Funding Healing: Why Philanthropy Should Center Mental Health and Wellness

📷 credit: Kyle Smith on Unsplash Healing and wellness work must be understood and invested in as urgent systemic resilience work, especially for communities on the frontlines of change. The key is to act without reinforcing narratives of individual failure or obscuring structural harm. Healing and wellness work must be understood as systemic resilience work […]

Rising to Defend Democracy, Part 2: A Donor Action Guide

📷 credit: DenaliNPS This post is a follow-up to a funder action guide we shared in July that was oriented toward foundations. Ten months after the 2024 presidential election, American democracy continues its descent into turmoil. As we’ve covered in previous posts, the current administration has criminalized dissent, undermined judicial independence, threatened the integrity of […]

Rising to Defend Democracy: A Funder Action Guide

📷 credit: Mídia NINJA After nearly 250 years, America’s experiment with democracy is under threat and finds itself facing imminent collapse. Many have watched in horror as the current administration dismantles democratic institutions before our eyes. The criminalization of dissent, undermining of judicial independence, attacks on journalism, targeting of trans and immigrant communities, and  manufactured […]

The Unique Challenges of Leading Family Foundations: What I Learned from Executive Directors

📷 credit: Direct Media I recently facilitated a coaching group for family foundation executive directors, and their stories highlighted challenges that resonated from my own six years leading the Julian Grace Foundation (a limited lifespan, two-generation family foundation in Chicagoland). If you’re in this role – or considering it – here’s what you need to […]

Challenges of the Virtual Meeting Era

📷 credit: Sonja Hansen I had an experience last week that is familiar for too many organizers and educators. I was preparing to cohost a Zoom call where it seemed like the stars had aligned – a timely topic with a strong set of speakers and an engaged co-host had led us to almost 50 […]

Higher Education at a Crossroads: Reflections on Service, Power, and Accountability at Stanford

📷 credit: Alison Upton López (top row fifth from the left) Alison Upton López, Ktisis Senior Director and National Advisory Board member of Stanford University’s Haas Center for Public Service, recently attended the Spring meeting and first reunion with all past advisory board members. She shares her reflections as higher education institutions remain a focus […]

Narrative Work Matters Now More Than Ever For Immigrant Communities

📷 credit: National Parks Gallery In today’s political landscape, immigration isn’t just a matter of policy; it’s a matter of narrative. Who gets framed as a threat? Who gets left out of the story altogether? And who gets to decide? The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia offers a chilling example. A longtime Maryland resident, Kilmar […]

Welcome ari vargas: Our Newest Learning Fellow!

We are thrilled to have ari vargas join Ktisis Capital as a Learning Fellow! Through this year-long program, our fellows gain experience and exposure while becoming skilled emerging leaders in the philanthropic field. ari comes to Ktisis with nearly a decade of experience in community and cultural events organizing for BIPOC and queer and trans […]

When Nonprofits Are Under Attack, Security Must Be Funded

📷 credit: LumiNola For justice-focused nonprofits, the work has never been more urgent or more dangerous.  Nonprofits focused on advancing immigrant rights, racial justice, social justice, environmental justice, and defending our democracy are under siege from an escalating wave of attacks. They’re facing politically motivated audits, legal harassment, online threats, and funding retaliation, all while […]

Ktisis Capital’s Democracy Learning Cohort: Shaping the Future of Democratic Philanthropy

📷 credit: Dylan Gillis In April, Ktisis Capital will launch another cycle of the Democracy Learning Cohort (DLC), a program designed to deepen donors’ understanding of strategies for funding civic engagement and building long-term power in the face of unprecedented threats to democracy. Participants will join a cohort of like-minded philanthropists on a carefully crafted, […]