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I'm going to start with a little insight into my family real quick. So my father has a saying that he's been using since I was a child when he absolutely loves something, he'll say, this is a wonder of a piece of music. This is a wonder book. This is a wonder of a quote. And today, all I keep thinking is we are meeting a wonder of a human being. And it is just such a joy in the way that we had been connected organically. And I think as we're about to introduce Liz, I just want to impart to everybody who's listening, one of the greatest joys of we're for Good is following the trail of the conversation. And we just love the ripple that it creates for us to be curious and keep following why people do the things the way that they do. Why do they grow in the way that they do or build. And from Becca cats and Kenya, who found us somehow some way thank you, Becca cats who led us to Lindsey Fuller, who told us about this incredible Colorado foundation called the Margulf Foundation. We are so honored today to have the leader of the Margulf Foundation in our house. Today we are talking about the funders mindset, we're in this Friday series right now. And we're really diving into how do we re architect a relationship and a future where we're building authentic relationships, we are taking care of each other. And I just have to tell you that Liz i bar Conte is doing this alongside and in lockstep with her team. And I gotta give a little bit of background on her. Liz is a Denver native, she's got this incredible family. Hi, Betsy, gotta give you a shout out, who also just grew up valuing education, she gets all this joy and energy from engaging and sharing the stories of Margulf grantees and learning more about how they can better serve communities around them. So all of this time really follows this deep commitment she has to improving education opportunities for you through her time as a teacher, a school leader, a coach, and an education policy adviser, and as the daughter of an educator and the sister of an educator. Thank you, Liz, for pouring into that. And I just want to give a little bit of background on the Margulf Foundation, because I know people are going to be listening and writing this down in your inbox is going to be exploding Liz because of the way you're moving through this work. Because it's a foundation that's committed to expanding and improving learning opportunities for all youth in Colorado and beyond by partnering with leaders who are really reimagining education, with youth, families and communities to move toward a more just and equitable future. And if we can all get some finger snaps that we all want to live in that world, then you're probably playing in the wrong sandbox. So Lindsey Fuller, thank you for alerting us to this hardwired foundation. We're ready to get our minds expanded and grow our hearts. Liz, welcome to the podcast.
Oh, Becky, Jon, it is so great to be with you. We had such wonderful interactions over email. I feel like I know you already which is probably because I have stalked you all through all of your previous episodes, has not listened to all 400 plus of them, but I'm loving it. Now all these are notes of like, oh, I want to connect with them about that thing. And that thing and that thing. So thank you for welcoming Margulf for me here today.
Well, we were just truly honored because you know, Margulf fills to Jon and Julia and I like the foundation, we were always looking for it the way that it's described, the way that you represent yourself on your website is, first of all, it's never about you. It is so outward facing and inclusive and loving. And so just give us a little like background and tell us about margul and how this foundation was formed and what your ethos is.
