Delve into questions of community, difference, and degrees of participation and control. Hone your perspective on philanthropic institutions as community players with dynamic roles.
If we are all threads of an interwoven fabric, where are the edges? When and how do we draw boundaries between people? Boundary Stories explores the many reasons to form a big tent - emphasizing our human commonalities - as well as to recognize marginalized groups within minority communities as having distinct experiences and perspectives.
Geography, culture, and interests can just as easily form the basis of inclusion & belonging as exclusion & oppression. Confusingly, we use the catch-all word ‘community’ to refer to people who share space, race, ethnicity, age, religion, life experience, ideology, hobbies, and more. And yet, being precise about which communities and sub-communities an institution acknowledges as its stakeholders is a precursor to being able to evaluate mandate, ethical action, and accountability.
It is only in relation to others that an organization is accountable for its resources and actions. In relation to whom are philanthropic foundations accountable? This is an ethical question that applies to both private foundations and community foundations.
It is only in relation to others that an organization is accountable for its resources and actions.
Boundary Stories lifts the lid on the nebulous concept of community, exploring what is and what could be the relationship between community foundations and communities, variously defined. Along the way, we ask: what does that suggest about who participates and who holds power?
Who is a philanthropic foundation in relationship with? What is the basis of that relationship?
To excavate the "community" in relationships that characterize different types of foundations
To find some different ways of understanding diverse or heterogeneous communities that have shared geography and systems
To consider the possible roles and relationships a community foundation might hold with(in) various communities, especially those communities that have formed around shared experiences of oppression
To probe the concept of participation as one measure of being 'of' or 'in' community
If the 'what' and 'who' of community are not a given, how do we define, respect, contribute to, and strengthen communities, as (community) foundations?
Navigating communities in conflict
Where communities have competing interests - both between and within communities -- how does a foundation navigate that space? Does it have a role? A value add?
A frame for understanding difference
What is the dominant frame of the foundation you are closest to for understanding its relational duties to people and place, in consideration of systemic inequalities?
Outreach across boundaries
Where does community participation in the foundation and foundation participation in the community begin and end?
Defining roles
Who is the foundation, in community, beyond the holder of the purse strings?
Get an overview of how leaders in the study and practice of community understand the challenges and opportunities for philanthropies operating in and with communities.
Understanding Boundaries
Philanthropies navigate the tensions that animate belonging and difference, in multiple communities. Here, understand how membership in more narrowly and broadly defined communities serves different individual and collective human needs. Read it here.
Working with Difference
“Frames” help bring a narrative to what we see and experience that inform our understanding and response. “Working with Difference” offers up tools to help philanthropies discuss their approach to diversity in our communities. Read it here.
Defining Community
Gain some conceptual tools for wading through the murkiness of a word as hard to define as 'community' and identify what's at stake in being able to clearly and specifically articulate philanthropy in relation to communities. Read it here.
How can community institutions be in relationship with community? Consider a contemporary take on what it means to be a "participatory institution."
Furthering Participation
Nina Simon argues that community institutions must not only engage people much more more broadly, but seek to be changed by their participation. They need to design better opportunities for people to connect through their resources and contribute meaningfully, or risk irrelevance. Read it here.
In practice, how have institutions balanced their own objectives, rhythms, and culture, with a desire to better connect with groups who might not see themselves in that environment? Learn from a the HistoryMiami Museum!
The HistoryMiami Museum is changed by trans youth
Learn how one community institution becomes more participatory by moving beyond consultations, professional experts, and project timelines. Read it here.
Community foundations are framed as a civically-minded alternatives to private philanthropy, but what does community mean to a foundation? At a moment of racial reckoning and growing public recognition or marginalized identities who and what is part of the organizing frame we use to make sense of community? Unpack concepts like diversity, difference, participation, and more.
Njoki Mbũrũ is a grandchild of subsistence farmers who grow a variety of local fruits, vegetables, and trees in a village called Ol Rongai in Kenya’s Rift Valley region. She graduated from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in International Development. Informed by her experiences in Ol Rongai, and observations of the evolving political and environmental landscape in her birthplace, Njoki feels drawn to pursue a career in Indigenous land and food sovereignty. Most recently, she completed a nine-month-long policy program with the Vancouver Foundation where she published and presented a comprehensive policy brief titled “Anti-racist Approaches to Effectively Address Food Insecurity and Social Isolation among Indigenous and Black Seniors in Downtown Vancouver.” She is a Black settler on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
I am a racialized settler from New Delhi, India, with a passion for advocacy and community building. I dream of a future where we can grow out of the nonprofit industrial complex into something more organic and enriching. In my spare time I love to read and explore Vancouver's diverse food scene.
