Korbett Mosesly sees equity work as two sides of the same coin. To Mosesly—a member of The Evergreen State College Foundation’s board of governors and chair of its Committee on Governors—one side of the coin represents personal learning and growth. The other side symbolizes policies, practices, and resource allocation. If a board focuses solely on policies and practices without allowing space for its members to learn, reflect, and have open conversations, he explains, the board may not develop the will to implement equitable practices and to look for opportunities to do more. If a board simply focuses on personal growth, it may not achieve institutional change. “Equity work has to have both those sides working to be able to move the needle forward,” he says.
Mosesly and Abby Kelso, the foundation’s executive director, are leading the board in efforts to advance equity by engaging in what Kelso calls “thoughtful, planful work” while being careful not to “let planning get in the way” of taking concrete actions. The board is taking a hard look at how typical governance and fundraising practices might inadvertently reinforce inequity. At the same time, it is imagining and implementing more equitable approaches, inspired by the work of organizations such as the Coalition of Communities of Color and the Government Alliance on Race and Equity.
As a result of its thoughtful planning and decisive action, the board has diversified its membership and implemented new ways to meet students’ needs and engage authentically with communities of color. The board has invited the college president to participate in conversations about equity, and the board’s work has influenced equity planning and practices across campus.
The Evolution of the Work
Although the board has long held equity and inclusion as important values, its equity work deepened in 2017 following student protests against racial injustice, which gained national media attention. “Our board responded to that challenging time at our institution by leaning in to learning more about our students and listening to their needs,” Kelso says.
This work led the board of governors to adopt a Commitment to Racial Equity Statement in April 2021. Through the statement, the board pledges to support its increasingly diverse student population’s academic success and work toward eliminating disparities, which it acknowledges “exist because institutions have failed to explicitly commit to actions that support racial equity.” The statement commits the board to promoting racial equity through new approaches to student aid programs, fundraising methods, board training programs focused on equity and inclusion, and board recruitment and governance practices.
At the same time that it adopted its Commitment to Racial Equity Statement last year, the board updated other supporting documents. For example, the statement of expectations for its individual board members now reflects a commitment to racial equity; each board member promises to “support the Foundation’s commitment to racial equity through my participation in the board, its committees, and my individual efforts as a board member.” In addition, the Committee on Governors, which Mosesly chairs and which recommends and orients new board members, updated its charter to explicitly commit to applying the principles of the racial equity statement to all its duties and responsibilities.
“That’s an example of how a policy can influence the people,” says Kelso. “You’re signaling before anyone even joins the board about where your values are and your priorities are.” In addition, Mosesly and the staff have partnered to intentionally seek out new board members who have already developed leadership skills in equity.
Today’s board of governors is more diverse and reflective of its community than the board of about seven years ago, when most board members were retired, independently wealthy or self-employed, and all board members identified as white. The board has also taken steps to become more welcoming for younger members, such as making the timing and length of board meetings more accessible to working adults and allowing members to attend meetings virtually. It also gives members grace and understanding if they need to take some time off from their duties to attend to major life events.
Ethical Storytelling
A major shift in the foundation’s approach is its framing of fundraising that was developed last year after Kelso read an essay on Community-Centric Fundraising’s website, in which a former beneficiary of a nonprofit described how staff used their story to gain support for the organization without regard for their personal well-being (see box on page 45). Kelso was struck by the essay and shared it with her team. They recognized that the essay raised issues about how they did their own work, and they embraced the opportunity to make changes.
“We realized that there were times where we were telling stories about our students in ways that actually were rein- forcing oppression,” Kelso says. In response, the team developed an Ethical Storytelling Compass, which guides storytelling that emphasizes student strengths, successes, and resilience, rather than deficits and barriers. Their new model is grounded in consent. Storytellers inform students of where they will share the stories and who might see them. The process is transparent and builds trust; for example, a storyteller shares a draft of the story with the student before it is made public. Storytellers position students as the heroes of their own stories, rather than a traditional fundraising model that portrays the donor as the hero and the student as a passive recipient. Storytellers treat any sensitive information with caution and care. Staff members have presented ethical storytelling workshops to the board and also to students, staff, and faculty at an all-campus equity symposium sponsored by the college’s Inclusive Excellence and Student Success division.
Advice for Board Members Working to Advance Equity
1. Learn about the equity work other colleges and organizations are doing. The Resources that Have Informed The Evergreen State College Foundation’s Equity Work lists some of the resources that have inspired and guided the board of governors’ equity work. Mosesly says these resources have helped the board find a “north star direction” and have also given the board ideas for “doable actions.” It may be particularly helpful to learn what others in your own region are doing. “We’re in this thing together,” says Mosesly.
