latest on Minnesota Grantmaking

The entire team here at MCF receives hundreds of emails, tracks dozens of news sources and scans more than a hundred Google Alerts to keep up to date on news from, for and about grantmakers in our state. We share those updates with you in the “Minnesota Grantmaker News & Notes” section of Giving Memo.

Giving Memo Updates You on People to Know

Have the staff members at one of your current or potential funders changed? MCF is often the first to know. Regardless of whether there’s an official press release, MCF collects information daily about staff and trustee changes. We  share these updates in the “People” section of Giving Memo.

Giving Memo Features New Grant Opportunities

Have the grant deadline or proposal criteria changed? What new opportunities are on the horizon? MCF maintains comprehensive databases of Minnesota grantmakers and grants. We share upcoming grant deadlines, grant updates and new grant opportunities in each edition of Giving Memo.

(And for even more detailed information, you can subscribe to Minnesota Grantmakers Online.)

Giving Memo Offers Even More

In addition to these features, Giving Memo frequently includes:

• Job postings from grantmakers and nonprofits
• Updates on the latest research on grantmaking by MCF and others
• Insights on effective fundraising
• Programs from MCF and our nonprofit allies that help you stay informed and improve your skills.

Giving Memo is Yours and It’s Free (but You Need to Sign Up*)

Clearly, Giving Memo is a pretty amazing resource. So, are you signed up to access this awesome new employee? If you’re not, you can sign up online now by filling out this short form. If you have friends or colleagues who would enjoy this resource, send them an email with this link.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

*Please note that MCF never shares or sells your information. That would be mean.

Throughout her six terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Rep. Slawik has collaborated with foundations working to advance several early childhood and education initiatives. We chatted following her participation on a public policy panel hosted by the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

Here is an excerpt of her interview. Read more of her Commentary in our just-published Summer issue of Giving Forum.

Q: What is philanthropy’s role in public policy?

State government and foundations are looking to solve the same issues facing our citizens, so it only makes sense that we work together.

Part of what we lack in the public policy arena is the ability to do strategic planning, because we need short-term wins. This is amplified by election cycles. Foundations can give us long-term perspectives on issues and solutions and help us make more strategic decisions. It’s particularly valuable when foundations provide funding to jump-start strategic planning for longer-term solutions, especially when government is facing a large deficit.

A recent example is the work of the School Readiness Funders Coalition. As part of its larger advocacy agenda, this group of foundations will fund the implementation of two pieces of the Early Childhood Policy Bill approved this session. Both focus on strategic planning by the Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council: $100,000 will fund exploration of the creation of an Office of Early Learning; an additional $58,000 will fund strategic planning for a statewide school readiness report card.

Philanthropy brings a non-partisan lens to issues by advocating for what it believes is best for the community. That more collaborative, strategic perspective is important to have at the table.

Evaluation also is lacking in state government. We haven’t funded or conducted it in areas such as early childhood, so when we try to compare the impact of programs such as Head Start and those focusing on child care, school readiness and preschool – all of which serve the same populations – we do not have good data. How do we decide what are good investments? Foundations can help us begin to evaluate, so we can look at reform.

Foundations can be a catalyst for change by funding pilot projects, and state government can look at making the most of the best ideas. This type of collaborative relationship truly can benefit the public, especially those most in need of assistance. If government gives a subsidy to a parent for child care, foundations can help make that quality child care.

Q: How do philanthropy and government address the great challenges of making progress in public policy?

Develop a common vision and determine benchmarks that demonstrate progress toward that goal. In early childhood, our goal is to have all children school ready by 2020. For the environment, we want most of the state’s energy companies to provide 25 percent of their power through renewable sources by 2025. What are benchmarks we can measure along the way to these goals?

Obviously there will be setbacks. Elections and turnover at foundations change the players, and there are economic cutbacks and societal shifts. We need to adjust, but we can remain true to a consistent goal.

In the political world, people take sides and we encounter opposition. We can’t count on trying to change minds, as legislators are often entrenched in their positions. It’s important to be respectful, acknowledge alternative voices, invite everyone to be part of the process, and not shut out anyone.

In the case of this session’s early childhood bills, some view the creation of an Office of Early Childhood as expansion of government, while I see it as government reform or redefinition. Regardless, we will encourage opposing legislators to be involved in the task forces created by the legislation. During the session, our basic message was, “We have a collaborative partnership with the foundations. Let’s get this passed, then let’s all be active in moving the state forward through early childhood.”

Passing a bill is not the end of the public policy process. It feels like an end, because we’ve accomplished something, but it’s really the beginning of the work to create change.

Timing is everything!

Just as we published Giving Forum, GrantCraft released its latest guide – Working With Government: Guidance for Grantmakers.

