The Council on Foundations (CoF) held their Annual Conference in Seattle, WA April 29 – May 1, 2007. Greengrants was proud to have our China Advisory Board Coordinator, Wen Bo, come from Beijing to take part in the conference and speak on a panel on Environmental Grantmaking in China. We were thrilled by the opportunity to have Wen Bo share his experiences as an environmental grantmaker on the ground with the CoF membership. The following are Wen Bo’s reflections on the conference as a whole.
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The CoF conference to me is more of a celebration than a conference. The sizable event served as a reminder of the American culture of giving. While most of the foundation people gathered in Seattle were busy with various worthy causes everyday, this occasion offered an opportunity for sharing and learning.
I might well be the first mainland Chinese person to ever directly participate at a CoF conference. And, for sure, the scope and variety of foundations impressed me, coming from a place where foundations are quite limited. Often in the Chinese media back home, there are reports on how some American rich people donated most of their wealth for a social cause, rather than giving it to their children. To my understanding, such a move would need more than just generosity, but rather a culture, system, policy and mature society which encourages it.
Most of my time at the conference was spent with environmental sessions, particularly those with Environmental Grantmakers Association. There seems to be a growing interest in environmental efforts in countries like China, but of course, there could be a lot more attention given to environmental challenges beyond the U.S.
I was grateful to Greengrants’ staff during this occasion for their ceaseless efforts in reaching out to the participants. Though this conference is not designed for fundraising, Greengrants has done well in presenting the fact that there is a world outside America which should not be neglected. You can not save the world by just saving America.
The few international foundations were easily absorbed by the large crowd of U.S. counterparts. If there could be more international foundations, this event could be truly global. And I believe one endeavor this conference could probably do well in planning is exporting the American culture of philanthropy.