Topic: Philanthropy and capital

A Day at Eagle Haven

Posted on by NationSwell Team

On a sunny, humid day in May, the NationSwell team visited Eagle Haven: a conservation oasis that stretches its scenic shores four miles along the Kissimmee River in Florida. Our guides were a small crew from the Live Wildly Foundation, who are dedicated to the long-term preservation of Florida’s nature and waters. We piled onto an open-air bus, immersing ourselves in the stunning vista and full effects of lovebug season: the gentle buzz of wings honeymooning on or around your face. 

The Live Wildly crew were generous with their knowledge of the native wildlife and habitats, and their passion for protecting these lands. Each of them comes from a long line of Floridians. They shared memories from childhood of the lush, untouched landscape where they camped, hunted, and grew up.

Eagle Haven represents a brighter and more realistic future for conservation in Florida, and can serve as a model for environmentally focused initiatives across the United States — and how supporting the land can also nurture the local economy. The conservation efforts on the Eagle Haven ranch are hyper-specific to the environmental issues that the central Florida region faces; and offer lessons for how such place-based solutions can be applied far beyond the region.

During our short visit to Eagle Haven, we learned how conservation is not just an ecological matter but also an economic and a human one.

Ecological Connectivity Benefits Water

The towering oak trees that first catch your eye as you pass through the gates of Eagle Haven. Beyond that, the ripples of the Kissimmee River shimmer under the blazing Florida sun, like jewels adorning the ranch coastline. It’s not hard to understand why philanthropist Arnie Bellini, Founder of Live Wildly, made the decision to secure the land for preservation. The river is part of the Northern Everglades, which provides water to millions of Floridians. The marshes and swamps on the Eagle Haven property and surrounding protected areas act as water purifiers, ensuring clean water for communities downstream.

At Eagle Haven and throughout the Florida Wildlife Corridors where it sits, ecological connectivity is prioritized. Ecological connectivity refers to the ability of animals to move freely throughout a landscape, which is key to any species’ survival – allowing them to migrate as habitats naturally change to access essential resources like food and shelter. Designing and maintaining these areas with this connectivity, including the rivers, marshes, and wetland systems, meaning there are some benefits to the surface and groundwaters.

As we looked out at the marsh waters, Meredith Budd, Live Wildly Foundation’s Deputy Director, explained that most Floridians who live in the cities and their surrounding suburbs don’t fully understand how connected they are to rural areas like Eagle Haven. Protection of these lands and waters is not just essential for the rich plant and animal life that make up the diverse Everglades ecosystem; they also play a key role in access to clean drinking water for the majority of the state and neighboring states, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, which all access drinking water from the Floridan Aquifer System.

Conserving the lands that make up the Florida Wildlife Corridor  is an obvious priority. Keeping it in the hands of the families who have stewarded them for generations is the harder part. Conservation takes time, money, and expertise, and for many landowners the math simply doesn’t work. That is why Live Wildly advocates  for a balance between ecology and economy, helping landowners navigate  the conservation programs available to them so they can protect the land and wildlife in their care without sacrificing their livelihoods. Payment for Ecosystem Services is one such tool: landowners are compensated  for  keeping habitat in tact,  recharge aquifers, and improving water quality, earning a return on public benefits their land is already providing. 

People are as important to the land as the land is important to us. We have the power to decide the effect we want to have on the environment.

Plants as Medicine

About a quarter of modern pharmaceuticals trace back to plants, and a study on global medicinal plants throughout history showed that the strongest predictor of the abundance of these plants in a given locality was how long humans had been living in the area. The findings of this study show that regions where not only biodiversity, but also traditional understandings of the medical uses of native plants are lost, exhibit a decrease in the number of medicinal plants. Our curiosity and innovation in conservation is vital if we want to utilize and preserve medicinal plants.

The Saw Palmetto tree, for example, only grows about 6 – 10 feet in height, but it is a hero of the Eagle Haven ranch. It is a keystone species, providing cover for hundreds of plants and insects and serving as a main food source for a variety of birds and reptiles, as well as for black bears and panthers, which are considered endangered. This small but mighty fan-leaved tree is an important part of the region’s ecosystem and has also been shown to have health benefits for us. Research suggests a medical use for the fruits, specifically their anti-inflammatory effects, which can be beneficial for our reproductive systems, a traditional use of these palm berries in indigenous cultures.

The Balance of Ecology and Economy

While cowboys may be synonymous with states like Texas and Oklahoma, Florida is the first state to develop cattle ranching in the 1520’s, after explorer Ponce De Leon brought cattle and other livestock from Spain in the hopes of creating a new colony. Since then, wild cattle roamed the Florida lands, and the Seminole tribe has a rich history of cattle farming in the state.

The cattle, adapted from their Andalusian ancestors into the Florida “Cracker” cattle, can be spotted all around the Eagle Haven grounds, nestling together in the shade of the oak trees, being generally adorable, and, importantly, keeping the landscape in check by grazing. Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Bellini, Eagle Haven was able to secure a conservation easement, which allows perpetual protection of the land’s natural, scenic, and open spaces, including for agricultural purposes. For Eagle Haven, this means a majority of the 2,300 acres will remain a working cattle ranch. A partnership with the Air Force’s Avon Park Bombing Range – meaning a part of the funding for this easement came from the department of defense – exemplifies the balance between ecology and economy that Live Wildly champions. The cows and the open space provide an ideal site for training troops, and the Air Force is willing to work to preserve some of the wild landscape – a mutually beneficial relationship that will help protect portions of the crucial ecology and generate economic gains.

