Advocacy
Through its own social media and web-based presence, print and other digital means, the foundation actively promotes the work of its grantees. Our board, consultants, and FCL Fellows speak, write, and regularly develop content in the form of podcasts and long-form interviews for publication and promotion through the foundation’s website and other media outlets. The foundation shares new thinking from leading-edge practitioners on matters related to ecological and social resilience. In recognition of the perilous circumstances facing humanity and the natural world, the foundation views advocacy on specific social and ecological issues as one of the pillars of its work. Our work highlights ways in which the work of individuals and organizations we have supported can constructively engage in system-thinking problem solving. The foundation also curates and presents in many different types of fora persuasive voices advocating for changes to policy related to soil, food, water, health, economics, energy, politics, and the wellbeing of local communities.
Gatherings
The Foundation for Convivial Living hosts gatherings and residencies to, as David Fleming suggested in Lean Logic, “consult a conversation” about critical ecological and societal issues. Gatherings are designed to help expand our connection to the work of our grantees in collectively understanding how to confront beliefs and practices that deteriorate the wellbeing of society and to provide inspirational and practical alternatives. The foundation awards travel funding, accommodations, and communal meals for participants to attend gatherings. Invitations and funding to participate is offered to those who we feel can best share timely and impactful insights from a wide variety of perspectives on our annual theme and topics.
While consulting these in person conversations, the foundation also creates content for curation in its own publications. The foundation also hopes to engage with early professional life activists, artists, farmers, writers, and other practitioners. Therefore, we provide participation grants to people who the board views have future promise for leadership in ecological and social resilience work.
Grants
We make grants to not-for-profit organizations that advance unorthodox approaches to problem-solving to increase ecological and societal resilience. The selection process begins by identifying candidate grantees with the help of our external nominators, who are each invited to participate in the process based on their diverse perspectives on and knowledge of our mission and aspirations. Nominators are invited to commit to a term of voluntary service by the foundation’s board and serve that role anonymously.
Foundation nominators use four principal criteria in recommending grant support:
- Evidence of individual leadership experience or potential;
- Demonstration of exceptional creativity in thinking;
- Potential for the foundation to amplify creative thinking, and;
- Clear capacity to operationalize creativity into impactful unorthodox practices.
Grants provided by Foundation for Convivial Living assist in continuing or expanding ongoing work and, importantly, to embark upon new endeavors. In keeping with this purpose, the foundation awards grants to individuals for their restricted use within not-for-profit organizations or to not-for-profit organizations as a form of fiscal sponsorship. It is the intention of the board that recipients be drawn from a wide spectrum of ecological and social endeavors, including activists, artists, farmers, writers, and other practitioners. While the foundation does not require or expect specific products or reports, grant recipients are expected to share their work by engaging in our programs, including residencies and advocacy work.
Nominees are brought to the board’s attention through a constantly changing pool of invited external nominators who are asked to draw on their expertise, accomplishments, and breadth of experience to nominate the most creative people they know. Nominations are completed through an online form that nominators submit to the Board of Trustees. The board meets twice a year to review nominations and select grant recipients, basing its decisions on the selection criteria listed above and the focus of the foundation’s upcoming programming, along with documentation collected by the foundation’s executive director. The board typically awards 5 to 10 grants each year.