Viva las BISC!
Written by our Public Affairs Manager, Felicita Monteblanco.
NWHF staff members Stephenie Smith, Jesse Beason and Felicita Monteblanco at Ballot Initiative Strategy Center’s 2022 Road Ahead conference.
Anyone who began a new job during the pandemic is likely, just now, experiencing a sense of normalcy in their position. I certainly feel this way. Over a year and a half into serving as the Public Affairs Manager at Northwest Health Foundation, I have yet to have an in-person site visit, host an in-person convening, and have only met a handful of grantees.
But, as pandemic restrictions continue to lift I am now wonderfully overwhelmed with opportunities to meet, brainstorm and break bread with grantees across the region. There was absolutely no easing into this transition as I boarded a plane to Las Vegas for my first conference in three years, Road Ahead 2022. But lucky me, it was a wonderful space with ample opportunities to connect and learn!
I’ve been familiar with BISC - the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center - since I started my job at the Foundation. Many of our grantees, partners and friends engage with them. They offer fantastic resources and host an annual conference, which NWHF recently sponsored 13 grantees to attend.
As an organization committed to building BIPOC political power, ballot measures are a critical aspect of this work. BISC has committed to ensuring BIPOC power within the ballot measure process through their Declaration of Cooperation.
NWHF staff and Civic Health grantees enjoy dinner together during the BISC conference.
Highlights from the conference:
A birds-eye view of ballot measures. My experience with ballot measures is limited and the opportunity to hear about their power, their perceived threat by folks whose values do not align with mine, and trends across the country was a critical point of view I had been missing. Ballot measures are under threat because of their power: a ballot measure can turn out voters and it reflects the will of the people, not the state legislature. Across the country, grassroots organizations, funders and voters are fighting to ensure the protection of the ballot measure process.
Oregon’s Commitment to protecting reproductive health and access to abortion. Throughout the three days, presenters reviewed ballot measures that target bodily autonomy across the country, including restrictions to abortion access. I sat in the conference room feeling immensely grateful for the work of elected leaders and organizations across Oregon who championed the Reproductive Health Equity Act and 2022’s Reproductive Health Equity Fund. The final keynote of the conference featured Renee Bracey Sherman, the Beyonce of abortion storytelling and Executive Director of We Testify. My colleagues and I cheered as she pointed out that “abortion is not a divisive issue, it’s a gerrymandered one,” and she reminded us to stay focused on ensuring protections for those that can get pregnant and the importance of ballot measure initiatives in these efforts. To sit in a space that so boldly and unapologetically supported a person’s full autonomy over their body felt empowering, calming and energizing all at the same time.
Changing faces. NWHF covered the cost of event attendance for grantees in 2020 too, but most of the people who attended this year didn’t attend in 2020. Nonprofits have experienced a lot of staff and leadership turnover in the last couple years. Power building is long-term work, and as funders, we’re still figuring out how best to support individuals, organizations and movements through staffing changes. My biggest current project is a Nonprofit Modernization Act, currently in the planning stages. These efforts will address pay inequities, as well as nonprofit staff turnover and burnout. Thanks to the BISC conference, I feel energized to continue to co-convene this work, and I’m excited to apply BISC’s Declaration of Equity principles to the work.
I am appreciative of the opportunity to attend BISC’s Road Ahead conference this year and plan to attend again in 2023!