What’s the big IDEA? The Fundraiser’s Role in Enhancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access

More and more, funders are asking nonprofits to describe how their work advances diversity and inclusion in our community. As grant and fundraising professionals, we must be prepared to respond to this question and understand how programs are (and are not) addressing these issues, and how that might impact our ability to meet our fundraising goals.

At this half-day conference, you will hear from Dr. Masum Momaya, whose work has focused on equality and social justice for the past 20 years. Dr. Momaya will discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the national funding landscape, and how funders are increasingly looking to grantees for new and innovative solutions. You will also hear from a panel of local funders who will discuss how their current and future grant-making priorities are helping to promote greater diversity and equity in the St. Louis area.

Agenda:

• 8:30-9:00 AM: Registration, check-in, breakfast (included), and networking

• 9:00-10:00 AM: Keynote

• 10:00-10:15 AM: Break

• 10:15-11:45 AM: Local funder panel

Keynote: The keynote address, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the National Funding Landscape,” will be given by Masum Momaya, Ed.D. Dr. Momaya has over 20 years of experience working for women’s rights, gender, race and class equality, and social justice. She is the Founder of “Curating Words, Strategies and Sights for Justice and Rights”; Open Society Foundations Fellow for Leadership in Government; Chicago Council on Global Affairs Fellow for Global Cities and Culture; Consultant for Helicon Collaborative; and Curator of Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation, a Smithsonian exhibition traveling through 2020.

Funder Panel: Three local funders will share their thoughts on the importance of diversity in service provision and how they are helping to promote diversity within the St. Louis nonprofit community through their grant-making strategies. Each of the funders will also share some history about their organizations, including their past grant-making strategies, and areas of opportunity now or in the future. The panelists will include:

• Megan Armentrout, Program Associate, Incarnate Word Foundation

• Paulette Foerster, Director of Programs, St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund

• Kristin Cowart, Senior Project Director, Children’s Services, St. Louis Mental Health Board