Overview

In 2021 SIF launched a new leadership initiative focused on place-based work and social change: CORE (Community Organizations Reimagining Ecosystems). The program was made possible with the support of a $175,000 two-year grant from the Fidelity Charitable Trustees' Initiative.

CORE is a peer learning community of eight organizations from around the United States. Each of these organizations works at the intersection of funders and nonprofits to grow social impact in their region.

CORE partners meet on a quarterly basis to talk about the significance of place-based work, local social impact, and social justice. The cohort has a shared leadership model in which the sixteen participants take turns co-planning each quarterly meeting.

As a professional new to philanthropy, it was a challenge to find like-minded organizations to learn from. My feelings of isolation ended when I became part of CORE. I’m constantly drawing inspiration from the cohort as they help us evolve our own organizations! 

Topics have included community engagement, network building, DEI, wellness, liberatory workplaces, accelerators, funder education, and participatory grantmaking. Chandra Larsen, a graphic artist, has documented each of the sessions to date.

The pilot phase of CORE will wrap up by June 2023. The group is working on a white paper and plans to share its collective learning at national conferences in 2023.

CORE Partner Organizations

• Co.Act (Detroit, MI)
• Community Wealth Partners (Washington, DC)
• Mission Capital (Austin, TX)
• Propeller (New Orleans, LA)
• Radical Partners (Miami, FL)
• Rooted in Vibrant Communities (Seattle, WA)
• Social Innovation Forum (Boston, MA)
• Social Justice Partners LA (Los Angeles, CA)

Read more about the CORE program

• Learn about CORE, SIF's New Initiative:  An overview of the new initiative before we started our quarterly meetings.
• Update from our CORE National Cohort!:  Takeaways from CORE Session #3 on creating liberatory culture in place-based work.
• Building a Literature Library for CORE:  Andy Mendez, MBA CORE Fellow, is building a literature library that will culminate in a published paper for CORE.

Quote by Michelle Dominguez, Social Justice Partners Los Angeles