The Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) is a vibrant community of grantmakers collectively advancing prosperity and equity.
Independent Sector recently welcomed back MCF as a member and talked with Susie Brown, president, about their role in supporting a strong philanthropic community that enables Minnesota communities to thrive.
IS: What motivated your career in the nonprofit sector?
SB: I have always been interested in working at the intersection of service and change. I started my career providing direct service within a movement, and went on to hold different roles, including public policy, management, leadership, and teaching. I have always gravitated toward work that includes this mix, which to me really represents the promise of the nonprofit sector.
IS: Is there a special person or event that inspired you to be a changemaker?
SB: Early in my career, which began at Planned Parenthood, I was really inspired by the older, experienced, politically savvy women who paved the way, sustained the movement, and led the organization. They exemplified what resonated with me: deliver high quality and much needed services, while fighting for a better tomorrow. There were so many of them who were so committed to both parts of the work. They were very inspiring to young me!
IS: Tell us about the people and community your organization serves.
SB: We are a philanthropy serving organization (PSO) that works with Minnesota’s philanthropic community. The Minnesota Council on Foundations has about 160 members throughout Minnesota, of all types and sizes. We work to connect, strengthen, and mobilize Minnesota philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.
IS: How does your organization’s work help to advance a healthy, trusted, and equitable nation?
SB: We believe that philanthropy has an important role in this — we work with our members to provide learning opportunities, connections, partnerships, and other ways to engage them in building a better, stronger, more equitable society. Our work and that of our members is grounded in our commitment to MCF’s Principles for Philanthropy.
IS: Describe a moment that affirmed your organization is making a difference in your community.
SB: We recognized the power we have to mobilize philanthropy when we launched a pooled fund, the Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund, in March 2020. That gave us evidence that philanthropy is eager to work together, and can be adaptive and responsive to urgent community needs. This fund raised and distributed over $11 million in 6 months. It really made a difference in communities across Minnesota.
IS: What would you like people to know about your organization that might surprise them?
SB: While our main work is with foundations, we have a deep commitment to working closely with our nonprofit partners. We are really looking forward to holding a joint conference this October with our good friends and collaborators at Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, also an IS member. We are really excited to convene Minnesota’s nonprofits and foundations for relationship building and learning together!
IS: How has your work changed in the wake of COVID-19, economic uncertainty, climate change, and the fight for racial justice?
SB: Grounded in three main strategies — connect, strengthen and mobilize — we have really increased our mobilizing work in the context of these significant community issues. This includes examples such as working with climate funders and those advancing climate change solutions in other sectors; administering Minnesota’s local Press Forward Initiative; and hosting pooled funds that address a variety of emergent issues. Additionally, we recently hired a new DEI director to lead the organization and our members in our strategic priority to “advance diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism within MCF and throughout Minnesota’s philanthropic community.”
IS: What influenced your decision to become an Independent Sector member?
SB: Our strategic framework directs us to “strengthen nonprofit and government partnerships for community impact.” We’re excited about this work in Minnesota and understand how important it is. We see Independent Sector doing this at the national level, and want to be engaged both to learn, and to be good partners, in the critical work of cross-sector partnership.
IS: How can collaborating with the Independent Sector community help you better achieve your mission?
SB: We are really excited to collaborate on public policy. Having strong national policy partners helps us focus on state issues, but still actively engage in federal issues. And we look forward to collaborating as peer PSOs, working with philanthropy to tackle critical issues and work toward collective impact.
Learn about other Independent Sector members and becoming a member.
Lindsay Marcal is Manager, Membership at Independent Sector.