Yeah, I'm happy to and I'm really glad to hear that the website comes across like that we spent a lot of time and had an outside organization that was phenomenal. Help us with that last year and and our whole role is really to show up in service of our grantees and to hear understand what they're grappling with how they're tuned in their communities and elevate their stories and ways that we can and be value added to them through our grant making and all So beyond but I'll trace it back a little bit. I think that's what you're asking for. And so the foundation itself was started in the late 1970s. By Marty fluke, who was my uncle, my mom's brother. Cool. Yeah, so, and their father, my grandfather, had come over from Poland as a Jewish immigrant. And so, education, from the very beginning, has always been incredibly important in fluid family. And that's been handed on down to my generation. And then we're handing that on as well. And so I grew up just knowing that, as you said, the overly kind introduction, Becky, which we can talk about later, that education has always been a priority. I've seen the importance of it. So Marty was a business person and knew that he wanted to focus the foundation on education. And as I went into my career in education, was a teacher and school leader and had other roles in education policy. He said, Why don't you come over and and do this foundation? Why don't you come over and be the staff for my foundation? Because he was just trying to do good in the community in lots of different ways? And I would say, No, I absolutely don't want to do that. He's like, why? And I say, well, because I actually want to do the work. And I've been on the other side, where I see how philanthropic organizations are well intentioned, but ended up really hurting the organizations that they care about, because they're guiding them based on what they think is most important for that organization to be doing, or setting up measures of success that don't actually make any sense for that organization. In the summer of 2010, my wife and I have now two kids, but I was pregnant with the first of our two kids. And I was leaving, then Governor Ritter's office working on Education Policy, I knew I didn't want to go back into schools, because the schools that I liked to be in which were ones that were trying to do things radically different, and actually serve all the students that they were working with, were not places that would really be conducive to me also showing up as a wife and as a mom in the way that I wanted to be. And so I said, Alright, let's let's try this thing out, let's, let's go to the foundation and work with my uncle. So for that period of time, it was like working with a living founder and my uncle of the foundation. And I learned a lot and I got to hear a lot of stories that Marty had. And that helped me better understand his passion for education as well. One of those I'll share with you is that he was in kindergarten, they had a visiting art teacher come in, and they hung up on all the walls, a piece of paper and then drew a box. And all the kids were invited to do something on that piece of paper, that would be art. And all the kids did something pretty inside the box. And our teacher walked around said, Oh, those are also wonderful. And he got to Marty. And Marty had left the inside of the box empty and had colored all around the outside of the box.
I love it. Major ever here. I'm so happy.
And the visiting art teacher said yes, Martin. Yes, that's exactly it. And that is, as well as a number of other things really inspired him to think about how we do things differently in education. And that was very much in line with how I wanted to show up given that the system that we have now has never been designed and is currently still not designed to meet the needs of all students. And when he passed away, we needed to get to the next iteration of what the Marvel foundation would look like. And we really had the opportunity to be clear about both our operations and our strategy. And that was about five years ago. And so that's when we started cultivating this group of grantees who are now our trusted partners. We started learning and listening and investing in ways that can make an impact on both the lives of students and also the lives of educators and what learning experiences look like. And we did that for about five years, until last year when we said okay, let's take a look at what we're doing and how we're doing it. And check in with the people who we're trying to serve. What can we learn from them about what's value added about what we're doing, where the gaps are, what they see as opportunities in education, and also in philanthropy. And so this is actually a really interesting time to be talking with you all, because we're right at this moment where I just shared over the last couple of weeks with our grantees, our way of thinking about the next three years, which is really not radically different from what we've been doing. It's not like we have changed actually, we've stayed consistent in our vision, mission and principles. But we're just thinking more about how we can really show up for them beyond grantmaking so that we can help increase their impact as well.
I mean, what a story, Liz and you've just enumerated not only do I think we fell into Everything that Margulf was after we met Lindsey Fuller and her the story of y'all showing up as a partner like that. And we're like, who is who are the people behind the mission that supports so holistically and provides this wraparound. Let me get into your page. And we get lost in your principles and your values. And the way you talk about your work and your curiosity. And honestly, I was stuck to my tracks. I've never seen values like this that made me just feel rocked and inspired and all that. And so I'm going to read them. And then I want you to just have a chance to reflect back to us about how that guides your work. But the values are, we act with courage. We center people, we foster belonging, and we champion justice. I love that show you sentences, you know, it's not just like this plaque of random words on the wall, but it's active. Anyway, it's we I know. I mean, tell us, you know, how you arrived? And how you get clarity around this and that process and how it informs what you do today?