Filled with case studies of cross-sector collaborations, the guide sheds light on unfamiliar terrain for foundations and government and offers fresh insight into the benefits and risks of partnering. Developing relationships, navigating roles and power dynamics, and managing risks aren’t easy, but the resulting collaborations — as the funders highlighted in this guide attest — are important and highly effective.

 - Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

And for this, Wallin was honored with the inaugural Engaged Philanthropist Award, presented June 17 in Minneapolis. The award, co-sponsored by Social Venture Partners Minnesota and Minnesota Community Foundation (both MCF members), was created to recognize Minnesota’s most innovative and effective engaged philanthropists and to promote philanthropy in Minnesota.

Wallin was an engaged philanthropist long before it was labeled as such. The Future of Philanthropy’s website, which lists a myriad of resources on the topic on its page “Experimenting with Grantmaking Strategies: High-engagement giving,” includes a link to High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector, a 2004 report produced by Venture Philanthropy Partners and Community Wealth Ventures. The report describes high-engagement philanthropy as “an approach in which funders or ‘investors’ are directly and personally engaged and involved with their investment partners (in traditional terms, the grantees) beyond providing financial support. Often this engagement takes the form of strategic assistance, which can include long-term planning, board and executive recruitment, coaching, help in raising capital, assuming board roles, accessing networks, and leveraging relationships to identify additional resources and facilitate partnerships.”

The Minnesota Community Foundation writes, “After a career as COO at Pillsbury and CEO and Chairman of Medtronic, Mr. Wallin has worked tirelessly on behalf of his community. Through the Wallin Foundation (an MCF member), he has supported and provided leadership for educational, medical, community and arts organizations. He is currently the Chair for the Board of Visitors for the Medical School at the University of Minnesota and has been involved with the Health Science Center at the University for many years. Mr. Wallin founded Wallin Education Partners, a nonprofit that provides scholarships to highly capable students with financial need and offers support to scholars while they are in college to maximize their success. To date, Wallin Education Partners has provided more than $26 million in scholarships to over 3,000 students.”

The Engaged Philanthropist Award was given to the nominee who best exemplifies:

• Investing both his/her money and talents in the nonprofit organization(s) they support;
• Taking a strategic perspective by building a long-term working relationship with the nonprofit organization(s) and focusing on long-term solutions to social problems;
• Encouraging the nonprofit organization(s) they support to produce measurable outcomes for those they serve; and
• Encouraging innovation in the nonprofit organization(s) they support.

Wallin received the award at the Third Annual Engaged Philanthropy Conference, hosted by Social Venture Partners.

To read more and view a video tribute to Wallin, visit the Minnesota Community Foundation’s “What’s New” webpage and see the feature article in the Star Tribune.

Congratulations to this tireless philanthropist for whom simply (but generously) signing checks was the beginning not the end of his influential reach.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

The next time your family comes together for a day at the lake or a barbecue in the backyard, why not take an hour to discuss your estate and how your family can make an impact on the things that are most meaningful to all of you?

To help you start the discussion, here are some topics and questions to post to your “kitchen table philanthropists”:

1.) First, let your family know that including charitable giving in your estate does not mean leaving out children, grandchildren and other family members. Including charities in your planning can actually enhance what your loved ones will inherit. Because your family is important to you their input into how those charitable dollars are spent and what organizations they will support is also important to you.

2.) Encourage your family to talk about the charitable organizations they currently support. Ask each about the most satisfying charitable gift that they have made. Other questions could include:

• Do you see your family as a family who “gives back”? How do you feel about that?
• Are local issues and organizations more important to your family than national or international organizations?
• Are there projects or organizations you would like the family’s name linked with?
• What would the family like to see accomplished through charitable giving?

Including your loved ones in these discussions can provide multiple benefits. It gives them a role in your decision making. They will understand what you want to do and how you want to do it. It should also ensure that there will be no surprises for the family at the time your estate is settled.

If you’d like to explore opportunities for planned giving, get in touch with the Minnesota Planned Giving Council. Or, if you’re a Minnesota resident living in the west central region, you may call Kim Embretson or Tom McSparron of the West Central Initiative at 800.735.2239.

More about WCI: The West Central Initiative serves to improve west central Minnesota through funding, programs and technical assistance. Their vision is to unite ideas and resources to help people and communities create a better tomorrow. To learn more about WCI, visit their website at wcif.org. WCI is a member of Minnesota Council on Foundations.

But, if we define engaging in public policy as working to impact public decision making, we discover that most grantmakers are engaged in public policy work, even though most either don’t define their work as such or don’t realize their efforts could be given this label. Most are not lobbying and do not come in contact with any politicians.

As Colleen Horton, program officer at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, recently noted in her PND Commentary & Opinion article, the real question for grantmakers isn’t “Are you engaged in public policy work?,” it’s “What are you already doing?” and “Is there a more effective way to approach public policy?”

