How can foundation trustees and board members navigate tensions between personal values, fiduciary duty, and public scrutiny as they lead equity, belonging, diversity, and inclusion from the board room?
As part of the Experiential Leadership Lab series, this session is designed exclusively for foundation trustees and board members to explore the opportunities and complexities of leading equity, belonging, diversity, and inclusion from the governance level.
In this full-day experience, we’re co-creating the conditions to discover:
- What trustees from Minnesota foundations have learned from their EBDI governance journeys—the hard questions, pivotal moments, and ongoing practice
- How CEO-board partnerships can strengthen (or complicate) racial equity work, and what it takes to build trust and shared accountability
- Practical strategies for reframing risk, capital deployment, and impact through a racial equity lens
- Real lessons from a foundation that centers justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at the board level—including what worked, what didn’t, and what they’re still learning
- How to move from well-intentioned commitments to concrete governance practices that advance EBDI
All trustees are welcome — whether you’re early in your EBDI governance journey or have been leading this work for years. This work belongs to all of us.
This is a complete standalone leadership development experience. No prior Lab participation is required.
DATE | Friday, August 28, 2026 |
TIME | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM CT |
VENUE | Augsburg University — Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion · 700 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN |
PARKING | |
WHAT'S INCLUDED | All session materials, meals during program hours (breakfast, lunch, breaks) |
WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED | Participants arrange their own travel |
CAPACITY | Limited to 80 participants |
COST | Free in 2026 for MCF members. Non-member grantmakers and foundations: $500. Beginning in 2027, we will adopt a fee structure based on participant feedback and program evolution. |
QUESTIONS OR ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS? | Email Rachael Beck at [email protected] and Awale (Wally) Osman at [email protected] |
Please update your online MCF profile with any dietary restrictions or notify Rachael Beck at [email protected]. We will attempt to accommodate all requests made at least one week prior to the event.
If you would like to receive an auto-generated invoice to pay later, please log in to your account before registering.