Q&A with Claire Peeps

Our Funder Perspectives segment highlights insights from dedicated leaders in the world of philanthropy and spotlight their work to improve Los Angeles. In this issue, we are proud to feature Executive Director of The Durfee Foundation—Claire Peeps!

“Movements are only as strong and effective as the people behind them. Organizations are only sustainable if their people are sustainable, too. Supporting brilliant people making change is the work of the Durfee Foundation.”

What has inspired your deep dedication to philanthropy? What excites you about this work?

I love people who are devoted to the common good. That’s what inspires and excites me about this work and has kept me at it for so long. Movements are only as strong and effective as the people behind them. Organizations are only sustainable if their people are sustainable, too. Supporting brilliant people making change is the work of the Durfee Foundation.

What is the mission of The Durfee Foundation and what vision is the foundation unrelentingly working toward over the long term?

The Durfee Foundation invests in people and possibilities in Los Angeles County, where the foundation’s history lies and where funding needs are great. We build trust-based relationships with individuals and organizations that share our ideals of creativity, risk-taking, equity, integrity, fiscal care, and continuous learning. We nurture connections by building networks beyond traditional boundaries. We try to identify where we can make a difference. We work with partners to leverage new opportunities. Durfee is a patient grantmaker. We recognize that results often unfold over time.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing LA, and how is The Durfee Foundation working to address those? 

LA has so many challenges!  Housing affordability, income inequality, clean air, access to health care and transportation – it’s a long list! But we also have an incredible asset – an abundance of brilliant, purpose-driven people whose lived experience makes them uniquely equipped to affect change for the public good. Durfee seeks to support knowledgeable, networked leaders who are positioned to help tease out solutions to the challenges we face. We offer them time, resources and a collegial community.

The Durfee Foundation engages in a number of practices that help strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of frontline leaders, including reimagining traditional funder-grantee relationships through trust-based philanthropy. Why are these practices so important? 

The Trust Based Philanthropy (TBP) movement seeks to help funders become more effective in working toward a just and equitable society.  At its core, TBP boils down to some common-sense grantmaking practices – streamlining paperwork, being transparent and responsive, accelerating turnaround, acting on feedback, and emphasizing multi-year, unrestricted funding. At Durfee, it also means having an open rather than invitation-only application process and peer panel review.

The community’s needs are urgent, and the clock is ticking. People in the nonprofit trenches are closer to the work than those of us in foundation offices and know best where and how funds could be most effectively deployed. Mutual trust and respect are foundational to long term partnerships and sustainable change.

As you pass the torch to the next leaders of The Durfee Foundation, what are your reflections on the state of philanthropy – the good, the bad, and the ugly?  

Let’s start with that word. “Philanthropy” literally means the love of humankind.  But since it was adopted in the mid 19th century to describe the charitable giving of America’s wealthy industrialists, we’ve drifted far from that. Today we understand philanthropy to refer principally to the systematized giving of tax-incentivized institutions, which we call private foundations (note the word private).

Smaller scale giving is also important in the US. Mutual aid and volunteerism are embedded in our history, and individual giving continues to outpace institutional giving in actual dollars. But our tax-incentivized system for giving, which is uniquely American, privileges the wealthy.

Individual and institutional philanthropy have been and continue to be major drivers of innovation and policy in the US. That’s good! But we have fallen for the myth that institutionalized philanthropy has the means to solve major social problems. It doesn’t.  Over the past 50 years, we have adjusted tax policy to aggrandize and incentivize the accumulation of wealth, while simultaneously cutting government’s social spending. In the process, we have greatly exacerbated an already wide inequality gap – and that gap cannot be filled with philanthropic dollars. This is where it can get ugly.

The enormous scale of foundation dollars, even though small compared to the public sector, can be blinding. With big dollars at stake, and the attendant pressures of accountability, foundations often position themselves as chief engineers of change and cast nonprofits as contractors in a drive to achieve pre-determined, measurable outcomes. Sometimes the strategy works. But sometimes philanthropy’s cumbersome bureaucracy and slow pace preclude flexibility, adaptability and the essential need to experiment.

I wish foundations would do more irrigation and less engineering. But even more, I wish that we could all step back to reconsider the relative roles of individuals, government, business and institutionalized giving to foster the common good. We have created a system of institutionalized giving that mirrors our tax code, one that puts too many dollars into too few hands.  When we confront that reality, we might see an eventual redistribution of wealth that resets the public good equation for the better.

What is your advice to the next generation of philanthropic leaders in LA? 

Don’t pursue a career in philanthropy unless you have worked on the nonprofit side first. You need to have walked in those shoes to be effective. Acknowledge the limits of what your foundation can do, and what it can’t. Be clear about your mission and stick to it. Write concise guidelines. Complete your own application, and then edit it to make it as short and easy to fill out as possible. Spend as much time as you can in the community. Be available to talk to anyone who has questions and answer them honestly.  Listen deeply. Think about what you might have to offer besides money.  Offer it!  Be kind, because everyone is fighting a hard battle. Work hard to foster a climate of hope. Optimism matters.

What are your reflections on Liberty Hill’s impact and approach?

Liberty Hill is a courageous, persistent and unabashed champion for social justice and progressive change in LA. Its focus on grass-roots leaders and movement builders has created a hub and nerve center for changemakers. Its campaigns -- for clean air, tenant rights, juvenile justice, and the end of oil drilling – galvanize neighbors and policy makers to get things done. Liberty Hill is rare in its ability to unite donors and community trailblazers togethers as allies and partners. Its strategic focus on training, grantmaking and capacity building weave together knowledge, funding and momentum to make change happen. It’s a powerhouse!