2016 National Conference

Driven by a desire to make lasting contributions, grantmakers face a temptation to jump on the latest bandwagon, which often results in changing our focus, reinventing strategy and leaving nonprofits in the lurch. At the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, an operating foundation with more than a century of experience working in greater St. Paul, MayKao Y. Hang and her team are taking a different approach. By applying a longer-term, multigenerational and systems-thinking lens to its work, Wilder Foundation seeks to be more responsive and effective in understanding what actually makes people and communities stronger and more vibrant. Speaking from her vantage point as both an operator of direct service programs in the Twin Cities that benefit everyone from preschoolers to the elderly, as well as a funder in the community, Hang will share what is truly required of us to change often complex systems.