Whether foundations are engaging media – social or otherwise, educating community leaders, building networks, funding technical assistance, sharing research, supporting grassroots organizations, polling or even lobbying, they are working along a continuum of activities that influence opinions and advocate ideas that affect how we take care of individuals, communities, those we share this earth with, and the environment.

The Harvard Family Research Project, in the “User’s Guide to Advocacy Evaluation Planning” by Julia Coffman, identifies 18 advocacy and policy change activities and tactics that can yield measurable outcomes and impacts. Lobbying is only 1/18^th of the list and at the far end of the continuum. Before you reach lobbying, you could venture into using social media, coalition building, supporting public service announcements, investigating an issue and identifying possible solutions, giving presentations, or even filing a lawsuit.

To read an array of additional resources and links, including an “Advocacy Toolkit: Strategies for Engaging Foundations in Advocacy,” visit MCF’s public policy resource page on its website.

Our upcoming summer issue of Giving Forum will highlight Minnesota grantmakers engaged in a diverse range of advocacy and policy change work – from the more informal to the very strategic. While their activities are varied, these funders share the common vision that, in order to broaden and deepen their philanthropic mission and strengthen the work they do and the changes they’re trying to make, they must go beyond solely writing checks.

Join the conversation: Whether you’re a nonprofit, a foundation, a voter or an elected office holder at any level of government, share information about initiatives you’re involved in that utilize some of the policy change activities mentioned above. Does it seem odd to call these “public policy work?” What are some of the challenges? How do you measure or define movement, impact, success? What does it take to be successful when engaging in public policy work? What advice would you give others?

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

These days, though, I find myself asking not only how can I get through, but how can I connect? Great divides in the area of technology seem to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Connecting and engaging with the next generation is an important topic in the foundation world too.

My colleague Chuck Peterson, MCF’s vice president of member relations, upon his return from the Council on Foundations conference in Denver last week, has been sharing with MCF staff some take-aways. Among them was this from the session titled “The Next Generation Trustee: Insights into Engaging the Next Generation,” presented by Sharna Goldseker, vice president, Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies; and Joseph Thalheimer, next generation family member, Alvin and Fanny Thalheimer Foundation:

“Top 10 Tips on Engaging the Next Generation”

1. The “next generation” is two different generations with distinct personalities.  Different approaches are needed for different generations.
2. The “kids” are now adults. Transition from a parent-child dynamic to a peer-to-peer relationship.
3. Generational personalities are enduring. Accept that the unique generational experiences of Gen X and Gen Y (a.k.a. “The Millennials”) might cause them to become different people. Don’t assume you can wait them out.
4. Look for the values that underlie the next generation’s choices. Take time to discover what motivates someone’s choice; you may find you have a lot in common.
5. Learning is a two-way street.  If you have things you want to teach, be ready to learn.
6. Show rather than tell. Experiential learning is preferable to didactic learning with these generations. Think site visits rather than binders.
7. You don’t have to step away to let the next generation step up. Think about ways to share and trade power rather than transfer it.
8. Transparency matters. Access to information is a given these days.  Being open about challenges is a strength, not a weakness.
9. Engaging new leaders requires more than a Facebook page. Technology is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.
10. Engaging people is easy, sustaining their involvement requires change. They can only stay at the kid’s table (or the junior board or the associate position) for so long, and then they are looking for more material involvement.

In our Spring issue of Giving Forum, Sarah Andersen, board president of the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation, talks about her foundation’s efforts to engage the next generation in their family philanthropy and the challenges they’re encountering. The issue also includes insight from Tim Showalter-Loch, senior manager of community relations at Best Buy, on his company’s @15 platform encompassing grants, employee giving programs, a website, cause marketing, data collection and research targeting the strength of teens.

And finally, if you’re like me and think you really are more “with it” than your age belies, try taking the Pew Research “How Millennial Are You?” quiz. Here, in 14 questions, you’ll discover how “Millennial” you are and how you stack up against others your age.

What’s your reaction to your score? Mine? It was like one of those moments when you happen to glance at your reflection as you pass by a mirror at the store, and you think, “Wow, when did THAT happen?”

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

“While foundations traditionally have given great attention to the 5 percent of their assets they typically pay out each year, PRIs provide us with an opportunity to think about what we do with the other 95 percent and what our role could be in working with our community partners,” suggests Kathleen Fluegel, executive director of HRK Foundation, a member of the Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF).

The Spring 2010 issue of MCF’s Giving Forum focuses on how Minnesota grantmakers are magnifying impact and creating change through innovative philanthropic initiatives. PRIs – loans, loan guarantees, lines of credit and equity investments that earn a foundation a return on its investment of 1 to 2 percent in most cases – are playing a prevalent role in energizing the field.

Fluegel recalls that when the younger generation of HRK trustees introduced PRIs to the board as a new foundation tool, the idea was “embraced by the older generation, and it energized all of us because of new, creative possibilities,” she says.

