Members of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders have, over the years, looked for ways SAFSF might facilitate stronger relationships with leaders in the food system space outside of philanthropy—specifically with the goal of finding, amplifying the reach of, and developing leadership opportunities for new voices in philanthropy.

In 2017, SAFSF offered our member organizations the opportunity to invite a Food System Partner to attend two days of the Forum. This program was well-received both by member organizations and the Food System Partners who attended, and will be continued in Annual Forums.

We request that the Food System Partner your organization invites will:

• Be a representative of a group that your organization is financially supporting
• Represent communities of color, rural communities, and/or others that have historically been most underfunded, marginalized, or disenfranchised.

Values drive our organization on an everyday basis, and we are committed to seeing these values embedded in all we do. The intentional inclusion of Food System Partners at the Forum aligns with our values in the following ways:

• Collaboration by creating space for more creative partnerships between funders and those outside the funding community to emerge
• Equity in including voices and experiences of those who have been most marginalized
• Respect for new, emerging, and different types of leadership, knowledge, perspectives, strategies, and approaches
• Stewardship of our movement by deepening and broadening relationships inside and outside of the philanthropic community
• Integrity in actions and values within our movement, network, and collective work

By inviting Food Systems Partners to the Forum, our goals are to expand the diversity of participants in the SAFSF Forum, give food system partners greater exposure to the world of philanthropy, and create more opportunities for collaboration between non-funders and funders in the food system space.

Logistics—What does this mean for you as a member?

• This opportunity is limited to current SAFSF members.
• Each member organization is allowed to bring ONE (1) person as their Food System Partner to the 2019 June Forum.
• Participation by your organization’s Food System Partner will be limited to Tuesday, June 18 and Wednesday, June 19. Food System Partners may also participate in a select activity on the evening of Monday, June 17. Note that Thursday, June 20 is a funder-only day.
• Your Food System Partner will be identified as connected with your organization.
• SAFSF’s iron-clad no-pitch rules will be in place at the Forum as always.
• We expect that funders will cover the costs associated with their Food System Partner’s participation at the Forum (registration, travel, lodging). It is your responsibility to work with your partner to determine the logistics of handling these costs.
• The registration fee of $500 will cover Food System Partners’ two-day participation in the Forum (Tuesday, June 18 and Wednesday, June 19). This registration fee covers programming, meals (Tuesday breakfast, lunch, and optional participation in a themed dinner at no additional cost; Wednesday breakfast, lunch, and dinner), participation in Wednesday site visits, and optional participation in the Monday evening networking event.
  • We are unable to offer a single-day option for Food System Partners.
  • Registration will launch April 2; instructions will be provided to members indicating how to register a Food System Partner.

• Food System Partners do not need to participate in the same site visit/sessions as their funder partner.
• SAFSF staff will host a mandatory orientation call with all Food System Partners in advance of the Forum.
• Should you have any questions, please contact forum@safsf.org.

We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to bring new voices into our community. We encourage you to carefully consider those you work with in the hope of identifying a food system partner who will both benefit personally as a leader, and collectively benefit SAFSF as a network, through their participation in the 2019 Forum.