Cleveland Hosts Two National Conferences


Two national conferences will bring foundation representatives from across the country to downtown Cleveland this fall.

It’s So Easy Funding Green: The First National Conference for Funders on Green Building and Green Neighborhoods will take place October 24-26. The Communications Network, an organization for foundation professionals interested in communications strategy and practice, will hold its annual conference November 2-4.

The green building conference will feature tours of green redevelopment initiatives in Greater Cleveland as well as sessions on how grantmakers can support environmentally green building and green neighborhood design through their grantmaking and investment portfolios.

Keynote speakers are David W. Orr, head of the environmental studies program at Oberlin College and Jonathan Rose, president of Jonathan Rose and Companies.

The theme of the Communications Network conference is “In the Spotlight: New Strategies for Moving Attention to the Issues that Matter,” reflecting philanthropy’s growing role in bringing attention to critical problems and priorities in our society as well as the need for greater transparency in the charitable sector.

Scheduled speakers include Ruth Wooden, president of Public Agenda; John R. Healy, president and chief executive officer of The Atlantic Philanthropies; Ruby Takanishi, president of the Foundation for Child Development; and David T. Abbott, executive director of the George Gund Foundation.

The opening session will focus on the Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaborative effort of Northeast Ohio foundations to spur economic development by investing in a three-part strategy that integrates communications, measurement and grantmaking.