For example, HRK offered a PRI to one of its long-time nonprofit partners who was having difficulty timing cash flow to acquire pieces for its museum. “We realized that a line of credit could give the organization more flexibility,” Fluegel explains. “Raising money for the acquisitions wasn’t an issue; it was quick turn-around that presented challenges.” With the line of credit, the museum could purchase an object and then take the time needed to raise the money and repay the loan.

In this issue of Giving Forum, we also spotlight PRI maker Sunrise Community Banks.

With its community development mission, Sunrise provides financing that other institutions might view as risky. “We’re willing to take the extra steps to make some of these projects work, because we know they will positively impact the community,” acknowledges Nikki Foster, Sunrise Community Banks’ vice president of community development.

Through its Sunrise Homeownership Alliance, an innovative, nationally recognized initiative, Sunrise Banks secured deposits from organizations such as The Minneapolis Foundation and the John Larsen Foundation. These deposits fuel lending through the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation and Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services. These nonprofits provide financing to individuals to buy homes  on a three-year contract for deed, during which time the individuals participate in credit counseling to learn how to repair their credit and set aside savings, so they’re able to refinance into a conventional mortgage. Also part of the financing mix are federal dollars from the Family Housing Fund.

In this issue’s “Giving Trends” article, MCF research manager Juliana Tillema outlines how PRIs got their start, some recent trends and the opportunities and benefits that PRIs can present for both foundations and nonprofits. She notes that, because PRIs require funders to integrate deep program knowledge with financial and legal expertise, PRIs are most often made to organizations with which a grantmaker has a well-established relationship, when a strategic investing opportunity arises with those partners, and when capital is needed to realize a shared goal.

Who are Minnesota’s PRI Makers? Tillema cites MCF research that lists 11 MCF members, about half of whom made their first PRI recently – in either 2008 or 2009. The list includes: Blandin Foundation, Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, HRK Foundation, John Larsen Foundation, Lutheran Community Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation, Otto Bremer Foundation, Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation, and the West Central Initiative.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

She said, “Conversations can be frightening – they tell you who you are as a human being. However, the gift on the other side of the challenge is the building of relationships and community. God has given us the gift of diversity. It is an insult to pretend you do not notice it. Enter a conversation because the differences we bring can be gifts to one another. In a child’s world, noticing differences are an opportunity to move the conversation forward.”

Her words stirred me and got me wondering why we as people, as professionals, as co-workers, and co-board members don’t have conversations about race more often. Why is it that when the topic of race comes up, even in conversations related to diversity, inclusion and justice, we tend to back away, change the subject, or shut-down? Why is it that we can spend hours talking about disparities, difference, and what _______ should do, but only minutes about racism itself… intentional, unintentional, individual, and institutional racism?

Though there are many ism’s that should be addressed, racism is arguably the ism that lasted the longest and has the potential to continue into perpetuity in large part due to our inability and/or unwillingness to have open, frank, and crucial conversations in our day-to-day lives about it. So what can we do to change it?

For some, it’s been as simple as having lunch. In 1997, Joe Martin a long time Bank of America executive in Greenville, SC challenged the community to set-aside one day each week to have lunch with someone of a different race. These lunches not only provided an easy opportunity to have discussions about race and racism, but a way to begin building cross-racial relationships that extend beyond the formality of day-to-day business interactions.

Others have chosen even more intentional means such as visiting a worship place with different style and different cultures than you’re used to, or setting up a play-date for your children with children of different races, attending community events that take you out of your comfort zone, and interacting with the attendees to learn more about them as individuals and as a community. The options are as diverse as we are, but you still might be wondering how to actually have the conversation. I mean having lunch with a person of a different race doesn’t guarantee that you will actually talk about race and racism. Like any conversation with a purpose, it must be intentional, and there are tools to help us not only become more knowledgeable but prepared to have those crucial conversations.

A book has recently been released entitled “To Be Free: Understanding and Eliminating Racism” that I believe can help those who strive to know and do more to address racism. The book was written by Thomas Peacock and Marlene Wisuri, and the forward was written by Eric Jolly.

The book was produced with support from several Minnesota foundations and MCF members and free copies have been distributed at several recent events. Though the book was written to assist educators in preparing youth to prevent and eliminate racism, its content is enlightening and motivating for adults as well. Each chapter ends with a summary of its key themes and activities to promote understanding of its topic that could easily be used in a group setting for workplace dialogues and training.

I encourage you to use this book, available at aftonpress.com to create your own conversations about race and racism, and share with us and your peers on the blog your own solutions for continuing eliminating racism through conversation. And to share the words that were shared at the Facing Race Ambassador Awards event, the conversation about race will end when racism ends.

- Tawanna Black, MCF diversity fellow