Yield Giving Open Call: A Look into Lever for Change’s Nonprofit Evaluation Process
And Free Resources for Giving Circles
Tuesday October 22, 2024
3PM Eastern | 12PM Pacific
Join Grapevine and Lever for Change to go behind the scenes of Mackenzie Scott’s recent Yield Giving Open Call and learn how Lever for Change manages a nonprofit evaluation process. This session will share a model for Giving Circles to discover and evaluate nonprofits for their own granting nominations. Attendees will also learn how Lever for Change can be a resource for sourcing vetted small, local organizations across the US.
Meet Your Speakers
Karen Minkel, Philanthropy Director at Lever for Change
Karen is the Philanthropy Director at Lever for Change. In her role, Karen focuses on unlocking capital for the highly rated projects that emerge from Lever for Change challenges. She also provides expert advice and services to donors, whatever their interests, philanthropic experience, or staff level, to connect them to high-impact philanthropic investment opportunities.
Prior to Lever for Change, Karen served as the Home Region Program Director at the Walton Family Foundation, focused on place-based giving in Arkansas and Mississippi. She has also worked in local government, with key leadership roles in urban planning and strategy. Karen received an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley.
Emma Poole, Awards Director at Lever for Change
Emma is an Awards Director for Lever for Change and serves as the client lead and primary relationship manager for donor partners who sponsor customized competitions or wish to identify projects to fund through Lever for Change's Bold Solutions Network. Since joining Lever for Change in 2020, Emma has held the roles of Awards Management Associate and Social Impact Associate, through which she supported all aspects of Lever for Change’s customized competitions and provided ongoing support to a wide variety of donor partners and finalist teams.
Before joining Lever for Change, Emma served as a Senior Analyst at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), a non-profit organization that provides data and insights to help philanthropic funders improve their effectiveness. In that role, Emma analyzed large-scale quantitative and qualitative data sets, managed client relationships, and presented assessments and insights to a range of foundation clients in the U.S. and abroad.
Emma is a graduate of Yale University with a B.A. in History.
Emily Rasmussen, Founder & CEO at Grapevine
Emily brings more than 15 years of financing for impact, nonprofit and social enterprise leadership experience to Grapevine - the only platform dedicated to Giving Circles and the collective giving movement that she founded and runs. Previously, she was the founding Executive Director of NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, launched the Lincoln Center at the Movies global media initiative, and developed innovative financing models for impact at Enterprise Solutions to Poverty. Emily has consulted on event cinema for Disney Theatrical Group, taught Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship at SUNY Purchase, and spent two years developing microfinance and fair trade programs in India. She is a board member and co-chair of the membership committee of the Harvard Business School Women’s Association and a member of the LISC Emerging Leaders Council. Emily holds a B.A. from Occidental College in Diplomacy, World Affairs, and Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Lever for Change
Lever for Change is a nonprofit donor advisor that connects funders with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change. Using an inclusive, equitable model and due diligence process, Lever for Change creates customized open call challenges, such as our Yield Giving Open Call, and other tailored funding opportunities. Top-ranked teams and challenge finalists become members of the Bold Solutions Network—a growing global network that helps secure additional funding for as many applicants as possible, amplify members ‘impact, and accelerate social change. Founded in 2019 as a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lever for Change has influenced over $2.2billion in grants to date and provided support to more than 500 organizations.
About Yield Giving Open Call: In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to advance the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means, and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles. Community-led, community-focused nonprofit organizations from across the United States and U.S. Territories were invited to apply and share the impact they have had on the abilities of individuals and families in their communities to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being.
To learn more about Yield Giving Open Call and other past funding challenges, visit www.leverforchange.org.