COLP 3: Please Be Good at Philanthropy

When

Friday, May 29, 2026

10 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Where

Webinar

MCF Members Only

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About this Foundation Spotlight Session

Everyone is a beginner when they join a foundation.

That is how Bush Foundation President Jen Ford Reedy opens her Philanthropy 101 class — and it is the animating idea behind the Bush Foundation's new book, Please Be Good at Philanthropy: An Introduction to Grantmaking Strategy and Practice. Foundation board and staff members come from a variety of professional backgrounds and bring their talents and skills into the field. But even if you have been successful in other sectors, you must adapt your skills to be effective in the world of philanthropy. The book explains how to do just that.

In this Foundation Spotlight, Jen offers MCF members an exclusive sneak peek at the book before its July 2026 release. She will walk us through the five essential truths of philanthropic strategy that make it fundamentally different from other kinds of strategy — and that make the learning curve so steep for people coming in from business, government, nonprofits, and other fields. As Kirkus Reviews notes in a starred review, the book is “a thoughtful, broadly useful coaching tool for philanthropic professionals.”

The five truths Jen will explore:

Change is human, often hard, and money just can’t always help that much
Grantmaking is giving away money and control
The risks are mostly on others
Constraints are mostly self-imposed
Impact can be super hard to define and measure

Program Flow

10:00-10:10 a.m.	Welcome and Program Introduction
10:10-10:35 a.m.	Opening Exchange with Jen Ford Reedy
10:35-10:55 a.m.	Collective Sense-making and Q & A
10:55-11:00 a.m.	Closing with Feedback, Next Steps and Appreciation

Who’s Invited

All MCF member foundation professionals and trustees are welcome. This work belongs to all of us, whether you’re in grantmaking, operations, leadership, communications, finance, board service, or any other foundation role. We also welcome those who are curious about or newer to the philanthropic sector.

Jen Ford Reedy is President of the Bush Foundation, which invests in great ideas and the people who power them in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and 23 Native nations. Even for someone who works in philanthropy, she is very into philanthropic history and strategy. The Bush Foundation's new book, Please Be Good at Philanthropy: An Introduction to Grantmaking Strategy and Practice (Disruption Books, July 2026), combines her love of teaching, her experience consulting, and her philanthropic nerdiness.

She has worked in foundations since 2009, and her leadership in the field includes serving on the boards of Independent Sector and the Council on Foundations. She has taught philanthropy classes through the Minnesota Council on Foundations and at the University of Minnesota, and serves as faculty for the national Council on Foundations' new executive retreats. Prior to working in foundations, she spent nine years as a consultant with McKinsey and Company.

Awale (Wally) Osman, Director of Organizational Learning and Leadership Development for Equity and Belonging, Minnesota Council on Foundations

Wally leads the Minnesota Council on Foundations’ efforts to support the philanthropic community through the Equity, Belonging, Diversity and Inclusion Institute (EBDI Institute). The EBDI Institute offerings include the Experiential Leadership Lab, Center for Organizational Learning and Practice, Rural Urban Bridging for Impact, People of Color and LGBTQ+ Community of Practice, learning and evaluation.

About the Series

The Foundation Spotlight series brings together foundation practitioners in 60-minute virtual sessions to learn directly from and with each other about advancing equity, belonging, diversity, and inclusion.