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Stephen Saloom

Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan shared their thoughts about the role of community foundations in leading for progress on policy issues during their lively plenary panel, “Are We Really that Polarized?” at the Knight Foundation’s recent national conference.


The thrust of the conversation was that justice is a shared American value, that our democracy is being seriously tested, and that it’s essential that community leaders engage to enable effective local and state governance. To enable the latter, they agreed, established facts, relatable human stories, and identifying interests shared across communities are essential. Later in the program, they noted that these are things community foundations are particularly well-suited to advance.


At the outset, Mr. Walker emphasized that we need all leading voices in our community – including philanthropy – to tell the truth, do it publicly, and be willing to withstand attacks from those seeking to strategically undermine the truth. He underscored that this is our job as leaders. By standing strong on truth and documented facts, he said, we can withstand and prevail against such attacks. He cited Governor Hogan’s positive bi-partisan polling numbers in the wake of Donald Trump’s attacks on him as a significant example.


Mr. Walker went on to remind the audience that America’s experience with democracy is noisy, non-linear, and unfolds from a historical base of inequality. And it is not at all guaranteed to work. It’s therefore essential, he said, for leaders to speak up in the public square - especially in response to attacks on truth. Because if leaders don’t speak up in those moments, other people will retreat - and we will all effectively cede the public square to the extremes.


Governor Hogan concurred, saying the media is set up to highlight the loudest voices, as opposed to how to make things work. This reality, he said, makes community engagement and leadership for good government all the more important. When leaders focus on how to make progress, he said, it counteracts and diminishes the “performance politics” that tear down collaboration and fuel extreme voices. Mr. Walker called leadership on truth-telling “the antidote to polarization.”


Governor Hogan underscored that to help people understand realities, it’s important to speak to various audiences where they are – both ideologically and geographically – as opposed to expecting them to come to you to receive the truth. His experience is that when we meet people where they are, they will consider and even agree with positions that are different from their initial viewpoints. Especially if your audience perceives that you:

- Tell it like it is;

- Demonstrate they care about them; and

- Offer solutions that make sense.


It was at this point in the conversation that the moderator took questions, including, “What is the role of community foundations in fostering policies for the greater good?”


Governor Hogan was enthusiastic, saying community foundations have real ability and responsibility for their communities. Community foundations can bring people together on key issues, he said, and can play a major role in finding areas of agreement.


Mr. Walker concurred, adding that community foundations are critical because they’re rooted in the civic space in their local places. Mr. Walker cited community foundation supporters in particular, saying that donor education is an especially important way to cultivate everyone’s ability to see themselves as a philanthropist with responsibility for their community.


As the day’s program was closing, Knight Foundation CEO Alberto Ibarguen urged community foundations to see their role as connecting people across their communities to issues of concern and with opportunities to effectively address them. He said that by using communication – in connection with our credibility and reach – community foundations can help get needed changes made and (as importantly) maintain that support during the reforms’ implementation.


You can view the plenary Discussion, “Are We Really that Polarized?” with Darren Walker and former Governor Hogan here.


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If you found this national level conversation interesting, you’ll want to join us this Friday’s “Different Situations, Shared Concerns” expert panel discussion, featuring Ophelia Bitanga-Isreal, Senior Program Manager for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the National Association of Counties; and Brandon Dudley, Chief of Staff, Harris County Commissioner and Former Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis.


These national and governmental perspectives on regionwide collaboration for good government policy are quite relevant and similar to the relationships community foundations bridge in our communities.


Please feel free to register here. We hope to see you then!





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