ICYMI: Fundholders and Advisors Take a Closer Look at What Shapes Community Challenges

Fundholders, philanthropic leaders and professional advisors recently joined us on the road to learn more about some of the issues affecting our communities and the different ways philanthropy can help.

The theme was “Looking Upstream”: exploring what it looks like to support people facing challenges today while also looking at the policies, systems and other factors contributing to those challenges.

We started with a wide-ranging conversation featuring CHIP Indy, Indiana Justice Project and Indiana Conservation Voters. They shared how policy and advocacy are intersecting with issues including homelessness, criminal justice and the environment, and where philanthropy fits in.

Next, we visited Free Press Indiana and Mirror Indy. The number of journalists covering local news has fallen 81% since 2002, and we learned how nonprofit journalism is working to fill some of those gaps and keep communities better informed about the issues that affect them.

Finally, John Boner Neighborhood Centers hosted a conversation about the IndyEast Guaranteed Income Initiative, a partnership with Edna Martin Christian Center and Southeast Community Services. The initiative is providing guaranteed income to 127 Eastside households and studying what participants experience related to food security, employment, health and other aspects of family well-being.

These bus tours are one of the ways we help fundholders and others interested in philanthropy learn more about our community, hear directly from people doing the work and consider different approaches to the issues they care about.