When the World Shifts

Some of you have been following my blogs since week one as Inaugural Fellow at The Patterson Foundation (TPF). When I began this journey, it was as an original explorer. Both The Patterson Foundation and I were positively anticipating the places we could go together and the new paths that may emerge.

In fall of 2019, we started guiding over 400 people through Stepping Forward book circles, looking for new ways to engage in community. We began 2020 with a celebration of 10 years of exploring new realities with a documentary screening to mark the milestone with TPF's closest partners. Then, February saw the launch of the Census 2020 Education project in partnership with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, focused on weaving a net of community advocates working to achieve a complete count in the Suncoast. Energized would be an understatement of how I was feeling about 2020. But neither TPF nor I could have predicted how the world would shift around us during this year.

In the old world, this would be an announcement of my next chapter. However, like so many things in this new environment, we have adapted my plan to reflect these uncertain times. I am unendingly grateful to be with The Patterson Foundation at this moment in time. They are standing by their commitment to me as a Fellow by continuing to have space and exciting projects to work on while my pursuit of the next chapter continues. I stand by my commitment to deliver excellence in all places.

While some of the world will look back on this period as The Great Pause, The Patterson Foundation surely will not. Rather than pausing, it is adapting current initiatives and creating innovative solutions to new challenges. The same holds true for my role as Fellow (or as we have learned makes more sense in the philanthropic jobs market: special projects manager, working closely with the CEO). In order to continue to expand my experience, The Patterson Foundation is "sharing the wealth" of my skill set with organizations and networks across the country.

My first engagement as Fellow-On-Loan is to the newly launched Sustained Collaboration Network. It's exciting to be part of a project exploring effective ways the sector can move forward both for funders and nonprofits. We know the world will not return to "normal," so the opportunities to adapt and innovate abound.

I wrote in my very first Fellows blog, "TPF is providing a unique learning opportunity in the art and science of relationship building, community engagement, strategic philanthropy, and achieving shared high aspirations." There is simply no downside to the opportunity to continue to be a part of the TPF team while also having the opportunity to learn from leaders across the country through intriguing new projects. Of course, my hope is that the right opportunity to move forward will come sooner rather than later. However, in a world that is uncertain, there's no better place to be than doing work, you know will make a positive impact.