Capacity building is not only critical for our grantees, but for our own organization, as well. Archstone Foundation staff Tanisha Davis, Laura Rath, Jolene Fassbinder, and Jasmine Lacsamana have recently focused on building their leadership capacity.
- Vice President of Grant Operations and Planning, Tanisha Davis, completed her participation in the Technology Association of Grantmakers’ 2021 Emerging Leaders Initiative (ELI) Cohort in December 2021. ELI is a leadership program that provided opportunities for soft skills growth and professional development through educational sessions, coaching, and mentors. She was joined by a diverse group of professionals ready to shape the future of philanthropy.
Tanisha is also nearing the end of being a mentor in the inaugural cohort of American Society on Aging’s (ASA) RISE program. The program is a 20-week leadership development and social justice program for emerging BIPOC leaders in the field of aging. As a mentor, Tanisha supported and helped prepare a RISE fellow to lead in the field of aging.
More recently, Tanisha was selected as a fellow for the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ (GEO) 2022-2023 Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship. The fellowship is a 10-month peer learning community consisting of 21 fellows seeking to lead organizational change through learning about effective change management and forming a network of peers across the sector. Fellows will identify and share best practices and recommendations for creating effective and equitable practices.
- Senior Program Officer Laura Rath has completed Marketing a Non-Profit Organization and Managing Human Resources in a Non-Profit Organization as part of the Cal Poly Pomona Non-Profit Management Certificate program. She is also serving in her second year as a Board Member of community- and volunteer-based Summer Harvest, whose mission is to provide healthy, nutritious foods to families with children on the free and reduced lunch program during summer and winter recess through the distribution of food and education.
- In December 2021, Program OfficerJolene Fassbinder completed the two-year Southern California Grantmakers Senior Peer-to-Peer Network program designed to develop senior-level leadership in philanthropy. The program brought together select senior program staff from SCG member organizations to discuss and reflect on topics related to leadership development, organizational dynamics, collaborative philanthropic impact, philanthropy trends, as well as each member’s professional and personal goals. Jolene joined an impressive and accomplished cohort of philanthropy professionals who were led by Judy Belk, President and Chief Executive Officer of The California Wellness Foundation.
- Jasmine Lacsamana, Program Officer, recently graduated in the class of 2022 from the Leadership Long Beach Institute, an intensive 10-month principled leadership development program that emphasizes integrity, vision, personal responsibility, commitment, and community trusteeship. Through panel presentations and interactive communication/learning sessions led by community leaders and subject experts, participants learned about current issues pertaining to the local economy, government, education, media, healthcare, and social services and connected with the individuals and organizations in Long Beach. At the close of the program, the Leadership Long Beach Institute class and staff brought together alumni and community volunteers from across Long Beach to serve together in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service by completing nearly a dozen community service projects.
Jasmine is also participating in the 2022 cohort of the Racial Equity Action Institute, an 8-month program developed by Northern California Grantmakers and now partnering with Southern California Grantmakers to connect racial equity specialists and leaders in philanthropy, government, business, and nonprofits. They will learn, network, and develop a mix of actionable strategies with field experts and each other to advance REDI (Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) within their institutions. The curriculum centers racial equity with an intersectional framework that recognizes the ways race is shaped and informed by class, gender, sexuality, and ability.
