Last week, we welcomed over 100 donors and friends to Gallery 308 in Fort Mason for our 2nd Annual Bay Area Giving Summit. The energy was palpable as donors from across the region gathered to share ideas, build connections, and find inspiration during challenging times.
“Moving forward with love and resolve is more powerful than fear and division,” SFF CEO Fred Blackwell shared in his opening remarks. “Being together in celebration of philanthropy, community, and partnership is a bright spot for me, and I hope for you as well.”
Our Giving Summit, developed in response to your feedback expressing a desire for community and peer learning, created space for conversations around tables organized by interest areas including democracy, climate, arts, education, health, and social justice. What we witnessed was remarkable – people from a range of backgrounds and interests uniting around common values of opportunity and belonging for all Bay Area residents.
Participants’ interactions demonstrated what we believe deeply: when we come together around shared values, we find both the energy and the strength to take on the necessary work to meet the moment we find ourselves in. “Meeting other people who are passionate and committed to making a difference” was cited as a highlight by many attendees.
In response to the current climate, SFF last month announced an additional $15 million in support over two years to support Bay Area communities. We concluded with an “inverse raffle” where five winners shared what inspires them about the organization they had nominated. Each winning nominee will receive a small grant from SFF.
Participants left feeling energized and hopeful. As one attendee put it, there was simply “a feeling of hope” in coming together. Another valued “generating ideas about how to work together as donors.”
Those who cultivate possibility and take action ultimately build the world we live in. At the Giving Summit, we saw this agency in action as donors exchanged ideas, formed connections, and recommitted to their philanthropy in service of the many layered communities they inhabit.
We are ready to help you navigate this moment and maximize your impact. If you missed this year’s Giving Summit, we hope you’ll join us next year to experience the power of collective philanthropy in building a Bay Area where everyone has a good place to live, a good job, and can exercise their political voice.
Together, we can counter division with unity, fear with resolve, and cynicism with generosity. Our shared values light the way forward.
