Power dynamics can really get in the way when you are trying to build a healthy, strong organization. If family foundations and their grantee partners don’t see eye to eye, or if junior members of the family pose challenges to their board leaders or elders, the back-and-forth struggle isn’t just uncomfortable; it can undermine the organizational stability and compromise impact. But there are practical, effective solutions for this struggle. In this session featuring Dr. Miki Kashtan, Lead Collaboration Consultant at the Center for Efficient Collaboration, participants will learn both concrete tools and out-of-the-box solutions for bridging power differences and collaborating more effectively. Miki will be joined by Cindy Mercer, co-founder of the Planet Heritage Foundation, who will share her own experiences with collaboration and power differences in philanthropy.
Special offer!
Participants will be invited to fill out a short and confidential questionnaire describing specific questions and concerns you have faced in your own work. Miki and Cindy will be available to provide on-the-spot consultations for resolving specific issues for a limited number of registrants.
Featured speakers
Dr. Miki Kashtan, Lead Collaboration Consultant at the Center for Efficient Collaboration, has successfully coached families, groups, and organizations to overcome seemingly impassable differences. Miki draws on over 20 years of experience as a facilitator and consultant working with businesses, nonprofits, government bodies, and community groups. In 2004 she created the CEC’s collaborative decision-making tool, Convergent Facilitation, and she has a track record of sussing out systemic problems, quickly building trust even in highly polarized groups, and reaching breakthrough solutions. Miki is a co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication, the parent organization of the Center for Efficient Collaboration. Her background includes a Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Berkeley, and her third book,Reweaving Our Human Fabric: Working Together to Create a Nonviolent Future, explores the tools, practices, and systems needed for a collaborative society.
Cindy Mercer is Co-Founder and Vice President of the Planet Heritage Foundation. As a strategist and philanthropist deeply committed to results driven alliance building, Cindy has managed private foundations and served as an advisor and board member to a variety of public and private charities since 1992. She served as an intern to former President Jimmy Carter, and has background in non-profit law, advocacy, strategic planning and mediation. Cindy and her former husband owned and operated a national cargo airline. Through this experience, Cindy discovered that although the marketplace creates social and environmental challenges, it can also participate in solving them. However, the marketplace cannot do this ALONE. Neither will government nor nonprofits acting in isolation. Cindy believes progress happens when governments, NGOs, philanthropists and corporations collaborate in new ways that serve the interests of each stakeholder for a better overall result. With philanthropist Addison Fischer, Cindy co-founded Planet Heritage Foundation, an entrepreneurial private grant-making organization focused on environmental solutions: climate, marine, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and health freedom. PHF focuses on building and supporting collaborations. Cindy serves as a director of The Philanthropy Workshop, the Jane Goodall Institute, and the President’s Advisory Board of The East West Institute. She holds a JD from Stetson University College of Law and a BA from Emory University. Cindy enjoys outdoor adventures, exploring cosmology and an unquenchable curiosity for learning!