Session Designer: Linda Blessing

It's time to explore trends. Who are we serving? It makes sense to know this before we jump in the driver's seat. First gear is let your board in on strategic planning priorities. Second gear is gathering presenters/facilitators to key us in on issues facing foundations today. It's time to cease opportunities to examine your own strategies and share ideas with others.

This program is targeted to trustees, but foundation executive directors and administrators are welcome. Experts will illuminate key topical issues facing all foundations and provide an opportunity for you to examine your own strategies and share your ideas. You will leave with tangible "take aways" in the form of a pictorial macro-environmental scan.

Speakers: David A. Longanecker, President, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, Boulder. CO and Dennis Jones, President of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, Boulder, CO

8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Essential Skills and Strategies for Grantmakers (continued from Wednesday) Ask the Attorney Frequent CSF presenter and professional advisor, Houston-based attorney Ron Webster will be available at the annual conference to meet one-on-one to answer questions about your foundation management issues. For an appointment, sign up at the CSF registration desk upon your arrival at the conference!
10:40 a.m. - 11:40 a.m.	Newcomer Reception
11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Opening Plenary Luncheon Life is What You Make it: A Concert and Conversation with Peter Buffett, Emmy-award winning musician, composer, author and philanthropist, discusses his upbringing as the son of Warren Buffett and finding his own path to fulfillment
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Are We Sagging In The Middle?
Session Designers: Carolyn Mentesana and Liz Eickman

Are America's cultural institutions overbuilding? Are we putting up buildings just to see our names on the corner stones, or are these edifices serving real needs?

The goal of the University of Chicago's Cultural Policy Center's largest continuing project is to provide an analysis of the impact of unrestrained building by cultural organizations throughout the U.S from 1997 - 2009. Learning lessons from this latest building boom, this detailed study is intended to help alter normative practice in the future—helping governing boards, arts leaders, and philanthropists build facilities that are actually needed and can help organizations deliver on their stated missions.

What we're looking for in this session is an answer to the questions: Is the cultural infrastructure of our country overbuilt? Or as the New York Times asked, "Are bigger buildings better?" Since we built it did they in fact come? You will learn about a two-year research project in which 50 new buildings were studied. We are looking in particular for insights into the role of philanthropy, both foundations and individual donors had in these expensive and complicated building projects. Speakers will lead the audience in discussions on the impact and role of philanthropy in these projects and whether construction projects boost or deplete the cultural sector.

Speakers: Peter Frumkin, Professor of Public Affairs and Director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the LBJ School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX and D. Carroll Joynes, Senior Research Fellow, The Cultural Policy Center, Chicago, IL

There's No Place Like Home
Session Designers: Antoinette Malveaux and Terese Stevenson

Who said that? Would you believe Judy Garland in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"? That was the magic phrase that transported her back to her family in Kansas. The real deal for her was that she had a home to return to. That isn't true for all young people, and this is where we would like to begin the conversation.

Every year more than 22,000 kids transition out of foster care. Many are unprepared, and there are few places they can turn to help them with their future. This means many will become homeless. This is the United States of America. How did it get to be this bad, and what are we going to do about it?

One of our foundations has come up with fresh answers and is implementing those within CSF's region. Maybe it's time the rest of us listen and take action. It is no longer good enough to know about problems. We need to take responsibility. The question: What took us so long?

This session will offer a learning experience, which a) helps frame the national issue, b) gives an overview of a model framework for community service delivery for assisting these youth, and c) provides an example of a practical application through the lens of a community-based organization.

Speakers: Ruth Anne White, MSSA, Co-Founder and Executive Director, National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, Washington, DC; Ann Stanley, Senior Director, Casey Family Programs, Austin, TX and Susan McDowell, Executive Director, LifeWorks, Austin, TX

Not Your Father's Committee Charter
Session Designer: Don P. Snider

What works? And what falls flat on its face? First of all, remember that committee charters exist to support your board's oversight responsibilities. And, yes, actually, there are many.

So before we substitute board with bored, let's learn how to breathe some fresh ideas into our committees' work and help make them capable of accomplishing what they need to get done. Sure there are state and federal requirements, but the buck doesn't stop here. A committee charter provides a framework that allows things to get done. For this you need a common language everyone can understand and you need to look at finances, establish policy and judge effectiveness.

This session will explore committee structures used by many private foundations to maximize effective stewardship. We will have the opportunity to learn how thoughtfully-drafted committee charters provide a framework to ensure that board expertise is used effectively in the way the organization governs itself, establishes and implements its vision, invests its endowment, safeguards its assets, and complies with all state and federal requirements. In addition, we will receive copies of sample common charters and have the opportunity to discuss challenges and successes.

This session will last 100 minutes and is designed to provide 2.0 hours of continuing education credit to Certified Public Accountants.
This course has been approved by the State Bar of Texas for 2.0 hours of CLE creditand may qualify for CLE hours with other state bar associations.
Click here for information about continuing education credits.

Speakers: Ellis M. Carter, J.D., LL.M., Founder, Carter Law Group, P.C, Phoenix, AZ and Don P. Snider, Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Flinn Foundation in Phoenix, AZ

I'll Walk the Line: The Role Foundations Can Play in Public Policy
Session Designers: Jennifer Esterline and Antoinette Malveaux

Foundations trying to better leverage their influence and improve their impact increasingly are being urged to embrace advocacy and public policy grantmaking as a way to substantially enhance their results and advance their missions. In fact, public policy grantmaking has been described as one of the most powerful tools available to foundations for creating real change. Private foundations, community foundations, and operating foundations will learn from both foundation representatives and policymakers the practical steps your foundation can implement now to manage the line between advocacy and lobbying and move the policy debate forward to drive for change.

