October 20, 2023

As many of you know, I also lead the bi-monthly Policy & Advocacy Group discussions of the Community Foundation Opportunity Network, where participants compare their community foundations’ policy experiences, questions, and lessons learned.

This month’s discussion featured Gina Dalma, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Executive Vice President for Community Action, Policy, and Strategy.

Gina shared the SVCF’s policy approach, including their criteria for engagement; capacity and landscape analyses; strategic campaign development framework; partner communication strategies; internal and external information flows; adaptive management of policy efforts; and how they calibrate their narrative to prioritize progress.  Their systemic pursuits reflect a true appreciation for policy advocacy - and what’s required for a community foundation’s effective engagement.

Ultimately, Gina noted that in the SVCF’s experience, policy advocacy can provide a community foundation with unparalleled returns on financial investment. Yet she also noted that time is required to develop the relationships, understandings, and organization-wide culture and support that enable success.

Having dedicating that time and effort, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation has transformed the idea of policy leadership into a tangible, measurable, and fundamental element of the uniquely important philanthropic value they provide - in partnership with the community they serve.

I was hoping to dedicate this month’s “Expert Perspectives” webinar to exploring the key elements of the lessons shared by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Yet I’m inextricably involved in a major public defense kickoff in Texas next Friday, so I won’t be able to present this month's regularly scheduled monthly webinar. 

Given that the following regularly scheduled webinar (4th Friday of each month) falls on Thanksgiving break, the Center’s next “Expert Perspectives” session will be Friday, November 17, at Noon ET/ 11CT/ 10MT/ 9am PT. We’ll look at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s overall policy leadership approach - and explore the nooks and crannies of it all, in whatever ways you’d like. 

If you'd like to explore those fundamentals with us, please register here. And as always, feel free to email me any time, for whatever reason, at Stephen@CFPolicyLeadership.net.   Hope to see you then!