Philanthropy: Taking care of yourself and your community
San Francisco's Horizons Foundation has announced a series of free workshops around the Bay Area to help philanthropically minded individuals, couples, and families give to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community more effectively and strategically. These sessions are promoted as "donor networking opportunities in a solicitation-free space," though there really can be no doubt they are part of the foundation's larger endowment building cultivation strategy.That said, I think they've come up with an interesting set of presentations. Have already sent in my reservation for the May 15 workshop entitled, Caring for Community and Self: Giving as Spiritual Practice. According to the program description, "Generosity is seen by many world religions as how we nurture our community and ourselves. Those who give and those who receive are both transformed, whether the gift involves food, service or money. This panel discussion will explore spiritual insights on giving and transformation from leaders of various faiths."
Other workshops include:
- Leave Your Story in Trust: Writing an Ethical Will - April 30
- Socially Responsive Investing for the LGBT Community - June 13
- Life Income and Testamentary Giving with Charitable Trusts - September 9
- How to Evaluate Nonprofit Organizations - October 25
- 2007 Legislative, Electoral, and Judicial Update - November 9
Labels: Events, Foundations, SF_Bay_Area
2 Comments:
Just learned my Mentor, Lisa Hoffman, who I have written about before here will be moderating this event. Cool. Here's an expanded program description:
Caring for Community and Self: Giving as Spiritual Practice
Generosity is seen by many world religions as how we nurture our community and ourselves. Those who give and those who receive are both transformed, whether the gift involves food, service, or money. This panel discussion will explore spiritual insights on giving and transformation from leaders of various faiths.
Buddhism: Generosity is the heart of the Buddha’s teachings. It is more than a kind gesture: it is an embodiment of wisdom. It liberates the mind and heart. Dana is a Pali word meaning “generosity” or ”the act of giving.” Dana is the first of the ten paramitas, or qualities of character to be cultivated in our lifetime (or lifetimes). The Buddha emphasized dana because it is a gateway to compassion and wisdom.
Christianity: The earliest disciples of Jesus recall him saying that “Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving” and this insight has resonated with his followers ever since then. Believing that all that we have is a gift from God, Christians understand that their own spiritual growth is partly a function of their stewardship of what they have been given – responding with gratitude and generosity being the ideal.
Islam: Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam and is compulsory for every Muslim. It is necessary to give Zakat in order to fulfill the basic obligations of being a Muslim. Zakat is a tax of 2.5% paid on the savings and capital for the year.
Judaism: For many, tzedakah is considered the highest moral obligation of the Jewish people. Tzedakah sets a “just base” for giving since you’re given the opportunity to help provide for the poor. Tzedakah can also be understood as a more broad “philanthropic” mission – to make the world a better place/repair the world/help people in need.
Moderator:
Lisa Hoffman has been a Zen Buddhist practitioner since 1995. She was lay ordained in 2000, and is training to become a priest with Darlene Cohen and Tony Patchell through the Russian River Zendo. Lisa is founder of Awakening Heart Sangha, a meditation group for people involved with nonprofits. Her passion is bringing meditation and Buddhist practice into the world in a way that is easy for people to integrate into their everyday lives. Lisa is a nonprofit consultant with more than 20 years experience, and serves on the Russian River Zendo board of directors, which in 2006 raised $126,000 to build RRZ's meditation hall. Lisa is also a cat lover who believes that all cats are reincarnated Zen masters.
Presenters:
Reverend David Norgard is a priest of the Episcopal Church and was among the first openly gay people to be ordained by his denomination. Presently he is the Principal of od180, a management consulting practice (www.od180.com). Od180 assists small to midsize service and advocacy agencies in the areas of strategic planning, board training & development, and organizational effectiveness assessment. He has exercised his ordained ministry in a variety of professional capacities, including Managing Director of the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen (New York), Missioner of The Oasis (an LGBT outreach program of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark), Rector of Church of St. John the Evangelist (San Francisco), Executive Director of Episcopal Community Services of Minnesota, and Director of Development for St. Paul’s Cathedral (San Diego). He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Augsburg College (Minneapolis) and his Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School (New Haven) from which he later received an Award of Distinction among Alumni. He also holds a Certificate in Executive Director Leadership from the University of St. Thomas (Minneapolis). David currently serves as Chair of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition (NEAC). He resides with his partner in West Hollywood.