Speakers: Jody Camp, Director of Programs, Women's Foundation of Colorado, Denver, CO; Hank Brown, Former Senator from Colorado and Former President of the University of Colorado system, Denver, CO; and Regina B. Schofield, Managing Director of Public Policy, Casey Family Programs, Washington, DC
This course has beenapproved by the State Bar of Texas for 2.0 hourse of CLE credit and may qualify for CLE hours with other state bar associations.
Click here for information about continuing education credits.

Enhancing Your Impact Through Inspiring Communications

Communicating effectively about the work of your foundation is all about enhancing your impact. Delivering a clear and compelling message about your goals, values and approach can inspire grantees, fellow funders, policymakers and other stakeholders to join you in advancing your mission.

This session offers tools, guidance and research-based messages to help you talk about your work in ways that demonstrate the unique value of your foundation to the causes you champion and the communities you serve.

You will learn about the latest communications best practices, see examples of foundations that have transformed the way they communicate, and receive assistance completing a Brand Builder tool designed to help foundations assess and improve their communications.

Speaker: Alex Cole, Director, Hattaway Communications, Inc., Jamaica Plain, MA

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Documentary Films Shown Continuously
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.	Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Is Green a Sustainable Reality Or Just The Color of Money?
Session Designers: Adrianna Cuellar Rojas and Frieda Arth

Is it possible to go green and still ameliorate poverty? The answer is yes. In fact, today's high unemployment rates provide a unique opportunity to develop jobs with a new way of thinking.

Creating a green workforce may just turn things around, but first we have to promise that green is not just today's trendy color. Learn about the growing green jobs movement and how funders interested in education, workforce development, poverty issues and the environment can together find a place to invest in this effort in their own communities.

Speakers: Sarah Shanley Hope, Director of Strategic Growth, Green for All, Carmen Rhodes, Executive Director, FRESC , Oakland, CA and Jasmine Thomas, Surdna Foundation, New York, NY

Lives in Lockdown
Session Designers: Quynh-Anh T. McMahan and Cindy Patrick

Research shows that one in three African American boys, one in six Hispanic boys, and one in seventeen Caucasian boys are at risk of going to prison. These statistics should get our attention! Without our help, tens of thousands of at-risk children are sucked into a pipeline of despair, leading to prison each year.

Through a combination of prevention and intervention, a number of organizations across the country have said "enough is enough" and have invested in building knowledge capital and mobilizing political will to enact the systems reform needed to combat the crisis.

This session will offer an overview of the issue and explore the systemic changes needed to effectively shut down the pipeline and help create a better future for our kids.

Speakers: Deborah Fowler, Legal Director, Texas Appleseed, Austin TX, Raquel Mariscal, Senior Consultant, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Watsonville, CA, Gail H. Revis, Texas Advisory Board, Children's Defense Fund, Houston, TX

Not Just A Warm Nose
Session Designers: David Gies, Octavio Martinez and Terese Stevenson

We've all heard that dogs have masters and cats have slaves, but fewer of us understand the healing power of animals in our lives. There's enough magic in the therapeutic nature of the human/animal exchange to set our own tails wagging. All we need is to be open to understanding and accepting that non-traditional answers often provide important advice.

This session is designed to help funders establish a better understanding of emerging therapy programs that incorporate the use of animals as a part of treatment for children and adults who are experiencing psychiatric and/or physical illnesses such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, severe brain trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to name a few.

Speakers: Frank Ascione, Ph.D., Professor and American Humane Endowed Chair, Executive Director, Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, Denver, CO and Marc Bekoff, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

The Second In Command
Session Designers: Ellis Carter

Let's face it, the first chief executive had their work already cut out. It's the poor bloke who takes over from the first, who might as well go home to mother. After all, who else believes that you're first and always will be? So let's take a lesson from mom. Stand tall and admit the work is going to be much harder for "Second" than for the person who held that office first. This is especially true if the board doing the hiring didn't do its homework. Did it learn how to effectively build a team around "Second" to help transition and support this person while necessary changes are made before the foundation can move ahead? Did it stop everyone from saying "We've never done it this way?"

This session will not only help boards navigate the hiring process but also oversee a successful leadership transition including how to hire, support, and if necessary terminate a foundation CEO while maintaining continuity, staff morale, and community impact.

This session will last 100 minutes and is designed to provide 2.0 hours of continuing education credit to Certified Public Accountants.
This course has beenapproved bythe State Bar of Texas for 2.0 hourse of CLE creditand may qualify for CLE hours with other state bar associations.
Click here for information about continuing education credits.

Speaker: Deanna R. Rader, Fennemore Craig, P.C., Phoenix, AZ

5:40 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.

The Name Game Networking Reception

Session Designers: Carolyn Mentesana, Frieda Arth, Linda Blessing, Josie Burke, Liz Eickman, Terese Stevenson

We're throwing away the directions for a stuffy cocktail reception. Instead you will get to do what you've always wanted to do: eat, drink, and meet all the strangers you don't already know. Get ready for a fun-filled and lively evening!

Dinner on your own.

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