Yeah, yeah, the values creation, I think we could probably have, you could probably do like an entire other podcast, in and of itself on values creation, right. And so we, as a team, have spent, this was our second iteration of values, our full time team at Margulf. There are four of us now, to have been with us for almost five years one has been with us for almost two years. And we had one iteration of values developed by three of us that when we were onboarding additional folks, we realized, oh, when we read that, again, you know, I think we just got to a point where like, we can't wordsmith this anymore. And so we went back and looked at it again, and really said, How are we trying to show up? And what are the values that guide us? And can we put language around that? I think it's hard, it's hard to do that. And it's hard to do that in some sort of succinct way. And we'll probably keep going back to that and revising it. We really use those values internally, to make sure that we're staying true to how we want to show up. And then we think about our vision, mission and principles, externally. So that's really how we think about what we best partner with from the nonprofit side in terms of our grant making.
Okay, I want to break this down a little bit, especially if we have some new professionals listening about why this is so important. If you are a nonprofit professional, and you are looking for alignment, you're looking for what's an easy way that I can connect with this foundation, go to their values, and see where the commonalities are. And it's not just here's what we fund, you know, we're funding climate and education and health, no, go to the values and see how you're aligned in that way. And if you're a foundation, I would encourage you if you don't have them to go in, and do some work on that and define them, because we can better align with you when we know those values. And so thank you for that incredible work in that background. And just the humility in that. And we want to talk about how Margulf really invests in wellness and collaboration and building these authentic relationships. Because when we hear about it and learn about it, it just is so differently than what we were used to and what I was used to as a recovering major gift officer. And I want you to talk to us about your mindset, when you are evaluating where to invest and what makes organization stand out to you. And I want you to talk about that word evaluating because you flagged it in our notes. And I want you to tell everybody why you flagged it.
Thank you for all that. And I flagged the word evaluating it's because it's not a word that we use. We we never think about evaluating nonprofits, or grantees. We are very aware of the power differential that exists between philanthropic organizations and those that philanthropic organizations fund. And we do everything we can to break down that power differential, we know that we won't, right, we have to acknowledge that it's going to continue to exist. And using a word like evaluating means that we are placing what we think to be best or right on somebody else. And that just feeds into that whole power differential. So we don't feel like we do evaluate. We don't use the word evaluation. But what we really do is we try to get to know and understand incredible humans in the community who are leading great organizations. And in the process of doing that, the first thing that we do is literally get to know the humans we build relationships. So as we start with building that sort of relationship, then we think about our vision, mission and principles. We try to figure out alignment. I think this is a tricky part because there are organizations that that aren't aligned and that's always a hard pill. Lace. I also am Enneagram to Becky. And when you have to say no, that's an uncomfortable space. So that's something that that some of us are getting more used to. But I think that because we've developed those relationships, then we're able to really continue to understand what the realities are like. And so do you want me to address in particular the the wellness and collaboration grants? Is that helpful to get to hear please? Yes. Okay. So I'll start on the wellness front. And really, what happened there was it was spring of 2021. And we've been in the pandemic for a year, right. And what we were seeing was that our leaders, the leaders of the nonprofits, we were supporting, were struggling even more in that moment than they had been the year prior. Right? Right. When COVID happened, I think everybody just lit up and said, We're going to get this done, we're going to serve the students or go online and think of alternative ways to engage with educators are like, very creative, and there was a fire hose. And then a year later, they're still doing it. And they are exhausted, and they're rundown, and they are not taking care of themselves. Another thing that happened was we were talking with our grantees, and some of them were being incredibly creative and insightful, and how they were responding. So we have one organization that has full time staff has staff who speaks seven different languages, and they were providing mental health support to all of their staff in their native language.
Oh, my gosh, how kind Right, right.
Another organization that we were working with was providing executive coaching to their entire leadership team. And so we were seeing from our grantees and honestly, anything we do, it really stems from, oh, we're listening or hearing we're seeing these things, is there something we can lean into there? And so we decided to propose to our board, which our board unanimously supported something called talent, health and wellness sustainability grants, the wellness grants went out to every one of our learning environment and talent grantees. So those are the two main investment groups, we have learning environments and talent. And they were, is it helpful if I share the amount because I think it actually might make a difference. So we gave grants that were $15,000 for the leader, and then between 10 and 50,000, to the team based on team size that they had to use for their own health, wellness and sustainability. And
Whoa, hard, hard stop, professionals. Can you imagine if somebody gave that to you in the moment you're standing in right now with your mental and required you to spend it on yourself like that is such antithetical thinking and language for the sector? Thank you.