Rabbi Camille Shira Angel has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav since August 2000. She was ordained in 1995 from the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She received her B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California at Los Angeles. Her Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and ordination were from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. There she received several honors, including the Rabbi Herbert Hendel Memorial Award for Academic Excellence and the Stephen S. Wise Memorial Prize for Homiletics. Rabbi Angel has written widely on creative liturgy, Judaism and women. She was the first out lesbian to be hired as a rabbi of a mainstream synagogue. Rabbi Angel and her partner are raising a daughter together. Highly regarded as an inspiring teacher, we are blessed to enjoy Rabbi Angel’s warmth and passion for Jewish learning and living. The sermons she delivers at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, a prominent LGBT synagogue in San Francisco, are often smart moving exhortations toward faith and human decency -- with a few moments of good humor to lighten the mood. www.shaarzahav.org
Urusa Fahim was raised as a Muslim in Pakistan. She speaks of Islam from her lived experience as a Muslim in a Muslim country as well as an observer of her culture and tradition since her arrival in the US almost a dozen years ago. Urusa is currently the Diversity & Outreach Coordinator at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and is also adjunct faculty at California Institute of Integral Studies, St. Mary’s College of California and the Center for Clinical Psychology, Punjab University, Pakistan. At the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, Urusa is a group facilitator for the Interpersonal Dynamics course. Her areas of interest include inquiry and research methodologies, group process, collaborative creativity, intercultural communication, and women’s leadership. Urusa received her Ph.D. in Transformative Learning and Change at CIIS. Urusa received her Masters degree in Applied Psychology from the Punjab University in Lahore and her clinical training from the Center for Clinical Psychology in Lahore. She practiced as a clinical psychologist for several years in Lahore and Islamabad. Urusa also worked in the field of development management for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Academy for Educational Development (AED). Urusa came to the United States in 1995. Her personal experiences with intercultural issues and dilemmas enhanced her interest in the field of intercultural communication and influenced her doctoral work. Her dissertation research is on the development of cultural sensitivity in individuals.
Rev. H. Ryūmon Gutiérrez Baldoquín is a Zen priest in the Japanese Soto lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. She has undertaken monastic training with Senior Dharma Teacher Zenkei Blanche Hartman Roshi at Tassajara Zen Mountain; with the Venerable Pema Chödrön at Gampo Abbey Monastery; and with San Francisco Zen Center former Abbess Jiko Linda Cutts at Green Dragon Temple/Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. She is the founder of Dragon Gate Zen, a vehicle whose mission is to birth intentional communities committed to the practice of embodying awakening through living in the world fully present. Rev. Ryūmon also founded the People of Color Sangha at the San Francisco Zen Center, the East Bay Women of Color Dharma Study Group in Berkeley, California, and was the co-founder of the LGBT Buddhist Meditation Sangha at The Center in San Francisco. The editor of the anthology, Dharma, Color and Culture: New Voices in Western Buddhism, Rev. Ryūmon works nationally with western convert Buddhist communities and non-profit organizations at the juncture where spiritual activism meets social change.
Indeed a great post, Apart from this I would like to share about Jason Halek. I really got inspired by him when I read about him in business magazine. Jason Halek was only 10 years old when he started his career now he is successful entrepreneur & owns several oil and gas production companies. Even he is a great personality as he understands his responsibility towards the society particularly about children that’s why he established Halek Charities & nonprofit organization dedicated to providing assistance to various humanitarian causes. I really got inspired by him.
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