Mason to Present at Family Philanthropy Conference
This week, Janine Mason, will join the National Center for Family Philanthropy for their annual CEO Retreat as a session presenter. Sharing the lived experience and research data of the Clare Rose Sabbatical program, Janine will be leading a session called Taking and Making Space: Sabbaticals as Organizational Capacity Building within your Foundation and your Field.
The National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) was founded in 1997 in response to the need for a national source of knowledge and expertise that advocates for the value of family philanthropy. Grounded by the perspective of donor families, NCFP has helped define this burgeoning field and raise awareness of its unique issues.
With a mission is to promote philanthropic values, vision, and excellence across generations of donors and donor families, and recognizing the unique role of the family foundation CEO, NCFP, offers a three-day CEO retreat. This year the retreat is virtual and has been designed to provide an opportunity to build community and reflect on practices essential to the successful leadership of a family philanthropy. It has been crafted for both new and more experienced CEOs. Participants will brainstorm practical and actionable solutions to a broad range of common challenges inherent within a foundation executive role including:
- Managing power dynamics between board, staff, and grantees
- Navigating family dynamics while maximizing the foundation’s grantmaking impact
- Working effectively with board chairs and board committees
- Addressing racial equity and diversity concerns among board and staff
- Setting up a meaningful assessment process for CEOs, foundation staff, and boards
- Developing the network and resources needed to set and achieve critical strategic plans
- Identifying, mentoring, and supporting next generation leaders
- Finding time for personal growth and renewal
The Clare Rose Sabbatical is offered as part of Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego and is funded by the Clare Rose Foundation, a family foundation. To date, the program has awarded 25 sabbatical experiences to local nonprofit organizations. This month, the program will announce the newest cohort, which will begin working on preparing for their 2022 sabbaticals. Each sabbatical is valued at $50,000. More information on the program is available here.
Janine will be presenting her session on Wednesday, May 12, 2021.
For more information on the Center, visit NCFP
Read More
First Pitstop on The Equity Journey
For the past three weeks, 68 nonprofit leaders have been working through the first module of The Equity Journey. Offered in partnership with Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, the Equity Journey is a online learning program focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. This is an encore presentation for Fieldstone, as this program was first offered in Fall 2020. Due to popular demand, we offered it again this Spring to allow more nonprofit leaders to participate.
Unique to the Fieldstone offering of The Equity Journey are monthly “pit stops” which allow us to come together in small discussion groups to reflect on our learnings. Facilitated by Janine Mason, four separate groups came together this week to meet each other, share reflections, and get a sense of other’s experiences with the material. The conversations were rich and impactful. The word cloud above illustrates how people were feeling after the group discussions and reflects the hopefulness, and gratitude of those who participated. It also reflects the personal contribution each member made to creating welcoming space that nurtured these rich conversations.
The group is now starting Module 2 and will gather again on April 27 and 28th for their next “pit stop”.
Read More
Board Diversification – A “How-To” Training
Two-Part Webinar Series on Building a Diverse Board
Featuring Ali Levin, founder of Board Boost Consulting and author of Boost Your Nonprofit Board: A Diversification Guide
Building a diverse board is an ever-important and ongoing process. Historically, nonprofit boards are not diverse, with over 74% of boards comprised of non-BIPOC men and women. In San Diego, only 33% of our boards have BIPOC members even though 55% of our local population identifies as a black, indigenous or as a person of color. To be intentional about diversity, equity and inclusion organizationally and to make the necessary policy shifts in how we serve the world requires diverse and well-trained boards of directors.
While understanding the need to diversify, many nonprofit professionals and volunteer board members are unsure of how to start or what process to follow to accomplish and maintain a new, diverse and inclusive board composition. It can be a daunting task.
To begin this work in earnest, and support our Network leaders, we hosted a two-part comprehensive training on how to begin the process of diversifying your nonprofit board for long term sustainability and success. The first session focused on WHY this effort is imperative for your organization’s effectiveness and the second session explored HOW to do this work with state of the art tools and a step by step process. After completion of this program, leaders had a deeper understanding of practical and actionable steps to empower them as they worked to develop a board that is most effective for their organization and represents the community. This program was offered in the spirit of Project Stone Catcher.