NationSwell is thrilled to be partnering with Live Wildly and Arnie Bellini to host an immersive 2-day experience at Eagle Haven this November, where attendees will learn about Payment for Ecosystem Services and other innovative conservation and environmental protection activities, and meet more than a few cows and the unique wildlife that call the ranch home. 

Resetting the Public Narrative Around U.S. Philanthropy

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

Philanthropy in the U.S. is facing a shift in public perception. What was once broadly seen as a force for good is now, in some circles, framed as politicized, opaque, or even at odds with democratic values. These narratives are gaining traction—and they carry implications for how funders carry out their work and for civil society more broadly.

On August 4, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable designed to bring philanthropic leaders together to examine what’s driving the shift and what can be done in response—within our organizations and collectively. 

Some of the most salient insights from the discussion appear below:

Key takeaways

Center communities and partners in storytelling, while still making the case for philanthropy’s role. Focusing on the communities being served and partners on the ground can help rebuild credibility during a low-trust moment for the sector. How much philanthropy steps back varies by institution – some remove themselves from the story entirely, while others seek to elevate communities and partners alongside being honest about what philanthropy’s institutional support makes possible. 

Demonstrate values through action, including the power of air cover. Putting values into practice builds more trust than talking about them. Backing issues that partners and communities care about with institutional voice and funding can take pressure and scrutiny off of them, giving them room to speak or engage more freely.

Acknowledge the philanthropy sector’s collective complicity in the challenges it now fights. Some of the conditions driving public distrust and rollback were shaped, in part, by philanthropy’s own underinvestment in collective power-building and community voice. Naming that complicity, as a sector, can inform how funders invest going forward.

Build credibility through ongoing organizational self-reflection. Revisiting founding narratives and grantmaking mistakes can also lay a more credible foundation for external communication. Sharing what an organization has learned and plans to change in order to meet their communities’ needs resonates with audiences seeking transparency and accountability from the sector. 

Establish clear guardrails for when and how to use institutional voice. Speaking on every issue is not sustainable, and staying silent carries its own risk. Clear criteria helps leaders decide when a foundation’s voice is additive or expected – or when it should step back and elevate other voices – and ensures engagement is intentional rather than reactive.

Broaden the audience beyond peers and grantees. Philanthropy has traditionally spoken to other funders and peers, leaving the broader public and policymakers questioning the role and legitimacy of foundations. Deliberately engaging with civically active audiences and policymakers can help address stigmas around the sector and support a more comprehensive and accurate public understanding of the work.  

Simplify messaging and narrow the aim. Insider jargon and abstract theories further alienates audiences outside the sector. Plain, accessible messaging that emphasizes bridge-building and shared values grounds audiences in language they connect with and trust. 

Coordinate across the field and lean on the power of collective voice. Collaborating with other funders on crisis response and shared messaging has helped organizations hold their ground during a period of sustained attack on the sector. Whether through formal coalitions or informal peer conversations, cross-institutional collaboration allows individual organizations to speak with more confidence than they could alone.

Impact Next: An interview with Allen Family Philanthropies’ Lara Littlefield

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

At a moment of inequality and division, who is advancing the vanguard of economic and social progress to bolster under-served communities? Whose work is fostering the inclusive growth that ensures every individual thrives? Who will set the ambitious standards that mobilize whole industries, challenging their peers to reach new altitudes of social impact? 

In 2026, Impact Next — an editorial flagship series from NationSwell — will spotlight the standard-bearing corporate social responsibility and impact leaders, entrepreneurs, experts, and philanthropists whose catalytic work has the potential to shape the landscape of progress amid urgent need for social and economic action.

For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Lara Littlefield, Executive Director of Allen Family Philanthropies. Here’s what she had to say:

Chloe Lew, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation, NationSwell: What brought you to the field that you’re in right now? Was there an early moment, a relationship, or an experience that galvanized your commitment to driving bold action?

Lara Littlefield, Executive Director, Allen Family Philanthropies: I grew up in a family where community service was embedded in who we were: My mom was an active volunteer in the local children’s community theater, my dad served on the school board, and I grew up watching them both give back to our community.

As a teenager, politically active friends pulled me into volunteering on campaigns around issues like raising the minimum wage. At the same time, I was a dancer and choreographer, and in the arts, every time you want to showcase your work you’re also fundraising, so I had early exposure to both organizing and fundraising.

I loved the arts, but I was also becoming more politically aware. I studied community organizing and political economy, interned with the AFL-CIO, and explored labor organizing. I knew I wanted to work in the nonprofit sector because service and supporting community were core to my motivations. I also needed a job, so I thought about what would make me valuable to a nonprofit and landed on securing capital, which led me into fundraising.

