D05: Supporting Leadership Development in Social Justice Organizations
Track
Supporting Nonprofit Resilience
Session Designer
Luis Arteaga, Levi Strauss Foundation
Session Description
When a foundation makes a long-term commitment and goes beyond grants to support the next generation of social justice leaders, creative experimentation and disruption can occur. Hear directly from the Levi Strauss Foundation about some of these disruptions as well as lessons learned from the first five years of its Pioneers in Justice program, a cohort-based investment in some of San Francisco’s “bedrock” civil rights organizations. Two members of the original Pioneers class will describe how participation in the program helped their organizations reach new audiences, use technology and collaboration to further movement and network building, and develop new leadership. As PIJ is still a work in progress, speakers also will provide a behind-thescenes look at how they structured the program for participants who might want to replicate something like it. They’ll share what’s in store with the next iteration of the program through 2020 and solicit your feedback on how to evolve the model, evaluate its impact and better support participating leaders. You will leave this session with tips on how to make the case among grantmaking staff and board to embrace funding for nonprofit leadership development, and how to build cultures within our foundations that support this approach as a tool for transformative social change.
Session Designers
Luis Arteaga, Levi Strauss Foundation
Speakers
Luis Arteaga, Levi Strauss Foundation
Biography
Luis Arteaga is the Senior Program Manager for the U.S. at the Levi Strauss Foundation (LSF). Luis manages domestic grantmaking addressing HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination as well as helping low-income people save and invest in long-term assets. Luis also manages LSF’s hometown initiative, Pioneers in Justice which supports social justice organizations in San Francisco. Prior to joining LSF, Luis was Director of Emerging Markets at the California Emerging Technology Fund and served as the Executive Director of Latino Issues Forum. Luis received a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University and completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University.
Lateefah Simon, Rosenberg Foundation
Biography
Lateefah Simon is program director for the Rosenberg Foundation, which seeks to change the odds for Californians through statewide grantmaking. At the age of 19, Ms. Simon was executive director of the Center for Young Women’s Development (CYWD) in San Francisco. CYWD is the nation’s first economic and gender justice organization solely run by low-income and formerly incarcerated young women. Ms. Simon then led the creation of San Francisco’s first reentry services division. She has served on numerous boards and has received awards for her efforts including the MacArthur “Genius”Fellowship” and the Levi Straus Foundation Pioneers in Justice Fellowship.
Vincent Pan, Chinese for Affirmative Action
Biography
Vincent Pan is the Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), a community-based organization founded in 1969 to protect the civil and political rights of Chinese Americans and to advance multiracial democracy. Prior to joining CAA, Vincent helped start treatment programs for children living with HIV/AIDS in China. He was the co-founder and executive director of Heads Up, a nonprofit organization that runs after-school and summer programs for low-income children. Vincent has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University and has been a Fellow with the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University and the Echoing Green Foundation.