Due to the subject matter, CEOs and Executive Directors were encouraged to to participate with their board chairs and/or other members of their board. A group rate was successful in attracting teams of CEOs and board members to participate together. This laid the foundation for shared language and shared understanding of the proposed process for board diversification. All registered participants received a copy of Ali’s newly released book, Boost Your Nonprofit Board: A Diversification Guide to further assist them in this work.
Meet Our Facilitator
Ali Levin has fifteen years of corporate leadership experience from her time at Dell Inc. She has a Masters of Science in community sciences and nonprofit leadership from University of Florida and has earned a certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University. Levin founded her own consulting practice, Board Boost Consulting, which delivers comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion solutions to help boards engage and retain a diverse team. With her corporate leadership background, nonprofit volunteer experience, and years of nonprofit academic research, she coaches nonprofit boards along the way of their board diversity transformations.
Check out Ali’s blog
Read More
The Journey Continues
Due to popular demand and meaningful feedback from past participants, Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego is continuing its partnership with the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance to bring The Equity Journey and Equity Journey 2.0 to nonprofit professionals in the San Diego region. These two online learning opportunity are focused on equity, inclusion and diversity and are presented as part of Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego’s Project Stone Catcher effort. “Society has always called upon nonprofit leaders and organizations to address our most important civic challenges. Today is no exception. As our communities work to address equity in our country and the world, nonprofit leaders are at the forefront. FLNSD is committed to investing in the increased understanding, skills and network building so nonprofit professionals can do this important work to the best of their abilities because it really matters”, according to Janine Mason, founder of the Network. Project Stone Catcher aims to present nonprofit professionals with opportunities to learn about social justice leadership throughout each of FLNSD’s individual programs.
In The Equity Journey, learners will explore the meaning of equity and what it looks like in society, test their own understanding of privilege and how it impacts access and learn how to advance equity in their own organizations and communities.
Equity Journey 2.0 focuses on organizational competencies and developing the skills and understanding necessary for leaders to cultivate equitable and diverse organizational cultures.
Both Equity Journey courses include three self guided modules. Learners will have three weeks to complete each module. Then, Learners will participate in an online small group discussion on the module before advancing to the next session. This enhanced program feature is unique to the Fieldstone offerings. A board member of Olivewood Gardens who participated in the program last Fall shared, that “these discussions have been a central part of the Journey” and that he was “enriched by” the participants and “their perspectives” during his small discussions.
These courses work well for individuals as well as for entire teams or organizations. It is a cost effective and impactful way to train employees and leaders in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion and create a shared vernacular as a starting point to begin organizational efforts and discussions to address change in an agency. Participants from Plant with Purpose concur, sharing, “The Equity Journey has already and will continue to contribute to our progress and change in our organizational behavior, culture and belief systems going forward.”
An e-certificate will be awarded to each participant who completes the online course and participates in the three online discussion groups.
Graduates of The Equity Journey are invited to continue their journey with Equity Journey 2.0. However, completing The Equity Journey is not a pre-requisite for participating in 2.0. Learners may also do both courses at the same time.
FLNSD first offered The Equity Journey in Fall 2020. Almost 200 nonprofit professionals and board members participated. Speaking about their experience, a participant from Jamboree Housing reported, “This was one of the most valuable trainings I’ve participated in”. A leader from MAAC Project agreed, sharing “I have broadened my view, challenged my upbringing and recognized how I have benefited from white privilege. . . I feel I am a better person, and better equipped to stand up for diversity, equity and inclusion not just in my work life, but in my personal life as well.”
New Partnership with La Jolla Playhouse
Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego Partners with La Jolla Playhouse on Taxilandia as part of Project Stone Catcher
Experiential learning opportunity will explore our notion of what it means to be a native, an immigrant or a resident of a place. By examining your own neighborhood, these interactive salons will challenge us to offer creative strategies for confronting gentrification*.
Brooklyn-based artist Modesto Flako Jimenez has adapted his acclaimed Taxilandia show into a virtual salon with local artists whose work intersects with gentrification. Locally, it is being offered by the La Jolla Playhouse. Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego has partnered with the Playhouse to share this learning opportunity with its members and other leaders in the nonprofit sector.
Taxilandia, created and written by Oye Group’s Modesto Flako Jimenez, is a site-specific play-within-a-tour of a city. The piece immerses its audience in the flavors, sounds, sights and dynamic history of a neighborhood confronting social stigmas and the realities of gentrification. Originally developed in Jimenez’s own neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn, the piece was inspired and drawn from his nine years driving a taxicab and his documentation of conversations with passengers, residents, natives, and immigrants to the neighborhood. The Oye Group now works with companies all over the country to develop local versions of the piece specific to each city.
