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Listening in Practice

Check out these stories, tools, events, and other resources to help turn your commitment to listening into action. Subscribe to stay up to date.
Categories
  • Stories

Why Listening to Community is Essential in 2026 

  • Aaron Dorfman
  • National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
A group of people in a circle hold string that makes a criss-crossing pattern across the circle
  • Stories

From Givers to Learners: How One Foundation Transformed Its Listening Practice

  • Caitlin O’Brien, Manuel Portillo, Hitomi Yoshida
  • Scattergood Foundation
two dozen people who work at nonprofits supported by the Haas Fund's Endeavor Fund pose for a photo on a staircase
  • Stories

In Conversation: What Listening Looks Like at Two Family Foundations

  • Walter & Elise Haas Fund, William Penn Foundation
  • Listen to Community
Glen Galaich at the microphone for an author talk at Shared Insight's 2026 gathering
  • Stories

From a Mindset of Control to Public Stewardship: Centering Community, Moving the Money

  • Glen Galaich, Listen to Community Ambassador
  • Stupski Foundation
Cover of the Foundation Review special issue on a blue background.
  • Stories

Listen4Good: New Learnings from Collaborative Community Listening in the Field

  • Valerie Threlfall
  • Listen4Good
Community on Board toolkit graphic
  • Tools

Tool Spotlight: Learn How to Bring Impacted Community Members on Board

  • Fund for Shared Insight
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  • Stories

Putting Community at the Center: Our Path to Shifting Power

  • Sabrina Hargrave, Listen to Community Ambassador
  • Brooklyn Org
  • Stories, Videos

‘Share Your Voice:’ GreenLight Fund Kansas City Looks to Community for Direction

  • Listen to Community
  • GreenLight Fund Kansas City
Cover of the Foundation Review special issue on a green background.
  • Stories

Listening to Change: Leaning into the Messiness of Authentic Engagement

  • Sonia Taddy-Sandino
  • Engage R+D
Headshots of 11 Listen to Community Ambassadors
  • News

Introducing the New Listen to Community Ambassadors

  • Listen to Community
"Toward Meaningful, Valuable, Equitable Governance," a report/tool from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO)
  • Tools

Building Boards for Community-Driven Philanthropy: A New Resource from GEO

  • Meghan Duffy
  • Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Reimagining Governance: A Q&A with Dimple Abichandani
  • Stories

Reimagining Governance: A Q&A with Dimple Abichandani

  • Listen to Community
  • with Dimple Abichandani, L2C Ambassador
Horizon Foundation and Howard County Maryland - The Roving Radish pop up veggie stand
  • Stories, Videos

‘The Relationship is the Intervention:’ A Funder Works Side by Side with Community

  • Kerry Darragh, Nikki Highsmith Vernick
  • Horizon Foundation
Philanthropy and Community Empowerment: A Talk with Hanh Le
  • Podcasts, Stories

Listening As Repair: A Conversation with Hanh Le

  • Listen to Community
  • iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility
Participatory Philanthropy Toolkit logo
  • Tools

Tool Spotlight: Discover the Participatory Philanthropy Toolkit

  • Fund for Shared Insight
Funder Listening Action Menu Tools and Resources to Shift Power to Communities
  • Tools

Tool Spotlight: Explore the Funder Listening Action Menu

  • Fund for Shared Insight
Funder Listening Assessment Tool
  • Tools

Tool Spotlight: Take the Funder Listening Assessment

  • Fund for Shared Insight
Community Listening Sessions: A Guide for Funders
  • Tools

Tool Spotlight: See What it Takes to Run a Community Listening Session

  • Fund for Shared Insight
Listen to Community Events
  • Events

A Deep Dive with Listen to Community: Shifting Power in the Boardroom

July 23, 2026
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET

  • July 23, 2026 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET
  • Explore our brand-new Community on Board tool and get practical guidance on changing board makeup and dynamics to put real decision-making power in the hands of people and communities who are most impacted by your foundation’s decisions.
Listen to Community wave graphic
  • Events

Welcome to Listen to Community — Let’s get to work!