In the Boundary Stories podcast, you'll hear from:
Miu Chung Yan joined the School of Social Work at UBC in 2004. In his research, he adopts a collaborative community-based approach working closely together with local immigrant and refugee serving agencies and neighbourhood houses to help improve practices and policies serving newcomers to Canada. His research interests focus on settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees, critical cross-cultural and anti-racist practice, place-based community development, and North-South social work knowledge transfer. Working collaboratively with colleagues in China and Hong Kong SAR, he has been investigating and writing extensively on social work and social work education development in China. Prior to joining UBC, he studied, practiced, and taught social work in Hong Kong, London England, Toronto, and San Francisco.
Ryane Nickens is the founder and president of the TraRon Center in Washington, D.C. As a graduate student at the Howard University School of Divinity, she organized a gun violence campaign gathering fifteen mothers of murder victims for a conversation around community safety. The work within her community in Ward 8 led to the foundation of the TraRon Center in 2017. The centre offers individual and group counselling sessions and therapeutic arts to help victims heal and to raise consciousness in the community about the impact of gun violence. Ryane released her book titled “From the Gutters to a Mansion” in April 2011. She often works as a community advisor to share her expertise on gun violence with faith-based communities, NGOs, and campaigns.
Dr. Handel Kashope Wright is a professor at the faculty of Education Studies at UBC and the Director of the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education. His work focuses on continental and diasporic African cultural studies, critical multiculturalism, anti-racist education, qualitative research, and cultural studies of education. Dr. Wright’s current research examines post multiculturalism, youth identity, and belonging in the Canadian context. He has acted as Canada Research Chair of Comparative Cultural Studies and David Lam Chair of Multicultural Education. In 2020, he was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence at UBC. He is co-editor of the book series African and Diasporic Cultural Studies and serves on the editorial board of several academic journals. He is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Johannesburg.
Nina Simon is an independent experience designer with expertise in participatory design, gaming, and social technology. She is the principal of Museum 2.0, a design firm that works with museums, libraries, and cultural institutions worldwide to create dynamic, audience-driven exhibitions and educational programs. In addition to design work, she authors the Museum 2.0 blog, lectures, and gives workshops on visitor participation. She is an adjunct professor of social technology in the University of Washington Museology program. Previously, Nina served as Curator at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA, and was the Experience Development Specialist at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
PurposePhil worked with a team of emerging artists to interpret abstract concepts in each episode, producing cover art and a complementary piece.
Randall Bear Barnetson (he/him) - Cover art
Randall Bear Barnetson is a multidisciplinary Northwest Coast Indigenous artist. Bear is from the village of Nadleh Whut’en, the Dakelh nation, and of the Duntem’yoo Bear clan. Bear’s artistic practice interprets matters such as mental health and wellbeing, identity, spirituality, and culture through the framework of Northwest Coast Indigenous art forms. Bear’s art and traditional storytelling has aided in reconciliation and decolonization efforts with settler organizations in discussing Indigenous culture and heritage. Bear is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Bear has completed the Foundation Program thus far.
The system of reciprocity is the most important thing in our community.
The main theme that stood out to me was community. It kept jumping off the page at me. In my Indigenous community each clan helps each other during ceremonies. Other clans will take roles assisting the clan who is hosting. The system of reciprocity is the most important thing in our community. So we show up for each other, knowing that when we need help, others will help us. Just as we helped them. So I chose to depict a wolf pack to exemplify this connection and cyclical reciprocity.
Rawan Hassan (she/her)
Rawan Hassan is an artist/designer based in the unceded land of the Coast Salish people, specifically the land of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam (Vancouver, Canada). Her artwork explores realism and the abstract, through patterning, linework and pencil drawings. Her goal is to create work that reflects the cultures, experiences and perspectives she grew up and continues to evolve with.
This artwork responds to the questions of what is community and what is the role of hierarchy in today’s context?
By playing with perspective, the artwork is composed of two opposing sides, illustrating the tension within Canada’s perceived identity as a mosaic. On the left side of the artwork, displays the organic nature of what community could be, along with the multicultural mosaic Canada claims itself to be. While the right side of the artwork displays the reality that though there is community, hierarchy still plays a dominating role. As reflected from Professor Handel Wright’s words, “Canada is actually...a hierarchy of race and cultures...[with] People of Colour below...Canada is a vertical mosaic.” The illustration of the two perspectives showcases the ongoing tension of what Canada views itself to be, versus the harsh reality that many communities are still marginalised.
Encounter Nina Simon's argument that community institutions must not only engage people much more broadly, but seek to be changed by their participation - or risk irrelevance.
To excavate the "community" in relationships that characterize different types of foundations