It was it coming from a place of incredible privilege to be able to do that. And we learned a lot of things. We learned one, as you said, in one of your podcasts, Becky, that leaders spend so much time taking care of everybody else, and they don't take care of themselves. And what we were worried about was that we saw so many folks who were probably at the end of what they could do. And they let alone leading their organizations just existing as a human, right. Yeah. And so we try to give as much as possible unrestricted general operating grants. But this one, we said, No, this needs to go to your health and wellness. And one of the things that we learned was that some were overwhelmed when they realized that they didn't even know where to start. That that they had not had the opportunity to do that they had not been asked to that they hadn't had the privilege to really think about their own health and wellness. We also learned that they felt from other philanthropic organizations, and I don't know how many philanthropic organizations you have listening, but I want to talk a little bit to them too, because we heard a lot that they felt for many other philanthropic organizations, that they didn't matter. Because if anything, they were saying you can only spend this amount on operating costs, right? And all the other dollars need to go toward these programs. Well, oftentimes those operating costs are people salaries, that benefit, you know, whatever that might be. And they said, aside from the money, feeling like we matter, makes a huge impact. So the one time investment we made was enormous. We could not do that on an ongoing way. And that was really being responsive to The crisis that we're in at the moment as a society, and we have a very high number of our, our grantees, who are people of color, and to the last three years have just impacted in so many ways. And so to be able to do that, at that moment was something we were very happy to have been able to do. And yet we knew we couldn't continue that level of investment. So we just made the decision that we will continue wellness grants, that we will make them a part of every one of our learning environment and talent grants. And we'll do it at a much smaller scale. So organizations that have five or more staff will get $10,000 2500 goes to the leader, and then the rest goes to how, how they determined to use it for the staff.
I'm gonna use Becky's words back to you. I mean, you are a wonder Margulf, the group that you've assembled the team, you've assembled as a wonder, and I gotta throw you know, your values back to you, that you've already said is that you sent her the humans in this process, you know, in the way that you move about this. And we feel that way in prep for this interview, I can't remember out of 418 interview so far that someone literally pings us and said, Hey, I've been binging listening to your backstories and diving in and getting to know you're too freakin kind because you wanted to walk into a place where we feel seen. So this is the I feel that y'all y'all live this out so deeply in the way you move to this world. So just kudos. And I'm excited for the ripple this can create as we encourage nonprofit professionals to dream to be able to answer that question. Whenever somebody asks you, what do you need, they should, you know, we should all feel the ability to dream of how to take care of ourselves and our teams. So thank you for that.
team collectively dream, like you want to dream with the nonprofit and, and I think just this absence of power that exists. I mean, I want everybody to know, like, I messed up Liz's title at the very beginning, and we just re recorded and she was like, my title doesn't matter. Just call me a leader, like totally disarming. The first time I emailed you, you said, I want to make sure that, you know, I'm not positioned, because it's my team, there is a complete absence of power there. And because there's an absence of power, we can run faster, toward the things that matter on the front line. And I thank you for that. And I just, I want more of that out there. Because then more healing begins more creativity starts to turn, you know, and I just think the world is our oyster if we can get in that way. So yeah, keep going, Jon.
No, I mean, I am affirming everything you're saying. And I want to give you space Liz to just celebrate this team that kind of has come alongside you. And I know you share that. You're not only just learning from them, but they're learning as as you interact with grantees and friends that surround this movement. So share a little bit about that.