Eventually, I joined the Collins Group, a fundraising consulting firm, where we helped nonprofits build capacity through volunteer-led, staff-supported capital, program and endowment campaigns. I worked on dozens of campaigns across the Pacific Northwest, and it was one of the most inspiring periods of my career — watching people who wanted to do something meaningful jump in and make it happen with a little support.

From there, I went deeper into fundraising at the University of Washington, working at the intersection of research, innovation and impact. That partner-development work eventually led me to what is now Allen Family Philanthropies – founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen and his sister Jody Allyen – an organization I had worked with throughout my career as a fundraiser, a consultant and now as its leader.

Lew, NationSwell: How do you think about leading a foundation that has real influence in Seattle, the community that you’re from and continue to live in? What is that like?

Littlefield, Allen Family Philanthropies: It was serendipitous in the best way. You never quite know where your career will lead, but I think if you stay connected to your values, they’ll guide you where you want to be. I didn’t seek this role out; it was a wonderful opportunity that evolved over time and felt deeply aligned with what matters to me.

The Allen family has roots here in Seattle. They grew up here, their parents were a librarian and a school teacher, and they remain committed to this place and the topics I believe can be transformational for the region.

When I attended Evergreen State College, my first interdisciplinary cohort was called “Sense of Place.” We brought together biology, English, writing, and art to understand our connection to place and what those ties mean. Looking back, it all feels connected, even though I couldn’t have known that at the time.

This region has undergone a lot of transformation, but its roots and identity are still here. It’s a place of natural beauty, art, and creativity, and a place that continues to push the envelope in technology and business. A lot of places might say that, but for me, it feels authentic because I’ve seen it and grown up with it. It feels very tangible.

Lew, NationSwell: How do you look at the role of community in your work? Is there something else that you see as being really key to a part of your leadership and management with the Foundation?

Littlefield, Allen Family Philanthropies: It’s a really interesting blend. The foundation has evolved over time, alongside the broader practice of philanthropy, and as a field we’re constantly learning what works, what doesn’t, and which new approaches are worth trying.

There was an era when the foundation’s approach was very much, “move quickly, identify what doesn’t exist but should, and build it.” Innovation is still part of our DNA, and there’s absolutely a place for that. But we’ve also learned that you can develop the most powerful tool in the world, and if it isn’t grounded in an understanding of who it serves, what problem it solves and what adoption will require, it won’t have the impact you intended.

We have three program areas — Arts & Culture, Youth, and Environment — each with its own strategies and goals. But the golden thread connecting all of them is community. We believe that creating a thriving, healthy community requires everyone to play a part.

That means engaging the people closest to the problems, because they often have the strongest solutions. It means responding to what we hear, co-developing approaches, and creating a sense of ownership. Particularly in the environmental sector, we’ve learned that this is what makes a solution sustainable and helps it gain traction. Over the past six years, we’ve really worked to evolve our practices around that belief.

At the same time, we could listen forever, but we also have a point of view. We’re able to look across an entire landscape and identify patterns, associations, and connections that may be harder to see when you’re immersed in the details.

That’s where research and research-to-practice come in. Someone may have a great idea, but it may already have been tested — or there may be evidence showing that a different approach will produce a stronger result. Our role is to bring those perspectives together: to combine the high-altitude view and the experience on the ground.

Lew, NationSwell: How would you describe your leadership style? What is it about the way that you lead in the space that makes you an effective leader?

Littlefield, Allen Family Philanthropies: I first try to create a culture of psychological safety — one where everyone knows we’re in this together to make the work stronger — and that requires leaving ego at the door. None of us is the smartest person in the room, and once you accept that, you become much more open to possibility and to developing better ideas.

People should feel comfortable challenging one another, asking questions, saying something doesn’t resonate or explaining why they disagree. That means building trust, fostering collegiality, and not reacting defensively when something feels uncomfortable. To me, discomfort is part of growth. I don’t want us to become intellectually comfortable, because everything is dynamic. As soon as you think you have the answer, something changes.

There also has to be rigor. I want us drawing connections across fields and disciplines, because that’s often where innovation comes from. And I want us to feel comfortable taking risks, both personally and in what we bring to the board. If everything we propose is immediately accepted, I don’t think we’re pushing hard enough.

And it should be fun, because what an honor and a privilege it is to do this work. We’re engaging with difficult problems every day, and that can wear us down, but we also get to translate those problems into potential solutions and investments, and I try to keep the team focused on that.

Lew, NationSwell: How do you see Allen Family Philanthropies within the broader philanthropy field? How do you see philanthropy situated within the world?

Littlefield, Allen Family Philanthropies: I don’t see philanthropy in a singular way. My perspective changes depending on the altitude from which we’re looking at the question.

At one level, we can ask why philanthropy is necessary at all; that raises legitimate questions about the economic model and the accumulation of wealth that makes large-scale philanthropy possible. Those critiques matter.

But there’s also philanthropy on the ground, which isn’t exclusive to major funders. We practice it in our communities every day, often in ways that research doesn’t capture: helping a neighbor, bringing food to someone who is sick, contributing to a crowdfunding campaign or volunteering at your child’s school.

At its core, philanthropy is about acting on your values and beliefs to help people and the world around you. Whatever critiques we bring to the field, people should have opportunities to act on what matters to them, and that requires understanding what their values actually are.

