HERE to Listen

Program Overview

HERE to Listen: Listening for Racial Equity Impact in Philanthropy is a two-day immersive, virtual workshop designed for foundation staff to build and deepen their equitable listening and feedback practices. Developed using research from ProInspire’s Leadership Model for Race Equity Impact, HERE to Listen offers participants a framework of practices that further racial equity. By exploring ProInspire’s core commitments and corresponding practices, you will deepen your racial equity analysis so that you are ultimately better able to be in community with colleagues and grantees. 

Prepare to reflect and discover practical tools and strategies to advance racial equity, shift power, and build shared responsibility and reciprocity with communities and partners. 

Why HERE to Listen?

For decades, philanthropy has been “here” to solve; “here” to set priorities for communities; “here” to define success or evaluate impact. We invite foundation staff to consider an alternative—“here” to listen—through the acronym:

Honor lived experience

Exemplify equity

Responsive and

Engaged

You should register if:

• You are seeking a community of peers to wrestle with how the philanthropic sector upholds characteristics of white supremacy culture
• You are committed to centering the voices and perspectives of people who have been most impacted and made “least heard” by structural racism and other systemic inequities
• You want to better understand your blocks to listening in order to be in deeper partnership with colleagues, peers, and community 
• You are a reflective and curious leader, and enjoy exploring alternative and inclusive practices 
• You want to deepen your power and racial analysis in order to create and sustain racially-equitable experiences and outcomes within the social sector
• You enjoy exploring various digital tools and using virtual platforms for learning, reflection, and interaction 
• Having a mix of in-session and before/after session learning opportunities energizes you
• You are looking for a blend of analysis and action steps to apply in your day-to-day work

Program Outcomes

• Understanding how your lived experience and aspects of identity shape how you listen and give feedback 
• Examining and exploring how high-quality listening shows up in your decision-making, and communication styles
• Practicing how to apply a racial equity and power analysis when giving and receiving feedback
• Exploring ways to create and assess processes of accountability to apply inclusive leadership practices in your day-to-day work

Program Structure

HERE to Listen is facilitated over the course of two consecutive half-day virtual workshops. It is open to foundation staff from all different roles and levels within a foundation and varying backgrounds and lived experiences. In this interactive workshop, participants are guided through day-to-day practices that embody racial equity values so that they can better show up in conversations with colleagues and grantees. By interrogating and disrupting biases and mental models, and committing to centering relationships in their work, participants explore inclusive leadership practices and apply a racial equity and power analysis to their listening, feedback, decision-making, and communication styles. 

The curriculum is designed to reflect the opportunities that come with having a multi-racial space where people can connect with others who hold different identities. We are excited to offer the HERE to Listen once in 2023. Registration is open and available first-come, first-serve, with fees offered at a sliding scale based on your foundation’s grantmaking budget.

Looking to strengthen your foundation’s internal culture through an in-person or virtual in-service training? ProInspire can customize HERE to Listen for your full staff, department, or team. For more information, please fill out our inquiry form.

Want to learn more?

Can’t make our November training? Interested in enrolling, but have some questions? Wondering if HERE to Listen would be a supportive training for your foundation’s team? Join us for a free public webinar and hear more about this new tool designed for foundation professionals. During our conversation, we will “sneak peak” the tool and share more about what you can expect in November.

The HERE to Listen curriculum is offered as an open enrollment training or can be customized for foundations looking to improve their staff’s listening and feedback practices. If you or your foundation are seeking to embrace high-quality listening practices, this webinar is the perfect opportunity to learn more.

Sign up today

• June 21, 2023 | 1:00-2:00 PM ET

2023 Training Dates

We’re excited to offer 1 training date for this year! Sign up below to save your seat and be part of our inaugural HERE to Listen workshop.

20 seats available | 12:00-4:00 PM ET daily 

• November 1-2, 2023

Registration Process

Program Fees:*

Fee structure is on a sliding scale based on your foundation’s annual grantmaking budget.

• $1,200 (rate per participant from foundations with a budget more than $250 million)
• $1,000 (rate per participant from foundations with a budget between $100-$250 million)
• $800 (rate per participant from foundations with a budget between $37.5-99.9 million)
• $600 (rate per participant from foundations with a budget less than $37.5 million)

Payment Options: Program fees for HERE to Listen are due upon registration. Payments can be made via credit card. There will be no refunds after registration. We will allow 1 transfer the same calendar year to another workshop date if you can’t make the original date. Please contact Strategist Rosie Aquila at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Team-Based Participation

Feedback from partners indicates that having multiple participants attend together adds significant value to an organization so that learnings and action steps for implementation are shared across multiple people within an organization. We highly encourage 2-3 staff from the same foundation to enroll together. 

Looking to strengthen your foundation’s internal culture through an in-person or virtual in-service training? ProInspire can customize HERE to Listen for your full staff, department, or team. For more information, please fill out our inquiry form.

Meet Your Facilitators

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In Partnership with Shared Insight 

HERE to Listen was conceptualized as part of ProInspire’s participation in Fund for Shared Insight’s Funder Listening Community of Practice, which included representatives from seven philanthropy support organizations and intermediaries around the country. We are deeply grateful to this community and the feedback, problem-solving, and collective learning that has happened together. 

Fund for Shared Insight is committed to building a culture and practice of high-quality, listening and feedback that supports foundations and nonprofits as they partner with and share power with the people and communities at the heart of their work. In addition to the Funder Listening Community of Practice, Shared Insight supports projects including a “Funder Action Menu,”a resource for foundations implementing listening practices throughout their organizations, and #Listening4Equity, a space to examine and promote listening in service of equity. Shared Insight also created and launched Listen4Good, its signature initiative offering expert tools, coaching, and resources to nonprofits seeking to build equity-based, client-focused feedback loops to help them listen and respond to those they serve.