Events Calendar

Back in 2024, before the elections, Marguerite Casey Foundation engaged in scenario planning exercises with their stakeholders to envision various future administrations. The result was, among other things, clarity, agility, and steadiness in responding to today’s attacks on communities and philanthropy, with a continued focus on the organization’s values and impact in facing the current crises. Join us for a conversation on how foundations can prepare to be courageous now and in the future, and what that looks like in terms of supporting nonprofit partners working on community organizing and advancing a vibrant multiracial democracy.

Join us for a virtual gathering to discuss technology and software, share what you’re seeing in your own work and crowdsource ideas from your fellow peers across the state. This will be an open space for discussion so please bring your questions, concerns and highlights from your own work to share with the group. As we continue our collective equity journey, we invite you to bring forward equity-related topics to our roundtables throughout the year. This conversation is open to all CMF members whether your work touches technology, you have a dedicated technology role or you just want to pick up a few tips from our technology experts.

Join your philanthropic peers as we unpack the suite of federal and state proposed changes to education funding. While federal lawmakers consider slashing billions of dollars from the federal education budget, Michigan policymakers have proposed significant changes to education funding, e.g., eliminating dedicated out-of-school time funding, eliminating dedicated funding streams for some vulnerable student groups, like English Learners and rural and isolated districts, plus proposed cuts to our two major research universities who serve as economic engines for the state. This, while Michigan’s students lag in academic achievement.

Connect with your foundation finance peers to learn about all things finance. During this program, participants will have the opportunity to spend some time discussing "Understanding Foundation KPIs" with a member from the firm of DoerenMayhew. We will then discuss other finance and operations topics that are of interest to the group.

Join your Latinx Affinity Network (LAN) colleagues and enjoy your lunch and Cafecito in this virtual gathering. We'll take time to connect and make space to focus on ways to support our LAN community of philanthropy and beyond. 

Join us for this virtual gathering for staff and trustees interested in public policy to share what you’re seeing in your own work and crowdsource ideas from your peers across the state. This will be an open space for discussion, so please bring your questions, concerns and highlights from your own work to share with the group. This conversation is open to all CMF members, whether your work touches policy or you have a dedicated policy role.

Join us for this virtual gathering for programming staff to share what you’re seeing in your own work and crowdsource ideas from your peers across the state. This will be an open space for discussion, so please bring your questions, concerns and highlights from your own work to share with the group.

Join your Michigan philanthropy peers and other stakeholders involved in housing work across the state. We hope to continue the conversation from the April 22 CMF and OFL hosted in-person Housing Summit. This will be an opportunity to share, hear, and learn from peers about cross-sector partnerships and innovative approaches being used to address Michigan's housing shortage and discuss needed policy changes. Please join us in this important conversation to hear lessons learned, deepen partnerships, and build coalitions along with policy opportunities to inform future work in addressing housing needs of Michiganders.

We will examine different approaches, including hiring dedicated philanthropic professionals and family members, and utilizing external advisors and consultants. You will learn how to align staffing strategies with your philanthropic goals, create a collaborative work environment, and ensure that the right expertise is in place to drive impact.

Join this highly interactive program alongside your Midwest colleagues to build your narrative skills and explore the power of storytelling—along with the risks of leaving certain stories untold. Through reflection-driven personal and organizational storytelling prompts and thoughtful discussion, you’ll gain practical takeaways on how philanthropic organizations can deepen trust and legacy through shared, human-centered stories.

Join your scholarship peers for this in-person gathering to network, learn and share best practices. This program is intended for all foundation staff who administer scholarship programs in their communities. Topics of discussion will include supporting high-priority students, scholarship displacement, leading practices in administration and more. Attendees will be invited to provide input on the program content via a survey that will be shared following registration.

Join us for this virtual gathering for communications staff to share what you’re seeing in your own work and crowdsource ideas from your peers across the state. We encourage you to bring any projects or campaigns in the works for an informal “show and tell” group discussion. This may include ongoing work, a new project or something on the horizon you’d like to ask your peers about. If you’d rather listen in you are welcome to do so, this is an open space for you to connect with your fellow communicators in our CMF community. This conversation is open to all CMF members whether your work touches communications or you have a dedicated communications role.