That’s why fundraising, to me, isn’t really about money. Money is the final transaction, but the work is listening to understand someone’s values, the kind of world they want to live in and where they hope to make a difference. It’s about building enough trust that they believe you understand them and can connect them to a meaningful way to act.

Grantmaking is similar. We’re interpreting proposals and conversations through the values of our founders and the foundation. We’re asking whether the work aligns with our vision for impact and whether we can build a relationship grounded in trust, learning and a shared journey.

For us, that relationship shouldn’t be transactional. We want to learn alongside our grantees, and when something doesn’t work, understand why and figure out together whether to adapt or pivot. That becomes difficult with large portfolios, but to me, it’s the heart of philanthropy — just practiced at different scales.

Lew, NationSwell: What’s currently defining the current social and economic environment that we’re in? What are the trends that you’re seeing, and what’s giving you hope right now?

Littlefield, Allen Family Philanthropies: One thing COVID showed us is that crisis can create opportunity, even in the midst of something terrible. We saw people come together in new ways, and we saw capital move quickly. So we know it’s possible, and we shouldn’t have to wait for a crisis to make that happen.

When I entered this role, I also started seeing more foundations create partner-development functions — people focused on connecting with other funders, aligning strategies, sharing resources and building a stronger understanding of the landscape. None of us is going to solve these problems alone, so the question is how we create greater leverage together.

Pooled funds and collaboratives aren’t new, but I’m seeing much more conversation and partnership among funders, which is encouraging. I’m also seeing trust-based philanthropy grow in scale. That raises important questions about what kind of funder you want to be. Are you simply distributing capital, or are you trying to learn and build relationships as you go?

At the same time, I’m concerned about preserving the philanthropic sector and its ability to make those choices, particularly in moments when attention and funding are pulling inward.

That concern feels especially immediate because of the Ebola outbreak we’re watching now. When Paul was alive, he committed $100 million to the 2014 outbreak, and we funded work across the spectrum — from vaccine development to last-mile community services.

Now, we’re seeing another outbreak accelerate, and we’re trying to understand who is responding and where the gaps are. There’s less U.S. presence, and many funders have shifted toward local giving for very good reasons. But outbreaks don’t respect borders. There’s a risk in pulling inward and assuming that because something isn’t affecting us here right now, it won’t affect us at all.

That’s one of my biggest concerns in this moment: how we maintain a local commitment while still recognizing our global interdependence.

Lew, NationSwell: What issue do you think philanthropy should be paying more attention to right now?

Littlefield, Allen Family Philanthropies: I’m not sure loneliness is lacking attention — people are talking about it — but I do think we need to do more about it. The disconnection people feel from one another is a real concern.

That’s where work like the Chamber of Connection comes in, along with our investments in arts & culture. How do we create third spaces where people can gather, engage face-to-face, and build relationships? How do we leverage cultural experiences to help people see themsevles and each other in new ways? We know people are hungry for connection, so how do we make it as easy and inviting to step outside and walk into your neighborhood as it is to pick up your phone?

We need more opportunities that bring people in and make them feel welcome. The challenge can seem enormous, especially alongside conversations about AI and what accelerating technology might mean for humanity, but a community-based approach makes it feel more tangible.

Rather than trying to solve for what the entire world will look like in 20 years, we can ask what connection looks like just outside our doors: in our neighborhoods, storefronts, walkable spaces, churches, or other gathering places.

I’m grateful that so many people are leaning into this work. That’s where I feel both the concern and the excitement — they’re two sides of the same coin.

Lew, NationSwell: Is there a particular program, signature initiative, or some facet of the work that you would like to spotlight for us that is driving outcomes for the work?

Littlefield: Each project has a different flavor, and often what resonates personally has to do with the people leading it. That’s also why I believe we need to be out in the field. If my team is spending too much time in the office, I get nervous. We should be talking to people and spending time in the communities we serve. I’m constantly trying to balance that myself.

One project I was closely involved in developing was the Community Accelerator Grant with ArtsFund. During COVID, we wanted to move capital quickly and help arts organizations keep their doors open, and we also wanted the community to help determine where that funding went.

We’re now in the fourth year of the partnership, which has distributed about $10 million each year through a low-barrier process, and every eligible applicant has received funding. We’ve supported more than a thousand arts and culture organizations across all 39 counties in Washington state.

One of the most interesting things we’ve learned is how many small organizations operate below the thresholds captured by traditional reporting systems, yet play critical roles in their communities. This year, we limited eligibility to organizations with budgets under $1 million so that more funding could reach that grassroots level. It’s exciting to discover organizations I had never heard of and to learn more about the ecosystem through their work.

And then there’s the Slingshot Challenge with the National Geographic Society, which supports young people developing environmental solutions and presenting their ideas in a video format. They’ve received applications from around 80 countries, far beyond what we imagined when the program began. Watching those videos is incredibly inspiring and humbling. I’m always thinking, “What was I doing at that age? Can I have a do-over?” These young people are already changemakers

Lew, NationSwell: Are there any resources you’d recommend — books, podcasts, Ted talks — that have influenced your thinking or shaped your perspective?

Littlefield, Allen Family Philanthropies: In these roles, we’re already reading constantly — journals, articles, papers and research — so when I have time to read for myself, I want to get out of my own brain a little.

