Using our Power to Recenter Voice - The Center for Effective Philanthropy

"In exerting our influence as funders — sometimes intentionally and sometimes unconsciously — we’ve created an entire system of incentives that reward our grantees for paying attention and responding to our needs, desires, and perspectives. This in turn makes it more difficult for our grantees to pay attention and respond to the needs, desires, and perspectives of the people who are at the heart of their work — the people who are most affected by the systems and structures our grantees are seeking to change."

"As a group, we’re learning what it takes to create space for our grantees to focus on those voices. We’ve seen that when we create space for our grantees to listen to the people at the heart of their work — rather than focusing on our opinions and perspectives — they gladly take it."

"We’re also finding that it’s important to help grantees approach listening from a place of inquiry and curiosity. Grantees have questions that the people at the heart of their work are best positioned to help answer. As funders working with many grantees, we can use our bird’s-eye view to see how listening has worked well for some of our grantees, share those stories with other grantees, and make the case for why listening is important. "