Impact ED

05/28/2024

DiverseForce on Board’s Cohort 12 attended their final virtual session on Organizational Fundraising Session recently with Program Instructor, Christina Mattison. The group learned more about the philanthropic landscape and explored board members’ roles and responsibilities when it comes to fundraising.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our 21st Century Best Practices & Challenges session in June!

05/23/2024

How can we, at ImpactED, best support our partners as they work to accelerate meaningful change? Our most recent blog post highlights the process we followed to revise our Theory of Change based on our partners’ shifting needs. The post includes our team’s insights coming out of the process and a breakdown of our refreshed services.

Check out our blog post to learn more!

If you or your organization have any questions or comments to share, feel free to repost with your thoughts or reach out to us at [email protected]!

https://impact-ed.sas.upenn.edu/blog/driving-change-together-impacteds-refreshed-theory-change

05/15/2024

“Unlike more traditional models of leadership, in which leaders are motivated by authority or status, challenge-driven leadership attracts people who want to solve problems and have expertise and creativity to offer.”

At ImpactED, we center collaboration in our work both internally and with our partners. This recent Stanford Social Innovation Review article highlights the value of enacting positive change and problem-solving alongside similarly motivated colleagues. It includes an excerpt from Nancy McGraw’s book, Making Work Matter: How to Create Positive Change in Your Company and Meaning in Your Career. Check it out below!

An excerpt from Making Work Matter on developing impactful leadership

05/08/2024

Our very own ECBI team recently presented at the 2024 Conference! Centered around the theme of Reality, Risk, & Reimagining Evaluation, we presented on The 4 P’s: People, Purpose, Process, and Practice: a Holistic Approach to Equitable Evaluation. If you’d like to dive deeper into this topic, check out our Equity in Evaluation Podcast: https://impact-ed.sas.upenn.edu/blog/equity-evaluation-podcast-series

Shout out to our partners at The Pew Charitable Trusts! Thank you Claire Robertson-Kraft, Candace Kenyatta, Wendy McClanahan, Meridith Polin, Daria Waite, and George Reuter for facilitating such an engaging and informative presentation!

05/02/2024

“As philanthropy grows, it is up to us to take bigger risks to influence funders. We have a responsibility to give private philanthropy hard feedback...”

At ImpactED, we are always looking for ways to advocate for organizations to receive more resources to support their needs and goals. This recent Stanford Social Innovation Review article highlights the importance of intermediary organizations and how they can effectively connect donors with organizations and individuals. Check it out below!

Leaders of several intermediary organizations share how they envision their role within—and how they ultimately hope to upend—the philanthropic landscape.

04/26/2024

DiverseForce on Board’s Cohort 12 attended the Finance & Accounting Session last week with Program Instructor, Matthew Stitt. The group reviewed how to analyze and ask questions about budgets through an equity lens while exploring the role of the fiduciary.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our Organizational Fundraising session in May!

03/22/2024

DiverseForce on Boards’ Cohort 12 attended their third session last week with Program Instructor, Joe Moorman. During the session, participants explored and applied the key components of effective, equity-driven strategic planning. The “CAR” framework was centered in our discussions as a tool that can help ensure clarity, accountability, and relevance are incorporated into the strategy work you engage in as a board member.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our Finance & Accounting session in April!

02/27/2024

Have you ever wondered what equitable evaluation looks like in practice? In our Evaluation Capacity Building Initiative (ECBI) program we discuss how to embed equity throughout the evaluation process. As we’ve learned, this work isn’t always easy, but it is necessary. The ECBI program team recently recorded the Equity in Evaluation podcast series to continue this conversation - the series discusses the ins and outs of equitable evaluation and provides real-life examples of how challenging, rewarding, and important this work can be.

Check out our blog post to listen to the podcast series and learn more about equitable evaluation: https://impact-ed.sas.upenn.edu/blog/equity-evaluation-podcast-series

If you or your organization have any questions or comments to share, feel free to repost with your thoughts or reach out to us at [email protected]

12/14/2023

"Data visualization often reduces people to points on a map or bars on a chart, so framing and context that uplift the people and communities behind the data are necessary for data communicators to empathetically present their work." We often discuss about equitable evaluation practices and strategies with our partners. This report does a great job of highlighting data collection in a responsible manner!

Check out this Urban Institute report linked below!

In this guide and its associated toolkits, we focus on how data practitioners can approach their work through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

12/08/2023

🚨WEBINAR ALERT🚨: Is your organization looking to strengthen its data and evaluation practices? Are you interested in learning strategies on how to intentionally use your organization’s data? If so, you should join us and The Foundation for Delaware County next Thursday!

We will be hosting a Data and Evaluation Essentials webinar on December 14th from 1:00-2:00pm. During this webinar, you’ll have the chance to learn how to build your data collection skills and use those tools to better serve your community! For more information, check out the flier below.

You can learn more and register for this free webinar here: https://delcofoundation.org/event/data-and-evaluation-essentials-webinar/

11/28/2023

DiverseForce on Board’s Cohort 11 are more than half way through their program as they attended their fourth session on Finance and Accounting with our newest Program Instructor, Angela Coaxum. The group discussed how to ascertain the financial strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats of an organization.

Participants were eager to explore financial best practices, procedures for reviewing financial statements, and analyzing budgets through an equity lens. It was an engaging session that provided our cohort with insightful takeaways.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our Organizational Fundraising Session in January!

11/22/2023

Last week we held a special event celebrating Cohort 3’s completion of our Social Impact Collaborative program! We’re so grateful to The Wilma Theater for hosting us in their space and sharing their work with us. Staying on theme with the venue, each organization highlighted their learning journey through a playbill poster. The rest of the evening included congratulatory toasts and commemorating the past two years! One participant shared “we feel more prepared now than ever with resources and tools to showcase what our organization can truly accomplish”. It was such a wonderful evening and we wish this cohort all the best in their future endeavors!

Thank you for your partnership William Penn Foundation! Thank you to the amazing leaders and organizations in this cohort for committing yourselves to this critical work!