NETWORKING FOR A VIBRANT, HEALTHY,
AND JUST FOOD SYSTEM
![]() SAFSF 16TH Annual Forum | June 19-21, 2018
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ABOUT THE FORUM SAFSF amplifies the impact of philanthropic and investment communities in support of just and sustainable food and agriculture systems, and the SAFSF Forum is the only national gathering for and by funders supporting just and sustainable food systems change. The Forum challenges participants to understand the need for grantmakers and investors to take on risks in order to co-create more resilient, sustainable, and equitable food systems—and at the same time, provides space to cultivate connections with peers so that no one organization is going it alone. The three-day Forum offers many opportunities for peer learning, networking, and collaboration. Plenary and workshop sessions and themed dinners allow funders to learn from each other as well as leaders in the field. Day-long site visits encourage participants to learn from work happening in the region and identify themes that might inform their own work once they return home. A full funders-only day provides space for deeper-dive peer engagement around topics of interest. And because the Forum theme and agenda is developed by and for funders who are working on a variety of issues, approaches, and geographies, attendees will leave with inspiration, strategies, and connections for impactful engagement related to their own work within the food system.
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FORUM THEME Connecting a patchwork of disparate but complementary strategies toward healthier and more sustainable food systems requires continually re-evaluating our assumptions and untangling the vastly complicated drivers of those systems. As such, many of the topics explored at the 2018 Forum boil down to power. Racial equity, tribal sovereignty, industry consolidation, land use, and policy all play out in the relative health of people, land, water, climate, and animals. This complex and tenuous political moment requires urgent action, but does not allow for many missteps. In order to get where we want to go, our understanding of the context surrounding the problems we seek to affect must be at once deep and broad. With little time to spare, we must learn as we go, continually reorienting as we seek and navigate pathways to impact in the food system. The Forum’s location in Spokane, Washington grounds many of the conversions on the agenda. We will question our own individual and collective assumptions about the food system and philanthropy in Spokane, a city that itself challenges assumptions. Spokane is a vibrant economic hub for the Inland Northwest with ties that reach around the globe. Located 280 miles from Seattle, 18 miles from the Idaho border, and only 110 miles from Canada, Spokane sits among miles upon miles of gentle rolling hills covered by wheat fields. It is named after the Spokane Tribe, who–along with many other members of the Interior Salish group, including the Kalispel, Colville, Coeur d’Alene, and other tribal nations–lived on and respected millions of acres of land for thousands of years. Today the city, and indeed the entire northwest, is predominantly white. The so-called Cascade Curtain is purported to divide Washington State culturally, politically, and economically, but the depth and quality of those divides is up for debate.
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* SAFSF members receive a 20% discount. Rates above reflect discounted cost. |
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FUNDERS-ONLY EVENT Registration for the SAFSF Annual Forum is limited to funders only. Funders are defined as organizations using grantmaking or investments as a core strategy to fulfill their mission and who make grants or invest more than $50,000 annually. This includes individual donors, executive and program staff, and members of the board of grantmaking organizations (family foundations, individual donors, corporate foundations, government, community foundations, etc.), as well as representatives of non-profit or for-profit investment enterprises. Development or fundraising staff are not permitted to participate in SAFSF events. The only exceptions to this rule are for invited speakers and Food System Partners. Those invited to speak at the Forum and member organizations permitted to invite a Food System Partner received emails with detailed registration instructions. If you did not receive that email or have questions, please contact forum@safsf.org. |
2018 FORUM SPONSORS AND PLANNING COMMITTEE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
GRACE Communications Foundation PLANNING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Alison Babb, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, MN |
View photos of Spokane, WA! |
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