The piece is devised in three phases, beginning with a series of virtual salons with local artists whose work intersects with gentrification. Phase two involves a creative collaboration with one of the salons, where Jimenez works with the Playhouse and the local artist to identify a tour route, conduct interviews, write a script and photograph portraits of community members. Once public gathering is allowed, phase three will include live presentations and an interactive gallery.
Members of FLNSD are invited to join in the creation of this piece by participating in the live salons which will be hosted on Zoom with local San Diego artists.
Meet The Artists and Their Neighborhoods
On Thursday, January 28 at 6:30 pm PST on Zoom, artist Khalil Bleux will share photos as he explores his Southeast San Diego neighborhood. 
Khalil Bleux is an artist, activist and educator from Southeast San Diego. He is the founder of The SOULcial Workers and producing artistic director for Agency 515; The Social Education Theatre, a local non-profit that focuses on mental health, social education and emotional development through the arts. Khalil is a sought after playwright, poet and performer. He has been featured on stages across the country, on television, and in publications and has credits in theatre and independent film. He is passionate about using the stage as a platform for education and healing. His work serves to amplify the stories and experiences of marginalized bodies, and to raise community consciousness around trauma and relationships. He has had a 13-year career in the social services field serving transition aged youth across the county. Khalil is member of the San Diego Suicide Prevention Council and serves as a QPR trainer for the County of San Diego. He serves on the Create CA statewide initiative for arts education and is also a consultant and director with the San Diego Creative Youth Development Network. He is also an organizer with Black Lives Matter and the co-founder of The Sit In San Diego: A Black Healing space.
Saturday, January 23 at 1:00 pm PST, artist Joy Yvonne Jones will explore her Carlsbad/Oceanside neighborhood and share photos.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Joy Yvonne Jones attended The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and went on to study at the University of Minnesota in the Guthrie Theatre B.F.A. Actor Training Program in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joy is a recipient of the San Diego Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play for her performance as Saartjie Baartman in Voyeurs de Venus at Moxie Theatre. Her most recent credits include Cherise Howard in Flex at the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Isabelle in Ring Round the Moon at Lambs Players Theatre, Zuzu in Dance Nation, and Jane in Kate Hamil’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In 2020, her play, Ode to My Mothers, was featured in The Old Globe’s Juneteenth Celebration. She is a creative hurricane working on the revolution at the speed of inspiration. And a new mother to Leonidas James. @joyyvonnejones. FLNSD recently worked with Joy on its recent Fieldstone@4 Holiday Gathering, which featured her work with New Village Arts.
THE PROGRAM EXPERIENCE
The salons are free and will take place on Zoom. FLNSD members are invited to attend one or both. Each salon runs approximately 90 minutes.
To personalize your learning, participants are encouraged to complete a brief amount of pre-work documenting your neighborhood. This small investment can be done easily on your own schedule and will greatly enhance your experience.
Our participation in this learning opportunity is part of our Project Stone Catcher programming which aims to help nonprofit leaders develop their skills and capacities to work in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion.
WHAT IS GENTRIFICATION AND HOW DOES IT FIT INTO YOUR WORK and PROJECT STONE CATCHER?
*According to the Urban Displacement Project (2017) Gentrification is a process of neighborhood change that includes economic change in a historically disinvested neighborhood —by means of real estate investment and new higher-income residents moving in – as well as demographic change – not only in terms of income level, but also in terms of changes in the education level or racial make-up of residents.
Gentrification is complex — to understand it, there are three key things to consider:
- The historic conditions, especially policies and practices that made communities susceptible to gentrification, including redlining, sub-prime lending, and white flight,
- The way that central city disinvestment and investment patterns are taking place today as a result of these conditions, and
- The ways that gentrification impacts communities, which in turn impacts the services nonprofits are relied upon to provide.
Janine Mason, founder of FLNSD believes this program is important because, “As nonprofit leaders, understanding gentrification and how it impacts our communities is foundational to understanding the forces impacting local neighborhoods and challenging its residents. In turn, this understanding enlarges our vision and guides our personal leadership and an organization’s ability to design programs and services which promote and advance equity, inclusion and diversity”.