Yeah, I'd love to and, and honestly, as we've thought about talking about our work, which we really don't do very often, I think it's more important to do the work and and to talk about doing the work. But we're hearing from our grantees, that us talking with other philanthropic orgs could actually be beneficial to them. So you know, with with the push this space, we're stepping into more. So as we've thought about sharing more publicly what we what we are doing, we thought about like being on a panel and having a couple of us from the Margulf team and a handful of grantees all talking about the work and the relationships together. So I was uncomfortable accepting this invitation, because there's no way that you can think about Marvel if and only think about one person, I think it really is a community we're trying to create. We have this full time team. But we also have our board. We which has been great over the last five years as we I think, build relationships with one another and build understanding of what we're trying to do together. The impact we're trying to make for students for youth and also for the adults that are serving them families and communities. We have a number of folks who I think people would call consultants. We call them integral partners. Some of them have been with us for six years, for some operational support for certainly strategic support. I've had some executive coaching. And then we have folks who have come on over the last two or one over the last four years, who really helps us around our race and equity, our own development that are learning and growth. And then we have this area around continuous improvement where we're trying to really understand our own impact the impact of our grantees, which we know that those two things are, are not the same, and to be in a space where we are continuously iterating and improving on what we're doing. And so we partner with somebody around that too. And So while our team is right now our full time team is phenomenal. And for and also growing, we really see our our larger team in that way, in addition to our grantees that as you can hear from the kinds of things that I've said about how we make our decisions about what we do, and we listen to them, and we pull them together, and we ask them questions, and we engage with them in any way we can to better understand what they're thinking and how we can be value added to their work.
It's just so dang disruptive. I mean, it's so it's so not what we're used to. But I'm here to tell you, it's what we've wanted. Let's have
this conversation, actually, I think the thing that astonishes me is why is this revolutionary? Like this reminds me of one of our grantees who talks about being treated by us as human. And how great that feels how validating that feels. I'm like, But why, why is that the exception? And why you you two have so much history in this I'm talking with all the different folks like what, what do we need to be doing differently, so that we do see opportunities for nonprofits and philanthropic organizations to be breaking down those power differentials and working together more in partnership,
preach, like to replicate it over and over and over again, because that's the world we all want to live in work in. And guess what, when we enjoy working in this, we're going to stick around, and we're not going to leave because we're burned out, or because we're not getting paid, you know, a living wage or because we don't feel that this organization's culture is inclusive of people who look different than you and I or live differently than you and I. And so it just feels better. And when you talk about it feels better. You're talking about humanity. And if you're saying, you know, we're just going to do business, or this is business or business as usual, it's like we got to sunset those days, because it doesn't feel good to work in those kinds of environments. So I want to talk to you about what we need to do to change the philanthropic landscape, from your perspective, talk to us about some of the things that you think nonprofits could do differently in the funding process. And then on the flip side, what could Foundation's lean into more?
Yeah, yeah, I think those are great questions. And I think it's really hard to come from the philanthropic vantage point. And say, nonprofits, you just need to do these things, when we know what they're facing. And I don't want to be cynical, or speak poorly about this, the sector that I'm a part of, I think that there are many incredible philanthropists out there, whether they're individuals working alone, or organizations, or individuals within organizations that are trying to push broader change like it's happening. Is it happening at the speed that maybe all of us would like, I'm not so sure about that, at times that are probably pendulum swings, which are probably not helpful for the the the nonprofits. I mean, the thing that I think over and over Becky and Jon is that what I encourage nonprofit leaders to do is to be their authentic selves. And to bring all of themselves to those conversations in the work that they know that needs to be done, and not to be swayed or influenced by money that might be on the table. I also realized that so easy for me to say, because I'm not trying to get that money right now. So I'm not sure what to do about those two things, because that's who we want to talk to. And that's how I hope that they can all show up in their conversations with funders. And I realize that that won't always be fruitful.
