Conrad Prebys Foundation

Which state are you working in?

California

What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?

Did not apply

If you were funded, tell us the outcome

Other

What year was this experience?

2020

How would you rate this funder's accessibility?

Average

In the recent unveiling of their major endowment, they did some community engagement events.

How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its current philanthropic goals?

Bad

Where do I start.... The Foundation has a lofty vision for societal change and uplifts the concept of Belonging. It feels incredibly ironic given the controversial sale of Prebys estate where they displaced residents from affordable homes. KPBS covered this story: https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2021/02/09/conrad-prebys-estate-low-cost-apartments-for-sale It's hard to take the Foundation seriously with this contradictory and ironic state of things. And claiming that it's the biggest Foundation also feels like another slap in the face given where the money came from. It would go a long way if the Foundation can own up to its flaws. There was a Chief Impact Officer who was at the Foundation for about 6 months and disappeared suddenly. Through the CIO, there were ideas like participatory grantmaking shared. But we see nothing like that recently. The nonprofit community is gossiping about the CIO's whereabouts. It all feels very weird and strange...

If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?

1) Own the truth about where the money came from 2) Onboard Board members that reflect the racial and class profile of the communities being served. They are all older rich people and mostly white! It's all very weird! Why have this type of board? It's just about giving money away. The more disconnected you are from the issues, the more out of touch you are. 3) Truly implement a community-led participatory grantmaking process 4) Abandon Conrad Prebys will and prescriptive focus areas/ strategies - they don't really make sense 5) Hire BIPOC community-rooted people at the top! Why all white people at the top? It's super weird.

Is there anything else that'd be useful for others to know to understand this funder?

Another thing that feels harmful is the narrative power that this foundation holds while being a bit out of touch/ unable to untangle itself from will/ legal structures.

Tell us one thing that this funder does really well

Nonprofit people were excited about the community engagement events but since then, it really hasn't felt like community inputs are truly being considered into grantmaking. It still feels like it's basically all about the will of Conrad Prebys and engagement with nonprofits was a bit of a show.

How many hours did the grant application process take?

0