Blue Garnet

The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation has released its application for the 2017 HALO Award, a capacity building effort to strengthen and sustain nonprofit volunteer programs and to recognize and reward volunteers doing exemplary work in their communities. Nonprofits in and serving LA County are eligible and applications are due Thursday, July 13, 2017 by 11:59 pm PST. For the application and more information, visit: HALOawards.org

Riordan Leadership Institute (RLI) is currently recruiting for its 50th class! RLI is a nine-month fellowship for early- to mid-career professionals interested in lifelong community engagement and leadership through service on nonprofit boards. The early application deadline is April 28. Space is limited and applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so apply today: https://lnkd.in/g8VVjCp For more information, contact Blanca Zarate at 213.580.7547 or [email protected].

Interested in learning and discussing how funders and nonprofits can forge stronger relationships to create greater impact? Join the Stanford Social Innovation Review-hosted webinar, Building Healthy Funder-Grantee Relationships, on April 19 from 11 am-12 pm PST. Click below to learn more and register.

Each year, the Alliance for Nonprofit Management awards the Terry McAdam Book Award to the most inspirational and useful new books that make a substantial contribution to nonprofit management. Do you know of a book that deserves this award? To submit a nomination, please complete the nominations form (https://lnkd.in/gtNcnC5). Nominations must be submitted by 8:00 pm PT (10:00 pm CT/11:00 pm ET) on Friday, April 21, 2017. For more information, please contact Committee Chair Victoria Thurlow, Thurlow/Associates, at [email protected]. #McAdamBookAward

On March 22, Blue Garnet partner and co-founder, Jenni Li Shen, will co-present a session called "Making Strategy Real" with Camino Nuevo Charter Academy CEO Ana Ponce at the 24th annual California Charter School Conference (CCSA). CCSA is meant to "inspire academic excellence, operational integrity and unity among charter schools throughout California" and connects charter school experts from across the U.S. This year's conference takes place in Sacramento from March 20-23. If you're interested, see here for more information: https://lnkd.in/gTPBuDH

We are proud of Kay Buck, CEO of our client Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), who was nominated for the People's Voice Award. This award is for "extraordinary women who are dedicated to transforming the lives of other women; women who have had the courage to fight, the power to survive, and the leadership to inspire." The People's Voice Award is chosen by popular vote and the winner receives $50,000 from the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation for their nonprofit organization. To vote for Kay Buck, or any of the other amazing leaders that were nominated, click here: http://www.dvf.com/dvf-awards/#dvfawards-nominee-buck_c Voting ends March 22! #Vote4Kay

The Social Innovation Fast Pitch is a two-month training and mentoring program for twenty innovative nonprofit leaders who are effecting social change in Los Angeles County. The program culminates in the Social Innovation Fast Pitch Event & Showcase a high energy, rapid-fire event during which ten finalists share the mission, vision and impact of their organization with the audience and judges in just three minutes! Click here to learn more about attending the Fast Pitch event on March 22 at 6 pm: https://lnkd.in/gVcXpHt

"What’s Next: Leading a Thriving Transition", a workshop for long-time nonprofit leaders who are planning their transitions, will soon launch in California. The workshop is particularly designed for long-tenured nonprofit leaders who will be considering retirement within the next five years. The California launch is co-sponsored by the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and The Durfee Foundation. Upcoming sessions in Southern California include March 14-16 and June 6-8, 2017. The deadline to submit an application is February 15, 2017. For more information, visit: http://whatsnext.tsne.org/

Interested in sustainable investing? Check out the "Investing with Impact" event comprised of two "Ask the Professionals" panels: "The Opportunity for Impact Investing 2017" and "Challenges of Sustainable Investing 2017." The event will take place on Thursday, February 9 from 5-7 pm at Morgan Stanley - Santa Monica, 1453 Third Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. For more information or to RSVP, contact Darya Allen-Attar at [email protected]

Just Transit is awarding up to $400,000 in grant funding to "solutions that will decrease transportation emissions and increase equitable access to reliable mobility options in Fresno and Long Beach, California." Applications are due this Friday, December 16, 2016. For more information and to apply, visit www.justtransit.org.

B Corporations, including Blue Garnet, are for-profit companies that have met high standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. The supposed benefits of becoming a B Corp include improvement in financial performance, non-financial performance, and organizational growth, but is this really the case? Read this report by The Social Investment Consultancy on the impact of B Corporation certification on organizations' performance and growth in theory versus in practice (link to full article is found within the summary below).

Are you looking for a way to develop the strategic direction and evaluation framework for your organization, while building shared leadership at the same time? Stay tuned for more information about our 2017 Impact Formula Strategy Lab series to do all of the above! In the meantime, read our newest blog post from our intern/coordinator, Marcelo Pinell, about his reflections on his participation in our 2016 Lab series: http://bluegarnet.net/blog/

Yesterday, we reconvened with the three organizations that participated in our Strategy Lab series earlier this year. The Strategy Lab series originally included three sessions, but after our participants mentioned they were hungry for more, we added a fourth session! We loved hearing and seeing the progress all of the organizations have made since we last met in July. Stay tuned for our 2017 program calendar to get involved with our next Strategy Lab series!