I mean, what comes to mind for me in this conversation, and y'all just model this so well, is not only just an abundance mindset, that there is enough as we step into our true identities, as we live out, the people that we are we show up in that way as organizations and as people, but it's also community, because we believe it's that that multiplier of not just nonprofits getting in community because, hey, I want to help you out. I just met somebody that wasn't a fit for us, but they would be a perfect fit for you having that abundance mindset. But I think, you know, funders have to be in community to, you know, I think for a lot of our career, they felt like ivory towers, they have the answers. They're creating the process, they're, you know, gifting according to maybe a transparent or not transparent process. But being in community has changed me as an individual since we just launched We Are For Good I'm a fundamentally different human being because of being shaped by people. You know, my a lot of my walls have come down a lot of my worldview has gotten changed because of those conversations and I, Mike, I just think that's gotta happen. And you can't do that with a lot of ego, you can't do that with a lot of these walls that have been around our whole lives, you know.
So yeah, and I just want to respond to your comment about, I don't know how to do that, because I want to affirm that you are doing that, by the way that you choose to walk through this work, you are already inviting that sort of discussion in that sort of relationship in, I feel very safe talking to you, Lindsay felt very safe, and that she could be herself. And the beauty of Lindsey fuller story over the teaching well, is she's she's on the other side of it. Now she has seen what these wellness grants have done to her team. She, they've given them therapy. And she's like, You know what, sometimes you got to pour into the healers too. And I agree with that statement. And so I want to encourage you and your team, and I want to encourage any foundation officer who is listening board member right now, if you are moving in ways that are listening in that are open, you are changing the sector, it is a slow turn of the aircraft carrier to get it 180 degrees, but you're already starting the movement. And so thank you from the depths of my heart. Thank you, Liz. Thank you team.
Well, the way you both talk about community, it's actually something that really resonated with me when I was stalking you on listening to all your previous podcasts, that you talk about the value of just being able to have conversations and be in relationship with folks. And then creating this We Are For Good community. It's something that we really believe at Margulf as well that we think the collective genius of our grantees has the potential for even greater impact than the individual genius of them. And so we provide optional opportunities for them to engage with each other. And I think that there's I'm looking forward two ways that we can think about working together and learning from each other. So I think you all have a lot of experience, expertise, lessons learned, that we could really benefit from and help share with our grantees in some way.
That's ours is yours. But over here, your grantees like talk to each other and like learn from each other and are in community with each other.
Heck, yeah. Is there another way to do this?
Holy crap, that first time I've ever heard it? That is.
Really? Well, I mean, I think like other philanthropic organizations will be like, you know, we will give you this grant, and you'll be in the community of practice. And we'll have three gatherings a year, and come be a part of this community of practice. I think ours are so I think it's done out there. I think ours are, the things that we're trying to do are really to make it based on their desires and needs, and what's value added to them. So we have these optional virtual grantee gatherings where like one person has said that, that it's like his church, that he looks forward to them so much.
Yeah.
And there are other grantees again, get it right. Yeah. And there, there are other grantees who haven't attended that. And we're totally fine with that. There's no judgement with a lot of our grantees, we'll just be in conversation with them. And we'll hear something that resonates from a different conversation we had, or from something someone sent in, and we'll say, Hey, would you be interested in connecting with this person. So we've done a lot of that type of connecting. And then the other thing that we've offered is collaboration grants last year. So we were seeing similar to how wellness grants came about, we were seeing something in the community where folks were talking with one another. And at times, we actually had two organizations come to us for a grant together. And then there were others who were just sort of had these seeds of ideas. And we said, well, you know, what, what, why don't we actually fund that. So if you are learning environment, or talent grantee of margalef, and you're interested in working with another or multiple others, then come to us with your idea, and we'd love to hear about it. And so we did a number of collaboration grants last year as well.
