Finally, it feels like the grip of COVID-19 is beginning to ease, but I realize that there is a lot of work ahead for everyone to recover, and to figure out and adjust to what post-Pandemic work and personal life will look like. Jenny and I are doing well and we have some much-needed time off coming soon. We remain busy at the Foundation, so I wanted to give you a brief update on a number of items.

At the June Board Meeting 
I am happy to report that last night the Directors approved 10 two-year core grants, including to two first-time grantees. In addition, a Grace Nelson Award was made to Steppingstone Scholars; a President’s Grant was approved for the Kensington Community Resilience Fund and an Emergency COVID grant was made to the COVID-19 Prevention & Response Fund. This fund is a community-led effort to invest in neighborhood-based solutions to address urgent needs related to COVID-19. The Fund ultimately seeks to increase rates of vaccinations in communities that are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and to address the challenges exacerbated as a result of the Pandemic. We are particularly excited that the Fund uses a participatory, trust-based philanthropy approach to lower barriers to entry for groups that are often excluded from traditional grant opportunities.

Opportunities and Resources

  • 4th Annual Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference: for grantee partners that were able to take advantage of the Foundation’s offer to sponsor attendance, the staff you selected should have received an email from Thomas Jefferson University with instructions on how to register. Please ensure that your staff members have received the email and have completed the registration process.
  • The 2021 Fall Grant Cycle will open on July 1. If you have completed the final report for your last grant, or the final report is completed by August 30, you may submit an LOI for this cycle. The deadline to submit an LOI is July 26 at 5:00 PM.
  • NEW Video Tutorial from The RISE Partnership. The Foundation is one of eight co-investors in The RISE Partnership which has now launched its Building Evaluation Capacity video tutorial series with the release of the first video of the series. This video is titled, “Fundamentals of Evaluation,” and may watched here, on our website under Take Note, or on The Rise Partnership’s YouTube Channel. Additional videos in the four-part series will be released through summer 2021.

2021 Strategic Planning
The staff and Board of Directors has now completed two strategic planning sessions. In addition, our consultant, Just Strategies, has conducted 1-1 interviews with each staff member and Director. And, in addition, all staff and Board members have completed organizational and equity surveys. Next steps include select interviews with partners, including non-profits, funders, and others, followed by a broad survey of all of our grantee partners to gather your input. The process has been intense, interesting and enlightening and I look forward to the upcoming work and results.

I also wanted to remind you that the Foundation is becoming a virtual tenant in our current office building, starting July 1st. Nothing much will change for you since our address and phone number will remain the same. And, we anticipate being in the “office” at least once a week so that we have time to collaborate in person.

Jenny and I hope that you all are doing ok, personally and professionally. Please never hesitate to reach to us if we can be of assistance.

My Best,
Mindy

Alexandra (Mindy) Aldridge
The Nelson Foundation