2. Cultivate relationships with potential board members, donors, and community members from different communities early. Mosesly recalls attending a lunch with other Black leaders from the area before he joined the board of governors. He had a chance to start talking and building relationships with the Evergreen State College’s president and advancement staff, and that got him excited about serving the college. “The relationship matters,” Mosesly says. “It’s important to do that work and build relationships with different communities and before ‘the ask.’”
3. Support new board members. As a new board member, Mosesly said he sometimes felt unsure about rules and protocols in board meetings. He has appreciated having “coaching and support in a way that is really strength- based and empowering.” Board committees in charge of recruiting and orienting new members can clearly outline responsibilities for new members and ask them what kinds of support they need. This will help new members participate and contribute at their fullest potential.
4. Work on getting board members to agree about what to do to advance equity but allow them to have their own reasons for why. Kelso attributes this idea to philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah. Many board members will be inspired to pursue equity work because of the moral imperative, but some may be motivated by the business case that strong equity work will help attract funding from major foundations. Kelso says that it is most important to get people on the same page about what needs to be done.
5. Question “business as usual” and respect and listen to students to find new ways forward. The board has seriously examined which typical governance and fundraising practices may be hindering equity. Its efforts to be more equitable depend on showing respect for students and listening to them to understand and serve their needs.
6. Invite college leadership to participate in equity conversations along with the board. This can help align the equity priorities of administrators and board members at both the college and the foundation and create a greater impact across campus.
Success for All Students
Many of the steps the board has taken to advance equity focus on meeting student needs. “We’re thinking holistically about what it means to support excellence across the campus for all students,” says Mosesly.
Like most foundations, The Evergreen State College Foundation has a strong focus on student aid. Mosesly and Kelso have been leading the board and campus partners in discussions about how to truly meet students’ needs—for example by structuring scholarships to support students throughout their academic careers. Scholarships from the Evergreen Scholarship Fund were formerly one-time awards for first-year students, but that changed in the 2014–15 academic year. The scholarships are now renewable each year until graduation, making it easier for students to complete their degrees. The scholarship amount increases from $2,000 to $3,000 per year after the student’s second year.
In addition, the foundation and its board have been working with the college to find comprehensive ways to support students from low-income backgrounds. Nearly half of Evergreen undergraduate students receive Pell grants, compared with about one-third of students nationwide, according to recent federal statistics. In 2016, Evergreen parents established a Student Emergency Fund, which provides rapid microgrants to students facing unexpected emergencies, such as car repairs, health issues, or food insecurity. The fund grew dramatically during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the foundation put additional resources toward fundraising, and donors stepped up to the challenge. In the 2020–21 academic year, the fund awarded microgrants totaling $174,010 to 253 students, compared with $36,961 to 71 students in 2018–19, a 471 percent increase. The foundation is now in the early stages of working with a donor to create a permanent endowment for the fund.
The foundation also raised funds to help the college establish a Basic Needs Advocacy and Resource Center after two-thirds of Evergreen students responding to a Hope Center Survey in fall 2020 reported experiencing one or more forms of basic needs insecurity. Students can now visit the center to obtain shelf-stable food, hygiene items, clothing, books, and personal protective equipment, and also receive support in applying for emergency funding.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on Evergreen students, many of whom are essential workers and also parents. To support them, the foundation raised funds to support the college’s childcare center and also worked with a donor to provide access to COVID-19 tests when they were in short supply. This summer, using funds the foundation raised, the college will provide faculty training focused on addressing the student mental health issues that the pandemic has exacerbated.
“There has been significant trauma over the last couple of years,” says Mosesly. “Colleges—particularly colleges like Evergreen that really put a premium on small group connections and intimate learning environments—play a significant role to help support the health of the whole student.” He continues, “Coming out of COVID, that’s a significant responsibility. I think that foundations have to be considering that.”
Ethical Storytelling Compass
- The Advancement Team Values of Community and Teamwork are woven throughout our storytelling efforts, acknowledging the ways each team member touches the storytelling process, and the ways our community receives the stories we tell.
- Our storytelling highlights and celebrates student success and academic achievement as its primary purpose.
- Our storytelling is student-led, student-centered, and representational of Evergreen’s diverse student body.
- Our processes for student participation in Advancement’s work are mindful and equity based.