You just had a funder invite you over to come get a grant and can I gotta lift a pro tip out that I'm hearing in this. And I think it's for foundations and nonprofits. But if you are a foundation that is constantly listening, and open to iteration, and open to evolving, and I don't just mean like during times of crisis, like the pandemic and we saw such incredible pivots for a lot of foundations who changed some of their funding guidelines and things to respond to the moment but if you can have a culture of we're a listening organization and we want to hear from you, as a human being, and have honest conversations, and we will evolve with you, I just think that's next level, because it's it's gonna build cobuild together. And the ripple to that I can imagine would just not ever end and you're strengthening Marty's dream as you're going. And it's like the full vision of what Marty dream this could be, is so much bigger. And you've taken it, Liz, and your team's taken, I don't want to say you've taken it, Liz, because I have a feeling you're like, No, I haven't done it. But this group, this board this team, you have done something quite extraordinary. And on behalf of the nonprofit community, the world, humanity, thank you, like, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
As much as I appreciate that don't have all of humanity. thank us before we also talk about all of our bumps and bruises and challenges along the way. Right, right. I mean, we are I feel
it over here We Are For Good, we're a hot mess.
Yeah, we've got work to do. Some of it is in how we do what we do, some of it is and how we learn how we communicate who we are. All of these are things that we are continuously working on. And I so appreciate the two of you will your whole team building up what we do at Margulf. And we I would hope that if philanthropic folks are interested in learning about really being in relationship with others, and trying to act in service of them, those are conversations that I'd love to have. If folks are looking at what the playbook is to do things right. That's we're not your people. We're not your people. We're not I mean, I'm doing all the playbook things. Right, right. Well, you actually probably don't even believe in that. Yeah. But that we have, we have struggled along the way we still mess up. And what we hope and what we encourage, you know, one of our principles is reflection. And we say to our grantees, that we see failure as a learning opportunity, we hope that they do the same. And we hope to create a culture within the community, where people really feel like they can have those struggles and and acknowledge them collectively, and learn and grow together.
I mean, it just makes sense, Liz that I was commenting on that I loved your headshot that we found on your website, and it's occurred to me now you've got like open arms. And I'm like, I feel that from you, your four of all time is just, you know, come as you are. So this conversation is beyond what we could have dreamed to have in the funders mindset series, because thank you for walking in transparently as your full self, to give us a peek into like, how you're, you know, moving through these decisions and how you're grappling with the hard stuff, too. And so I wouldn't want to ask you for a one good thing, you know, you've listened to enough of the episodes to know we want to wind it down with a piece of advice that you can leave us with. But what's something that's on your mind or heart from this conversation that you'd share with us as we go? Well,
I think it's about really loving your people. And my family. And I went through a lot of loss last year with a generation older. But every time I shared that with, with our grantees, everyone was dealing with something similar. We had one of our grantees pass away during the year last year, which was really hard. A young woman and life is short, right? I think we need to love our people hard. We need to let them know we care about them. And we need to show up for them. And whether that's your your closest family or the people that you have the privilege to work with. Yeah. Period.
Love. I mean, that's what it's about. And we everyone keeps asking us like, how did you do this? What were you thinking? Like, honestly, probably what were you thinking building for good because we have found that love and kindness are truly the greatest disruptors in this lifetime. It's something we all crave. It's all something we want. It feels good to receive it. It feels good to give it so thank you for tying up this beautiful conversation with the most perfect bow. Liz Conti, I just want to adopt you into my family and make my dearest friends whatever you are. So tell people how they can connect with you where they can find Margulf Foundation, where do you hang out online?
Yes, fantastic. We are not really engaged in social media as a philanthropic organization. So the best way is through our website to MargulfFoundation.org. Even more importantly than finding out about us there you will see all of our learning environments and talent grantees who are the ones who are really doing they Incredible work. So that's the place to stop.
And if our heart was full when we started, it's like it's bursting. Now this conversation. Thank you, Liz, so much.
Thank you both Jon, Becky. I hope that this is the beginning of many conversations and hopefully like some playing together some collaboration, I was gonna say,
Can I manifest a hug in real life at some
favorite stay in Colorado?
It's true,
Liz. Keep going. Friends. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as we did. And thank you for just making this funders mindset series, something of epic proportions. We just appreciate you and everyone who's come in and added to this conversation. Thank you. You wonder if a human being thank you
both very much. This is amazing.
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