Read More
Learning Groups Kick Off 2021
Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego is off to a fast start in supporting nonprofit leaders in the region.
Learning Groups Begin the First Week of January
As is tradition, FLNSD begins the first week of the New Year welcoming three learning groups to the Network. However, due to the global pandemic these groups will have a unique experience as all aspects of the program have been adapted for today’s environment.
PROGRAM REIMAGINED FOR TODAY’S LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES
A key in our redesigning process has been to honor all of the characteristics that make this program meaningful and effective. Recognizing that all three of our learning groups will participate completely online for the entirety of the program, we began by converting the six month program into 12 bi-weekly sessions. We believe this will help us maintain attention and engagement in a Zoom environment and take into consideration the responsibilities our leaders have while working from home.
We have worked thoughtfully and diligently to plan each of the bi-monthly sessions together to be rich and meaningful. This includes a new Creative Encounters program that has been translated to provide a insightful online experience. Recognized for jump-starting the relationship building process while providing a time for self awareness, Creative Encounters is a critical component of our Learning Group Program. Thus, it was important to find an innovative way in which we could continue the experiential learning portion of our program.
Along with a new schedule, the 2021 cohort will be the first to experience a new and updated curriculum. Our new syllabus includes all the classic leadership lessons required by nonprofit leaders to be successful, but now includes relevant material for leading in the areas of social justice and equity. It also contains resources on leading in a post-pandemic world. The beloved Fieldstone Notebook remains, but the program is now also available in an online classroom platform that will provide additional toolbox resources and communication opportunities. Accompanying our notebook, is a new “Field Box” filled with resources for the first two sessions and accoutrements to reinforce the curriculum throughout the six month program. 
PARTICIPANTS
Our Executive Learning Group will be facilitated by Tom Hall and includes:
Jose A. Cruz, Barrio Logan College Institute; Jodi Diamond, Boys and Girls Club of Oceanside; Max Disposti, North County LGBTQ Resource Center; Monica Emery; Center for World Music; Susan Johnson, Alabaster Jar Project; Krishna Kabra, SD Children’s Museum; Travis Kemnitz, SD Audubon; Nancy Maldonado, Chicano Federation; Tonya Torosian, Promises2Kids; James Wright, and A Step Beyond.
We are hosting two Nonprofit Leaders Learning Groups this year. One will be facilitated by Tom Hall and one will be facilitated by Laura Spiegel. Participants include:
Frankie Alicia-Ford, New Village Arts; Catalina Beltran, Casa de Amistad; Aaron Bullard, Villa Musica; Natalie Ganz, SD Public Library Foundation; Kristen Kreitzer, Plant with Purpose; Danielle Lopez, Make A Wish San Diego; Joseph Mack, David’s Harp Foundation; Michelle Malin, Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego; Michelle Matter, ElderHelp; and Denise Obrero, Community Housing Works.
Ren Cabales, Just in Time for Foster Youth; Sarah Castro, MMCSD/CVCTS; Suzi Day, Free to Thrive; Jaqueline Hess, SD Hunger Coalition; Karla Navarro, A Step Beyond; Regina Ralston, Don Harrington Discovery Center; Alberta Saavedra, Community Housing Works; Lauren Short, I Love A Clean San Diego; and Robin Strickland, ElderHelp;
THE FUTURE
While we look forward to the day our Learning Groups can return to meeting in person, we are excited for the promise and potential that our 2021 program will provide for those participating this year. Last year, we saw first hand how members of the Learning Groups helped each other survive and thrive in the most challenging of times. As we make our way to a new normal, we know the Learning Group program will provide the essential and indispensable knowledge and support that have become the hallmark of our program.
To learn more or find out about our 2022 Learning Group program, please visit the Learning Group tab on our website.
Read More
Happy Holidays
Community Restorative Circle
New Partnership with National Conflict Resolution Center
The Gifts and Challenges of
Catching Stones
- personal perspectives, thoughts, and feelings on being a social justice leader,
- what it means to be a stone catcher, and
- how this important work is showing up in their world.
Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego is pleased to be partnering with the National Conflict Resolution Center in bringing this program to San Diego’s nonprofit sector. All participants will have the opportunity to secure funding to host their own community circles for their nonprofit agencies. This program is funded by a grant from the County of San Diego.
