I had hoped we would have the Pandemic in our collective rearview mirror by September, but unfortunately, we are still very much in the thick of it as well as the uncertainty it brings to our personal and professional lives. Nevertheless, Jenny and I are doing well and were able to take some much-needed time off during the summer. We hope that you all have been able to unplug and relax some too.

The main purpose of this email is to provide you all with some new opportunities and resources:

  • Please save the mornings of October 6-8, 2021 for Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia’s SPARX Conference – Moving in Solidarity: Blazing a Path for Progress. This year, the conference again will be held virtually. And, I am pleased to let you know that The Nelson Foundation would like to support the attendance of one (1) staff member from each grantee partner’s organization to this conference. If you would like to sign up yourself, a staff member or a Board member, please click here, where you will provide, your organization’s name, attendee’s name, title, email address and cell phone number. The deadline for signing up is Tuesday, September 14 at 5:00PM. 
  • The 2nd Video Tutorial on Evaluation is now available from The RISE Partnership. The Nelson Foundation is one of eight co-investors in The RISE Partnership which earlier this summer launched its Building Evaluation Capacity four-part video tutorial series. This video is titled: “The Big Picture: Theory of Change, Logic Models, and Main Types of Evaluation” and can be viewed here and on our website.
  • Hosted by Philadelphia Foundation, Black Community Leaders Fund is accepting applications until September 30, 2021. If you think your organization might be a good fit for this grant program, you should contact the Philadelphia Foundation for a brief conversation before applying. To schedule a time to talk, click here.
  • For the Foundation’s Philadelphia County serving nonprofits, GPEC (Greater Philadelphia Extracurricular Collaborative) has posted on their website additional information about the School District of Philadelphia’s Afterschool Enrichment / Tutoring Services RFQ, which is due on September 9, 2021 at 12:00PM.

Before signing off, I also wanted to provide a brief update on our strategic planning work. Our consultant has just completed their equity assessment of the Foundation, and Jenny and I look forward to discussing it with them next week. In addition, all external interviews have been completed and all of you will receive a grantee partner survey in mid-September. Please be on the lookout for it because we need and value your input into this process.

I think that’s it for now. As always, please feel free to reach out to either Jenny or myself if you have questions or would like to talk through something.

Stay Healthy, Stay Safe,
Mindy

Alexandra (Mindy) A. Aldridge
President
The Nelson Foundation