August 6, 2026
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET

  • August 6, 2026 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET
  • Learn how Listen to Community can support your foundation’s efforts to listen in ways that can build community power — whether you are just getting started or are eager to deepen your practice. Bring your ideas and questions!
Cover of the Foundation Review special issue on an orange background.
  • Stories

A Case Study Updated: Applying Community Engagement Lessons to Strategic Planning

  • Elizabeth Jordan
  • Ruth Mott Foundation
Cover of the Foundation Review special issue on a purple background.
  • Stories

What It Means for Funders to Listen to Community

  • Gita Gulati-Partee, Rick Moyers, Melinda Tuan
  • Fund for Shared Insight
Staff members at Grand Victoria Foundation pose in front of a mural at a foundation-hosted event called Black Abundance Convening
  • Stories

‘Who Are You Accountable To?’ The Questions that Changed Grand Victoria Foundation

  • Listen to Community
  • Grand Victoria Foundation
The Foundation Review, The Power of Listening to Communities
  • Stories

Shifting a Complex System: Lessons from a Decade of Listening-Centered Philanthropy

  • Julia Coffman
  • The Foundation Review
Listen to Community: Community Conversations —Baltimore
  • Stories, Videos

A Candid Conversation Among Community Leaders: What Funders Need to Hear About Listening and Power

  • Listen to Community
  • Video: Five Baltimore Grassroots Leaders
Creating a ‘Movement-Led Family Foundation’: A Conversation with the Kolibri Foundation
  • Podcasts, Stories

Creating a ‘Movement-Led Family Foundation’: A Conversation with the Kolibri Foundation

  • Listen to Community
  • Kolibri Foundation
Listening in this Moment: A Guide for Funders
  • Tools

A Funders’ Guide to Listening in This Moment

  • Feedback Labs
People and bicyclists in a parade holding up a banner that says "Essential"
  • Stories

A Family Foundation’s Transformation from ‘Foundation-Centric’ to ‘Community-Centric’

  • Fund for Shared Insight
  • William Penn Foundation
members of SV2's governing board sit around a table with laptops on the desks in front of them
  • Videos

A Silicon Valley Funder Rethinks the Power It Holds

  • Fund for Shared Insight
  • Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2)
  • News

Listen to Community: Seven Organizations Launch Initiative to Champion Funder Listening

  • Listen to Community
preschool children sit on a gum mat in a classroom with confetti flying down
  • Stories

Strengthening Rural Communities Through Listening

  • Fund for Shared Insight
  • The Ford Family Foundation
The Foundation Review Spotlights Growing Momentum for Funders Listening to Communities
  • Stories

The Foundation Review Spotlights Growing Momentum for Funders Listening to Communities

  • Rick Moyers
  • Fund for Shared Insight
Community leaders at a power-building conference in Kamilche, Washington hosted by Inatai Foundation. Photo: Kariba Jack
  • Stories

How Community Lessons Are Shaping a Statewide Funder’s 50-Year Vision

  • Nichole June Maher
  • Inatai Foundation
Family Foundation is shifting power to community
  • Stories

A New Table, Set Together: How a Family Foundation is Shifting Power to Community

  • Rabya Hassen
  • Mortenson Family Foundation
Funders: Are We Really Listening? An Opportunity for Reflection and Change
  • News

Funders: Are We Really Listening? An Opportunity for Reflection and Change

  • Melinda Tuan and Rick Moyers
  • Fund for Shared Insight
Community Listening and Reimagining Strategy at Deaconess Foundation
  • Stories

Community Listening and Reimagining Strategy at Deaconess Foundation

  • Constance Harper
  • Deaconess Foundation
Meeting the Moment: A Focus on Power Positions a Funder to Listen and Respond
  • Stories

Meeting the Moment: A Focus on Power Positions a Funder to Listen and Respond

  • Fund for Shared Insight
  • Weissberg Foundation
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