I really like science fiction because it creates associations I might never have made otherwise. It pushes you to imagine different possibilities and think about the future in a new way. I also listen to podcasts, and one I especially enjoy is Hidden Brain. I like the combination of human stories and the science behind them; that probably speaks to my nerdier side.

I’m also drawn to futurism because in philanthropy, we have to keep thinking about the world we want to create. A colleague and I once explored how we might gather a group of science fiction authors and ask them what we ought to be funding.

More and more, the world can feel like a science fiction story. But I do think there’s something valuable in looking to those writers and thinkers to help us imagine what might come next.

Redefining Economic Power

Posted on Redefine Alliance

Economic power is about more than employment. It’s the combination of work, wealth, and well-being that gives people the agency to shape their futures. Together with Redefine Alliance, NationSwell brought this framework to life through the Economic Power Hub, translating research into tools, stories, and experiences that help practitioners advance economic opportunity. This work was further translated into an experiential activation.

Sometimes, the best way to understand a concept is to experience it physically. That’s what we worked to do with our research on economic power at our 2026 Redefine Alliance community retreat. Through an interactive experience, guests stepped into the shoes of someone navigating barriers to employment and followed their journey toward building economic power. Many guests at this event were social impact practitioners, who saw their employees (or themselves) represented in the stories of the profiles they followed. Others were funders and workforce partners, and were invited to experience what barriers to employment truly feel like, day to day — and to identify how few resources might be standing in the way of someone’s advancement towards economic stability.

Our ultimate, audacious goal is to build a more inclusive economy, where the 10 million people with systemic barriers to employment — like people with histories of incarceration or housing instability, or survivors of domestic violence — are seen for their innate potential. That’s why these moments of direct engagement matter to us: storytelling helps people viscerally understand what an opportunity means in someone’s life.

Learn more about the work via the Economic Power Hub.

NationSwell publishes perspectives from leaders across our community to encourage discussion and advance new ideas. The views expressed are those of the partner.

Built to Thrive: Learnings from Wells Fargo

Built to Thrive: Learnings from Wells Fargo

This report offers a look into the Open for Business Fund Asset Ownership Program’s localized models, aggregate impact, and key program takeaways.

The total impact of the $100 million Open for Business Fund Asset Ownership Program demonstrates that the program did more than keep storefront lights on—it moved small businesses from chasing stability to a clear pathway for job creation, scale, and building wealth, while driving a ripple effect of impact across community partners, local small business ecosystems, and communities at large.

It did this through a targeted yet flexible overarching strategy that was laser-focused on helping business owners acquire tangible business assets like property, and equipment. In each of the five markets, local community partners designed tailored capital interventions to fit the needs of small businesses in their community, ranging from grants to acquire equipment, forgivable down payment assistance, 0% interest loans, grants for commercial property improvements, and more.

Insights across five markets describe business owners who have added production lines, hired staff, and negotiated larger contracts after securing critical assets: property, equipment, and technology. At the same time, community partners report stronger balance sheets of their own and a web of newly forged relationships that continue to pay dividends beyond any single grant.

In short, the combination of market-specific, targeted strategies, and flexible capital, plus hands-on support and ecosystem development has proven to be a scalable engine of broadly shared growth.

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The 1% Tax Floor and Innovative Approaches to Corporate Impact ROI

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

A new tax reality is changing the economics of corporate philanthropy: companies can now only deduct charitable contributions that exceed 1% of taxable income. That shift is forcing a more explicit conversation inside businesses about the most financially advantageous approaches to philanthropy and how—or whether—those investments generate business value alongside social outcomes.

During a May 19 virtual Leader Roundtable, senior corporate impact and philanthropy leaders from the NationSwell community kicked off a conversation on how companies are reassessing philanthropic budgets, rethinking the balance between grants, in-kind assets, and ordinary business expenses, and sharpening how they define and measure impact ROI. Some of the most salient insights from the discussion appear below:

Key Takeaways:

Collaborate cross-functionally to establish the best organizational approach for navigating the 1% tax floor. To understand the best way for your organization to navigate the 1% tax floor, it is important to align with legal, tax, and government affairs teams early and strategically. Adjustments differ depending on organizational makeup, budget cycles, and legal parameters; bunching or front-loading grants is one mechanism that organizations are considering, but other strategies include shifting the balance between corporate and foundation dollars, reclassifying some philanthropic spend as ordinary business expense, or considering the use of donor-advised funds (DAFs). 

Proactively identify and introduce opportunities for shared value inside of your organization. Social impact leaders should work toward identifying opportunities to center their work around business strategy rather than aligning community programs to a business case retroactively. Programs can be set up for success if they meet the business’s standards for rigor, are grounded in data and collaboration with business leaders, and are communicated in the language of the business. 

Lean on both quantitative and qualitative frameworks to bring a human dimension to measurement discussions. Measuring hours, dollars, and people reached is important, but these metrics alone only tell part of the story. Stories and case studies can be equally important in communicating impact, especially when discussing long-term change. 