- Our collaborative work with students is led with transparency, ensuring a strong foundation of trust is established in our student relationships.
- We exercise care surrounding ‘vulnerable information’ students may share, including but not limited to: disclosure of medical and/or health-related information, documentation status/citizenship information, legal record(s), mention of specific individuals (other than the student) by name, government assistance received, income challenges, housing status, trauma(s) experienced, and more.
- Consent is at the forefront of our collaborations with students, requiring written consent to disseminate the information gathered in all possible formats (snapshots, web presence, email, direct mail, reports, and misc. donor relations communications), and written acknowledgement of the lifespan of stories generated.
- We are mindful of the power dynamics (financial, racial, gender, age, and others) at play between students and donors in our collaborative efforts to deliver illustrations of impact.
- We practice the use of this Ethical Storytelling Compass in our collaborative work with students, while maintaining a spirit of learning and curiosity. We collectively acknowledge this document and our team’s work surrounding Ethical Storytelling will be ever-evolving and iterative.
Authentic Community Engagement
Advancing equity meaningfully depends on building authentic, deep relationships with communities. A long-standing effort at Evergreen provides such a model of authentic engagement. Throughout its 50-year history, Evergreen has honored Indigenous worldviews and cultural and traditional ways of knowing, stemming from the work of founding faculty member and Lummi Tribal Elder Mary Ellen Hillaire, who established the college’s Native and Indigenous Studies program. The college now also hosts an undergraduate Native Pathways program and the nation’s only Master of Public Administration program with a concentration in tribal governance. In addition, Evergreen has a vice president-level position for tribal relations, arts, and cultures.
In 1995, Hillaire’s vision for a facility for intercultural teaching and learning became a reality when the “House of Welcome,” Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, opened on campus. Built in partnership with Northwest tribes, the Longhouse mission is “to promote Indigenous arts and cultures through education, cultural preservation, creative expression, and economic development.” The Longhouse staff ’s partnership with the foundation is strong and mutually supportive. Rather than raising money on behalf of the Longhouse, the foundation partners closely with Kara Briggs, the college’s vice president for tribal relations, arts, and cultures, and the Longhouse staff to raise funds. They are currently in the midst of a comprehensive fundraising campaign and have raised $29.7 million so far, $4.6 million of which will support the Longhouse.
Evergreen will also serve as a national model and grantmaker for campuses looking to establish similar Native arts programs, cultivate Indigenous leadership and strong community connections, and engage in meaningful partnership work. Its new SIAM (Supporting Indigenous Arts Mastery) program will provide renewable grants of up to $30,000 per institution, per year, to support colleges and universities working with Tribal partners to support cultural visual arts.
Resources that Have Informed The Evergreen State College Foundation’s Equity Work
“7 Ways to Tell Stories Ethically: The Journey from Exploited Program Participant to Empowered Storyteller”
By Nel Taylor
Community-Centric Fundraising
https://communitycentricfundraising.org/2021/01/06/7-ways-to-tell-stories-ethically-the-journey-from-exploited-program-participant-to-empowered-storyteller
Protocol for Culturally Responsive Organizations
Coalition of Communities of Color
https://www.coalitioncommunitiescolor.org/research-and-publications/protocolfororgs
Racial Equity Toolkit
Government Alliance on Race and Equity
https://racialequityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/GARE-Racial_Equity_Toolkit.pdf
Looking Forward
Some foundations may be concerned that turning away from traditional fundraising practices to become more equitable could hurt the bottom line. But Evergreen has found the opposite to be true. Kelso says that as the foundation has pursued more just, equitable practices, its fundraising has become increasingly successful as donors respond positively to the foundation’s leadership. For example, this year’s fundraising gala, the first to fully incorporate ethical storytelling, raised $433,000, surpassing the foundation’s $300,000 goal and shattering the gala’s previous fundraising record of $315,000 by 37 percent.
Mosesly and Kelso stress that equity work is an iterative process; the board is still learning and is committed to continuing to make changes to move closer to true equity, with support from leaders across campus. “Change takes time but being able to set that direction and have that encouragement and have that staff support has really been key to driving it,” says Mosesly. “It’s getting more and more traction every year.”
Kelso agrees. “By moving through challenges together with integrity and care,” she says, “our board has come out stronger.” She adds, “It’s been a gift to do this work together.”
Emily Schuster is a freelance writer and editor based in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is the former co-editor-in-chief of Liberal Education and the former editor of Diversity & Democracy, both publications of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
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