Session 3: Working Effectively Across Multiple-Generations in Philanthropy: Learning From Each Other About Race, Class, Place and Culture

This session welcomes:

• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and/or LGBTQ+ professionals working at MCF member organizations 
• Members of MCF’s new People of Color and LGBTQ+ Community of Practice

Session 3 Overview: Working Effectively Across multiple-Generations in Philanthropy: Learning from Each Other About Race, Class, Place and Culture

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Across our different generational experiences, we often find ourselves navigating leadership challenges that rarely have easy answers: How do we balance taking time to build careful relationships with moments that call for immediate action? What does it mean to work skillfully within current systems while also questioning what needs to change? What wisdom from past approaches might we carry forward, even as we imagine new possibilities? 

These aren't either/or choices but ongoing questions we each navigate differently, shaped by our experiences and perspectives as professionals of color and/or LGBTQ+ leaders in philanthropy.

Multiple Entry Points

We come to these questions through multiple entry points - as program officers and investment managers, trustees and executive directors, operations staff and communications directors. Some of us work in family foundations with complex donor dynamics, others in community foundations balancing multiple stakeholders, still others in corporate foundations navigating business priorities and interests alongside community needs. 

We bring our lived experiences as Black women from the South, as queer and trans people navigating gender expectations, as cisgender Latinx professionals, as straight Asian American men, as white-passing biracial people, as able-bodied Indigenous leaders, as first-generation college graduates from working-class families, as middle-class immigrants and children of immigrants.

Differences That Make a Difference

These varied entry points and tenures might enrich how we approach our daily work. A Baby Boomer program officer who learned to advance change through careful relationship-building might collaborate with Gen Z staff bringing fresh questions about traditional power dynamics. A Gen X operations director who developed expertise in existing systems might partner with Millennial colleagues imagining different ways to move resources. 

Each generation’s perspective carries wisdom worth exploring about race, class, place and culture - whether from years of careful navigation or fresh eyes questioning inherited practices, policies and resource flows.

Pre-Session Reflection Questions:

• What experiences have shaped your understanding of race, class, and culture in philanthropy?
• How has your generational perspective influenced your approach to change?
• What have you learned about power and influence from colleagues of different generations?
• What questions do you carry about working effectively across generational lines?

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In Ubuntu circles, we’ll explore:

• How do our different lived experiences shape what we see as possible?
• What might we learn from understanding each generation’s strategies for navigating power across race, class, place and culture?
• Where do our approaches to change reflect our interdependent relationship?

Session 3 Summary Runsheet

Optional Pre-Reads

• Villanueva, E. (2021). “Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance.” 
• McGhee, H. (2021) book or Ted Talk. “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.” 
• Thomas, D. A. & Ely, R. J. (2021). “Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case.” Harvard Business Review.

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This session is designed by and for the People of Color and LGBTQ+ Community of Practice. It is part of their 2025 Series “Different Voices, Shared Journey: Leadership Without Easy Answers”.

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Questions or Accessibility Needs?

Please contact Awale (Wally) Osman at [email protected] with any questions about the program or registration process.

Please update your online MCF profile with any dietary restrictions or notify Khin Oo at [email protected]. We will attempt to accommodate all requests made at least one week prior to the event.

This program is part of our two primary strategies for growing the capacity of our members to operationalize equity and belonging in outcomes: organizational learning to strengthen policies, practices and resource flows, alongside leadership development to provide a combination of challenge and support. We create conditions for becoming aware, using self as a learning territory, and experimenting with constantly learning and adapting to foster a culture that increases the likelihood of equity and belonging in outcomes.