Register Here
Fieldstone Coaches: Providing Sanctuary in 2020
Usually when we meet with our coaching team each December, we are wrapping up year-long matches and making new matches for the upcoming year. But 2020 has been an exceptional year and, as such, meant nonprofit leaders had to focus on different issues and opportunities than what had originally called them to coaching. As a result, we offered the opportunity for extended coaching time to those who were in the program this year and who were interested in continuing to work with a Fieldstone coach.
Recognizing the important role our coaches have played in supporting nonprofit leaders this year, we honored them at our end of the year gathering on Zoom.
Will You Be My Refuge, My Haven in the Storm?
Inspired by Carrie Newcomer’s song “Sanctuary”, we honored our coaches with handcrafted candles made by an individual artisan and crafted to support The Wilderness Society. The Sanctuary candle features cinnamon bark, roasted chestnuts and vanilla – perfect for the holiday season! Accompanying our candles, was a set of mason jars filled with m&ms – an attempt to emulate the various mason jars that were always full of treats for our in-person meetings! Gifts were hand delivered to each coaches home prior to our Zoom meeting.
Sanctuary, by Carrie Newcomer Listen Here
In 2021, FLNSD will coach 15 nonprofit leaders. Each leader will participate in a cohort orientation, a 360 Degree Review with the Center for Creative Leadership, one hour of consultation with a certified 360 Degree Facilitator and various assessments to give them a “jumping off” point for their coaching experience.
FLNSD created its coaching program in 1995. Current and former nonprofit executive directors are trained by FLNSD to serve as peer coaches. Each works with a current nonprofit CEO or leadership team member for 12 months, meeting approximately eight hours a month.
Read More
Fieldstone@4ONLINE – Holiday Edition
It is a Fieldstone tradition to gather together to celebrate the holidays and all we have achieved together. While we can’t gather in person, we believe it is especially important this year that we take the time to come together for a special celebration. Also believing our gathering should be joyful and fun and present an opportunity to experience something new, we have partnered with FLNSD Member New Village Arts to design a Fieldstone@4ONLINE that is joyous and reflects the spirit of Project Stone Catcher. This unique event will mark the season and all we have achieve, endured and conquered together this year and send us off into a new year with hopeful hearts. 
Fieldstone@4ONLINE will focus on a new play written by local playwright Dea Hurston and created by the team of Frankie Alicea-Ford, Kevin Blax Burroughs, Dea Hurston & Milena Sellers Phillips. Entitled 1222 Oceanfront View: Home, the play features the Black family as they celebrate the holidays.
For exactly 30 years, Christmas Eve at the Black home, 1222 Oceanfront, was always a special time – an abundance of food and drink, song and dance, family and love. Dorothy Black makes sure of it, just like she promised her husband she would 20 years ago. But traditions can be a heavy burden to carry alone and Dorothy is ready to share the weight. This year the Matriarch of the Black family has pulled out all the stops in anticipation of the arrival of her sons, daughter in law and sister, the Christmas Eve Gang. Tonight, everything must be perfect. Tonight, nothing can go wrong. New chapters in her life have been pulling one foot into the future while the other is firmly set in the past but she’s finally ready to put both feet together. She’s ready for her family. Question is, are they ready for her?
We will enjoy songs and scenes from a new holiday play as we participate in a discussion with the creators on their inspiration, especially given today’s social justice environment, and explore the creative process, which was done entirely online due to COVID-19.
Guests are invited to wear their favorite holiday outfit, including ugly sweaters, and serve up their own favorite holiday treats as we join the Black Family Christmas on December 16th from 4 to 6 pm. We will gather on Zoom for a special behind the scenes theatre event.
Fieldstone@4 provides an organic experience for nonprofit leaders to come together for fellowship and knowledge.
Hosted quarterly, Fieldstone@4 is based on the concept of a “third place.” Author Ray Oldenburg calls one’s “first place” the home and one’s “second place” the office or work site. “Third places” are anchors of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. Often referred to as “community living rooms” the Third Place is a concept that models a cooperatively-run space for social interaction, learning, and fun.
Each Fieldstone@4 gathering is a forum to lead discussions, join conversations, brainstorm together, or be rejuvenated, inspired and supported by your peers. It is an open canvas for The Fieldstone Learning Community to design and use as part of its personal and community leadership development. The gatherings are open to all members of the Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego.
Read More