Join your peers in philanthropy for a panel session featuring leaders in urban parks and public space grant-making, followed by a roundtable discussion.
We’ll open with a panel presentation led by James (J.J.) Tighe, Senior Director, Parks and Trails at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. In 2018, the Foundation’s leadership made a $200 million commitment to invest in parks and trails across Southeast Michigan and Western New York. That investment has since helped catalyze more than $1.2 billion in total projects delivered. To realize this vision, the Foundation developed a strategic approach to parks and trails development that generated shared responsibility and funding support within the two regions’ public space ecosystems of Detroit and Buffalo. While the scale and geography of investment are particular to these projects, the lessons learned from the process have much to teach park funders, operators, designers, and champions in other cities.
In this panel discussion, leaders from local partner organizations and the Foundation will share insights from this unique model, grounded in community-centered collaboration and cross-sector development and financing.
We’ll conclude the session with a roundtable opportunity for you to share your updates, current challenges, and ideas for future Funders Learning Network peer programming.
Note: This Peer Conversation is a closed session for representatives of grant-making foundations only and is not available to general conference participants. If you represent a grant-making foundation, please add your name to the waitlist. Conference organizers will regularly review the waitlist and notify those who are moved from the waitlist into the session.