Frame social impact initiatives as a talent development and retention driver. Some organizations are partnering with HR and L&D teams to build a more defensible, data-driven people ROI story focused on employee engagement and retention. They are analyzing the relationship between impact programs and talent outcomes – engagement, retention, skill development, and more – using existing survey data or, in some cases, developing new surveys to collect and study primary data.

Invest in human skills development as a business opportunity. With increased AI adoption, the skills that volunteerism and community engagement build — collaboration, empathy, leadership — are becoming more strategically valuable to businesses. Organizations that reframe their impact programs as a vehicle for developing these skills may be better positioned to make credible ROI cases to the business, while also providing value to employees seeking these opportunities.  

For a deeper dive on this topic, NationSwell members can access our Comprehensive Guide to the 1% Tax Floor.

Five Minutes with… the Northern New Mexico Pathways to Opportunity Strategy Table

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

As funders look to move from isolated grants to systems-level impact, the need for durable, place-based models that communities can shape — not just receive — has never been clearer. In northern New Mexico, the LANL Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are collaborating with twenty other funders to pioneer the next frontier of place-based funding with the Northern New Mexico Pathways to Opportunity Strategy Table: a 15-member collaborative that brings philanthropy, public agencies, community leaders, and young people themselves together to align resources for those too often left out of education and workforce pathways.

What began as a listening process and a fund-mapping exercise has since evolved into a distinctly ambitious model that blends pooled philanthropic, corporate, and public dollars; youth-led participatory grantmaking; and capacity-building designed to help nonprofit  and tribal organizations grow stronger over time. The result is a more community-rooted way of thinking about how grant funding moves, who helps shape it, and what long-term success looks like.

For this installment of Five Minutes With…, NationSwell spoke with Alvin Warren, Vice President of Policy and Impact at the LANL Foundation, and Tomi Hiers, Vice President of Center for Civic Sites and Community Change at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, about what it took to move this work from convening to action, why the Strategy Table built youth voice into the model from the start, and what other funders around the country can learn from this effort. 

NationSwell: What is the Strategy Table, and what challenge was it built to address?

Alvin Warren, LANL Foundation: From our side, it’s important to understand that we’re a 100% place-based foundation based in Española, New Mexico, and we serve a predominantly rural and tribal region across north-central New Mexico. We were created to address a very specific geography: a seven-county, eighteen-tribe region of northern New Mexico.

One thing I knew from my time at Kellogg was that when national funders looked at New Mexico, they often focused only on Albuquerque, and there are understandable reasons for that, especially when funders are trying to meet numerical targets. But what struck me were the many opportunities to invest in good work in rural New Mexico — including work aligned with Casey’s Thrive by 25 framework — and yet that work often wasn’t visible or accessible to larger funders. Sometimes it was happening at a smaller scale; sometimes there were structural barriers that made it difficult for national funders to support smaller, rural organizations or tribes.

So we realized a mechanism might be needed to both draw attention to the opportunities and needs in Northern New Mexico and also make it logistically possible for funders, especially national funders, to invest in a way that felt informed, respectful, and shared. That’s really the blueprint for what the Strategy Table became.

Tomi Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation: At the Annie E. Casey Foundation, we made the decision to dedicate roughly 50% of our grantmaking to improving access to opportunity for young people ages 14 to 24 through our Thrive by 25 commitment, and we wanted to begin implementing that work in three places: our hometowns of Baltimore and Atlanta, and also Albuquerque, New Mexico — a place where the Foundation had already been active for about two decades, particularly around systems impacting justice-involved and child welfare-involved youth.

As we started thinking about a place-based strategy in Albuquerque and about working in deep partnership with nonprofits helping young people connect to education, training, employment, youth leadership, and financial stability, we knew it was important to understand the local philanthropic landscape. As a national funder, there can sometimes be tension around how national philanthropy shows up in a place, so we wanted to be a strategic co-investor; we wanted to know who the local funders were, what their priorities were, how those priorities aligned with ours, and how they wanted national philanthropy to support their work.

That’s how we began building relationships with local funders, and with Alvin, who was then at Kellogg and later transitioned to LANL Foundation. Those early conversations about what was important in the broader community, and what kinds of partnerships could help address barriers facing young people, were really the building blocks that eventually led to the Strategy Table.

NationSwell: What makes this different from a traditional workforce or economic development effort?

Warren, LANL Foundation: Northern New Mexico has one of the highest rates of disconnected, or “opportunity,” youth in the country: nearly one in four. For some populations, including Native youth and young parents, that number can be even higher. And this is happening in a region that also has real deserts of opportunity — places where access to paid internships, career training, or youth development programs are limited or uneven. So the goal isn’t simply workforce development in the conventional sense, it’s about transforming the landscape of opportunity so that young people, regardless of where they live in the region, have access to meaningful pathways.

What makes this model distinct is that it’s a pooled fund with three important differences. First, it’s designed to pool philanthropic, corporate, and public dollars, which is relatively unusual. Second, the grantmaking is done through a youth-led participatory process. And third, the model includes dedicated capacity-building support through a Regional Resource Hub, so grantees aren’t just getting one-off dollars, they’re also getting technical assistance, peer learning, and support to become more competitive for larger public and philanthropic funding over time.

Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation: What was attractive to us about the Strategy Table was that it offered leverage, sustainability, and scale. We rarely go it alone as a funder; we think a lot about how to use philanthropic dollars to leverage public funding or to bring other philanthropic partners into the work. We’re always asking: how do we have impact beyond a few hundred young people served directly? How do we influence policy and practice?

So part of what was exciting here was that there were already strong efforts underway, and a number of the funders at the table were supporting that work, including state agencies. The question became: how do we scale the best and most promising practices around education, training, and employment for young people, especially those who are often left behind and locked out of opportunity?

NationSwell: How have the Annie E. Casey and LANL Foundations helped move the work from convening to action?

Warren, LANL Foundation: We formally launched in 2021, and the first major step was a fiscal map. We partnered with the Children’s Funding Project and used the Thrive by 25 framework to do a five-year lookback on philanthropic investments in the region. Initially, we were only going to look at philanthropy, but the Casey Foundation pushed us to include public investments as well, and that was transformational; it would have been a huge missing piece otherwise.

At that point, the table had grown from an initial group of four funders to about ten. When the fiscal map was completed, we made what turned out to be a very important decision: instead of releasing the report publicly right away, we paused and took the findings out to our community first. We held a series of community gatherings, including a tribal-specific gathering, across the region, including in very rural communities. We also ran a survey and held focus groups, including one focused on underrepresented youth and another for policymakers and public funders. That process took about a year, and it was all about listening to how community understood the data and what they believed should happen next.

The other major shift from convening to action came when Casey helped us recognize that if we were serious about this, we needed infrastructure. Casey was the first funder to commit real resources to support the backbone and operations of the collaborative. Without that early investment, we would not have been able to grow the table or move toward implementation.

Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation: We think a lot about leverage. There’s power in bringing other funders to the table and in aligning philanthropic dollars with public systems. For us, this was an opportunity to support a table that was already rooted in a particular place and to help build something that could influence systems, not just fund isolated programs.

Once the fund mapping report came back, it became easier to think strategically. It helped us understand both where resources were flowing and where they weren’t. There was one county, for example, where the lack of investment was striking. That allowed the table to ask: What problem are we trying to solve, and what can a pooled set of more nimble philanthropic resources actually do?

From there, it was about planning carefully and building toward a model that could invite local partners into a meaningful, well-designed process for competing for and receiving resources.

NationSwell: What does the most helpful philanthropic support look like in a collaborative like this?

Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation: Flexibility is really important. In the early days, there was some willingness from other funders to include Albuquerque because Casey was doing work there. But we took the position that even though we were active in Albuquerque, this table was focused on northern New Mexico, and that was okay. We didn’t want our partners to contort themselves to make something work for us just because of how we had originally framed our priorities.

So for other funders or strategic partners joining a table, I think one of the biggest lessons is: if there are places where you can be flexible in service of the broader effort, you should seriously consider that.

Warren, LANL Foundation: I’d add that impact comes from infrastructure. Funders often want as much money as possible going directly out the door, and of course that matters. But if you under-resource the infrastructure it takes to do something complex like this, you undercut the impact. That means staffing, facilitation, evaluation, communications, support for the youth advisory members, and all the connective tissue that makes a collaborative actually function. Those investments may not always feel as exciting as direct grants, but they’re what make the grants more effective.

The other thing is: lend a hand. This doesn’t work if one organization is doing all the labor. Casey and other funders have actively helped make introductions, bring in new partners, and expand the pool, and that’s part of how we’ve grown the number of contributing funders. 

And finally: show up. It matters when national funders come in person, meet grantees, and participate face to face. That presence builds trust and changes the quality of the relationship.

NationSwell: What’s one anecdote or example of progress you’ve seen that shows the model is working?

Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation: One sign is simply that partners are still there, and new partners keep joining. My understanding is that this kind of table is something relatively new for northern New Mexico: funders coming together in this way with each other, with public systems, and with the broader community. The fact that the table has held together and continued to attract interest is itself a meaningful sign that the model is offering something valuable.

Warren, LANL Foundation: We’ve now been able to make 19 grants, almost all at the $100,000 level, with a couple slightly smaller based on what grantees requested. Based on grantee data, we anticipate reaching at least 800 young people by the end of the first year.

What’s especially exciting is the growth in participation in the pooled fund itself. As of the end of last week, we had 21 corporate and philanthropic funders either contributing or engaged in supporting the youth fund in some way, including 17 philanthropic funders and four corporate funders. And our largest state agency partner, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (essentially our Department of Labor), has committed a $1.5 million match for our second grantmaking round.

NationSwell: What’s been your biggest challenge in standing up this work, and what have funders needed to understand about that complexity?

Warren, LANL Foundation: One of the biggest challenges was the tension between moving thoughtfully and moving quickly. We spent what I think was an appropriate amount of time doing shared analysis and relationship building. That meant bringing funders together repeatedly, defining terms, developing guiding principles, and getting clear on what success actually meant across organizations with very different strategies and metrics.

That took time — a couple of years, really. And during that period, there were certainly people saying, “We’ve been in this space too long; we need to move to action.” That pressure is understandable. But if you don’t spend time building shared understanding, you can end up with a collaborative that looks aligned on paper but isn’t actually aligned in practice.

Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation: I think it also helps to have a broader definition of success. To me, the table being formed was a success. Having diverse philanthropic and public partners at the table was a success. Conducting the fund map and having honest conversations about what the data told us, and what it didn’t, was a success. Those things matter. And then, yes, the grants and the impact on young people are the “cherry on top,” but the process that led there matters too.

NationSwell: What felt important about building youth voice and participatory grantmaking into the Strategy Table’s design from the start?

Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation: Youth leadership is one of the pillars of Thrive by 25, and our Foundation has also been doing a lot of work around intergenerational engagement. It’s one thing to talk about youth voice or youth development. It’s another to think seriously about how adults and young people actually sit together, share decision-making, and govern together.

That was part of what made this model so intriguing to us. I’ll be honest — I didn’t know exactly how it would play out. I had questions: How would the youth advisory group be structured? Who would support them? How would adults and young people sit alongside each other in a real decision-making process? But when you’re part of a collaborative, you also have to trust the design process and the partners at the table. This was a chance to see what meaningful youth leadership and intergenerational governance could actually look like in practice.

Warren, LANL Foundation: We were very intentional about making sure the young people involved actually reflected the populations the work is designed to serve. The original members of the Regional Youth Advisory Council represented Native youth and Opportunity Youth, among others. In fact, two of the most active members are young parents.

We also didn’t just bring in young people who had never been exposed to philanthropy or leadership spaces. We recruited young people who had already participated in youth development efforts and were ready for this to be the next step in their leadership. And the reason we were able to do this well is because we had already spent so much time developing shared guiding principles that became a touchstone for the table. They made it much easier to say: if we really believe these things, then youth leadership and participatory grantmaking aren’t optional — they’re part of the model.

NationSwell: What can other funders and regional leaders take away from this model?

Hiers, Annie E. Casey Foundation:  Flexibility is one of the biggest takeaways. If you’re joining or building a collaborative, there may be places where you can loosen your grip on your own preferences in order to strengthen the broader effort, but that doesn’t mean losing your priorities, it means being willing to support something bigger than any one organization.

Also: time matters. If you want to build something durable, you have to resist the urge to rush to visible outputs before the foundation is there. Build intentionally, document what matters, and be prepared to adapt as the work evolves. The goal is not speed for its own sake — it’s sustainability.

And finally, I advise folks to define success broadly. The process of building alignment, doing the analysis, surfacing the data, and creating a real table with diverse stakeholders is not just pre-work, it is part of the impact.

Warren, LANL Foundation: If I had to put it in bullet points, I’d say:

  • Be willing to learn together. We wouldn’t have this table, or this success, without the Casey Foundation, our other Strategy Table partners, and other contributors. In particular, if Casey had gotten a year in and said, “Actually, it’s been great, see you later,” I honestly don’t know where we’d be. 
  • Stay the course. Philanthropy is often too quick to pivot just as things begin to work. When you stay the course, you begin to build capacity and move towards long-term impact. 
  • Recognize that impact comes from infrastructure. You don’t win by undercutting the resources it takes to do something this complex. Funders have to invest in the infrastructure, too — staffing, evaluation, communications, facilitation, the support it takes to manage and train the Regional Youth Advisory Council. All of that is what makes the impact possible, alongside the dollars going into the fund itself.
  • Lend a hand: Don’t assume one backbone organization should do all the labor.
  • Show up, especially in person. National funders, in particular, need to remember that their presence matters. It matters when they come to the community, meet grantees, and participate via relationships, not just transactions. That can make all the difference.

The Northern New Mexico Pathways to Opportunity Strategy Table is made possible by a collaborative of 15 members: Anchorum Health Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, The Cricket Island Foundation, LANL Foundation, Los Alamos National Laboratory Community Partnerships Office / Triad National Security, LLC, Las Vegas (New Mexico) Community Foundation, Marshall L. and Perrine D. McCune Charitable Foundation, New Mexico Foundation, Regional Youth Advisory Council, Santa Fe Community Foundation, Taos Community Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Thornburg Foundation, United Way North Central New Mexico, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Placed-based Action Map

The Placed-based Action Map

Where is effective place-based impact actually happening, and who is involved? Until now, it’s been difficult to answer that with any clarity.

The Place-Based Impact Map allows users to explore initiatives across the U.S., making it easy to explore what’s happening in your region and others, and who to reach out to for insights. And the map offers place-base leaders an opportunity to promote their work to curious funders and regional supporters. A companion to the Place-based Impact Measurement Toolkit.

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The Principled Approach: Place-based Measurement Toolkit

The Principled Approach: Place-based Measurement Toolkit

Measuring impact can be hard to do accurately and effectively. Place Based Impact Measurement in particular, because every region and neighborhood is different. That can lead to overlapping KPIs and confusion over how to chart progress, and scale good ideas.

So, NationSwell’s Place Based Collaborative have created a new resource to address this gap:‘The Principled Approach’ — A toolkit to guide thoughtful, community-led, effective
measurement of place-based impact.

Whether you are embarking on place based work, or deep into it, this toolkit illuminates the key principles that put communities at the heart of not just the programs being funded, but the way the success of those efforts is quantified. A perfect companion to NationSwell’s Place-based Action Map.

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