Blog

Many thanks to those who took the time to fill out the survey we sent out on whether and how we might resume in-person convenings with our grantee partners. The overwhelming sense of those who responded was that we should start those back up, at least one time per year.

The top two choices for format of convenings were an informal networking opportunity with refreshments at the end of the workday, and formal program area convenings or breakouts by program area in a mixed convening.

There was less clarity on a preference for time of day, but most responses favored work hours, not too early (because of childcare responsibilities in the morning) up to and including the lunch hour if lunch is provided. 

We plan to resume our convenings with an informal networking opportunity this fall, and will get a date on the calendar soon. Please note that these sessions are always optional – we know that they won’t work for everyone. But we’ll be really glad to be in a room with you again.

Several respondents said that it would be very helpful for us to invite other funders to join us at these events, and we will definitely include our colleagues at other foundations on the invite list.

Please watch your inboxes for a save-the-date coming later this summer. And thanks to all who took the time to let us know your preferences!