Hey philanthropy, wanna dance?

Written by Kristie Kolesnikov, graduate student at Portland State University and NWHF job shadow participant

Kristie Kolesnikov, a tall white adult with long hair, wearing a sweater dress, stands next to the NWHF sign in the Northwest Health Foundation lobby.

Never in my wildest dreams would I think about joining the world of philanthropy. What even is philanthropy? Isn’t it something reserved for the most wealthy in our communities? For celebrities? Does it involve luncheons? Are there hats involved? I wasn’t exactly sure what it entailed, but I was sure of one thing: it wasn’t for me. I had no interest in knowing more, because I did not belong in those rooms, having those conversations… Or so I thought.

A professor once shared with me a metaphor for viewing nonprofit work as the dance floor and the balcony. The folks doing the labor are out on the dance floor and folks in leadership, management, etc. are up on the balcony looking out into the future to strategize about what to do next. And sometimes there can be a disconnect between the dance floor and the balcony. The disconnect for me is looking up at the balcony of philanthropy or foundation or grant work and not seeing my values and interests reflected there.

Northwest Health Foundation is hoping to challenge these beliefs by offering opportunities for folks like me to peek behind the curtain and see themselves in this work. My experience as NWHF’s first job shadow participant gave me access to seeing what gets done and who specifically gets those things done. I was invited to join a team meeting where we shared the phrases we tell ourselves when feeling overwhelmed vs. what we tell ourselves when an accomplishment is achieved. I was also able to participate in a nationwide call of 501(c)(4) foundations talking about the risks, systems and processes for their work, and was so heartened to hear folks sharing the joy they feel in the work they do each day.  I was able to learn about the people who work at NWHF: how they got to where they are, what advice they would give to someone interested in working in the foundation world, and how they found a place where they can connect their values with their work. 

Philanthropy apparently didn’t have to be a good ol’ boys club or by invitation-only. It didn’t need to be so siloed!  

In our classes at PSU, we spend a large amount of time on theory and debating articles about how the nonprofit sector as a whole functions. There is some class time spent on guest speakers and professors lecturing about their once-upon-a-time lived experiences in the sector, but the piece I wish there was more of is putting the theory and discussion into practice.  Each piece of education plays a role in the master’s program, and each piece is just as important as this one-off experience with NWHF. I’ve had the privilege to be a part of a few classes where the professor intentionally seeks out the missing voices of the nonprofit sector, like BIPOC, women and disabled people, and brings them into the classroom, not as “optional” reading but as the main focus for discussion. This NWHF job shadow experience to me felt like a very needed and welcomed opportunity for my holistic understanding of the nonprofit sector, and it remedied my own view of philanthropy and foundation work. Without this experience, I would still be under the impression that this work isn’t mine to do. 

My interest in the world of philanthropy continues to grow, and the rate of growth increased after this opportunity with NWHF. My interest lies with this idea, or rather dilemma, of foundations holding wealth, and then the opposite, how they process this wealth and distribute it. Questions still linger in my mind for this sector around the topic of “giving up” wealth?  If foundations are only required to hand out a single digit percentage of their holdings, and yet the need is so great, why do they continue to toe the line with IRS guidelines? When will they begin to dare a little greater and give a little more?

For folks out there who think foundations and philanthropy aren’t spaces where you belong, I encourage you to imagine a new approach, change your thinking, and take this opportunity to imagine what the world could be like if there were people like us in positions of influence and power on that balcony. 

Learn more about the job shadow opportunity at Northwest Health Foundation.

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