Service Areas
- Strategy & Program Design, Grantmaking, Program & Operational Support, and Governance
Jessie Bluedorn is a young inheritor, donor, and donor organizer who is turning her eye toward redistributive and collaborative philanthropy through the founding of The Carmack Collective, a family endowed, impact invested donor advised fund that will grant over half a million dollars annually in exploratory and multi-year unrestricted grants, as well as through a flow fund. Ktisis supported Jessie as she established The Carmack Collective, covering areas from selecting a values-aligned DAF provider, to advising on participatory and trust-based practices such as establishing an advisory board of movement leaders and running a flow fund through the DAF.
Our relationship with The Carmack Collective evolved through multiple phases of development, beginning with comprehensive landscape analysis and strategic planning sessions. However, rather than functioning as occasional advisors, we established ourselves as trusted thought partners.
This collaborative framework allowed us to help Carmack navigate complex decisions about their grantmaking portfolio. When evaluating potential initiatives, our team conducted thorough analyses of existing gaps in the climate justice ecosystem, identifying opportunities where Carmack’s resources could create maximum leverage.
When The Carmack Collective expressed interest in supporting innovative climate justice programming, we helped them evaluate dozens of potential projects, considering factors such as leadership capacity, potential for scale, and alignment with their core values. This rigorous assessment process led to the identification of several promising initiatives, including Drilled Media’s “Mad Men of Big Oil” program that eventually debuted at the Hollywood Climate Summit.
Following the program’s initial success, we worked with The Carmack Collective to evaluate outcomes, which informed Carmack’s decision to expand support for the program to New York Climate Week, significantly broadening its reach and impact.
The true measure of our partnership’s success lies not in any single program but in The Carmack Collective’s growing confidence and capability as strategic philanthropists.
