Advancing Racial Equity In Philanthropy, Non-Profit, and Fundraising
2020 Breakin' It Down Virtual workshop series
MARK YOUR CALENDARS for Friday, October 9, 16, 23, and 30!
We're really excited! Ttis year, we've created a Virtual Workshop Series which will be facilitated by BID Planning Committee members in response to our recent call. The 2020 BID Virtual Workshop Series will blend our normal focus on racial equity and professional career development as well as focusing on the challenges of the moment.
The live workshops will be held on Fridays from 10:00 am to 11:30 am Central Standard Time, starting October 9, 2020 and running through October 30, 2020. All workshops will include presentations and conversations. Our popular session "Speed Networking with Funders" will cap the Virtual Workshop Series, with digital tables for up to 15 funders. Registered participations will be able to select up to three 20-minute sessions from the digital tables, which will be marked with the funder's areas of interest.
Conference Fee
Price for 2020 Breakin' It Down Workshop Series registration has been reduced in the virtual environment:
- Series Bundle: $15. Includes 10/23 workshop and Speed Networking with Funders Registration Deadline: 6 pm, October 21, 2020 EXTENDED
- Single Workshop: $5
- October 9 Workshop. Registration Deadline: 6 pm, October 6, 2020 CLOSED
-October 16 Workshop. Registration Deadline: 6 pm pm, October 12, 2020 CLOSED
- October 23 Workshop. Registration Deadline: 6 pm pm, October 21, 2020 CLOSED
- Speed Networking with Funders: $15. Registration Deadline: 6 pm, October 29, 2020 CLOSED
Need-based conference scholarship for nonprofit organizations professionals and students
Breakin' It Down will be sponsoring need-based scholarships for 20 nonprofit professionals and students to attend the 2020 Breakin' It Down Virtual Workshop Series and Speed Networking with Funders. Anyone who is a nonprofit fund development professional or student in the Chicago area is welcome to apply. We especially encourage people from an under-represented group - including people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ people, and people with disabilities - to apply. Applications will be accepted until 8 pm on October 26.
We hope you will spread the help us spread the word and make plans to join us!
*Please note that agenda and speakers are subject to change.
WHAT PEOPLE SAID ABOUT BID
"Learned some new things and met some great people at Breakin' It Down Chicago. I look forward to implementing strategies in Doris & Clara Community Initiative and staying connected with the people I met.
Thankful for opportunity."
- Cheronda Everett
2019 BID Scholarship Recipient
PAMELA GRAVES
Marketing and Communications Manager
Chicago Community Loan Fund
Pamela Graves joined CCLF in 2018 as Marketing and Communications Associate and was promoted in 2019 to Marketing and Communications Manager. In this role, Pam directs the planning, development, and implementation of CCLF’s branding which includes marketing/communications, media relations, public policy and public relations activities.Prior to joining CCLF, Pam served as Editorial Director of three industry print and online trade magazines, and held positions of writing, editorial, print production, design, digital development, special events, and video development for a diverse range of corporations including MetLife Insurance, the Pritzker family’s Marmon Group, greeting card publisher Recycled Paper Greetings, and Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, one of the state of Illinois’ largest pension funds.Pam holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a Master’s degree in Communications from DePaul University. She is an active volunteer with several community organizations, including the Sustainable Furnishings Council and the Imani Pearls Community Development Foundation.
ALEJANDRA IBAÑEZ
Program Officer - Woods Fund Chicago
Affinity Group: Chicago Latinos in Philanthropy (CLIP)
Alejandra is a Program Officer at Woods Fund Chicago. Prior to her arrival at Woods Fund, she served as the Program Officer at the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, managing the Foundation’s multi-million dollar Communityworks endowment grant and community program. She managed the Foundation’s largest scholarship program and successfully developed the Foundation’s Nonprofit Excellence program, helping to build the capacity and coordination of its local nonprofit sector.
Before entering the philanthropic sector, Alejandra served as the Executive Director of Pilsen Alliance, a social justice organization committed to developing grassroots leadership in Pilsen and neighboring working-class, immigrant communities in Chicago’s Lower West Side. Alejandra began her community organizing work in Chicago’s West Town community in the early 1990s, advocating and organizing alongside neighborhood leaders to elevate their voices and power through local school councils, and then later in her role as Chief of Staff to Sonia Silva, the first Latina state representative in the Illinois House of Representatives.
Alejandra was born in Chile and moved to the United States with her family in the 1970s. After spending most of her childhood on the East Coast, Alejandra and her family moved to Chicago in the late 1980s and continue to call it home. She holds a Masters in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from DePaul University.
DEIDRA SOMERVILLE, PhD, MSW
Director, Research and Sponsored Programs - Roosevelt University
Affinity Group: Blacks In Development (BID)
Deidra Somerville is a mother, scholar and healer whose work is intentional in coop development, healing from trauma, and advancing decolonized principles and practices in organizational spaces. Her workshop titled, “The Master’s Tools Will Not Dismantle the Master’s House: Organizations As Tools for Community Empowerment”, presented at the Society Community Research in Action launched her current interest in developing strategies that support structural change within nonprofits serving communities. Seminars taught at Forefront, the Breakin' It Down Conference, and Axelson Center have further evolved her thinking and work around the ways that structural oppression and racism impede the work of nonprofit organizations. Her dissertation work, examining the strategies and networks of Black maternal activists in Chicago, has given her insight into the challenges, opportunities, and possibilities for communities to use disruptive practices while working with established systems to improve the quality of life in communities.
Deidra has worked as a fundraiser for more than 25 years and currently works as a grant and research administrator at Roosevelt University.
TEKLA SYERS
Consultant - Syers TA Consulting
Affinity Group: Blacks In Development (BID)
Tekla Syers is a semi-retired consultant to nonprofit organizations, providing fund development, strategic planning, and board development services to education, religious, and social service organizations. Prior to consulting, Syers served as vice president of the Institute of Food Technologists Foundation. Syers began her nonprofit career with youth service organizations, moving from community organizer to director of educational services, and on to director of development. She is a licensed teacher at her church. She currently serves on the board of Meditative Life Ministries and the community advisory board of the University of Chicago LUCENT Program.
Syers is a smitten grandmother and an avid student and teacher of metaphysics.
GIL ZAMORA
Director of Development - Mujeres Latinas en Acción
Affinity Group: Latinos in Development (LID)
Originally from California, Gil has a wealth of experience in the nonprofit sector, beginning at seventeen years-old when he started as an AmeriCorps Member at Jumpstart San Francisco. Since then, Gil has overseen programs, grant management, directing events, as well as planning, marketing, and executing successful fundraising campaigns. Previously, Gil was at HealthConnect One, a national nonprofit that works to address racial and social inequity in maternal and child health by establishing and sustaining community health worker programs across the country.
Gil moved to Chicago to pursue his Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Roosevelt University, which he completed in 2010. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Nonprofit Administration at North Park University, where he just completed his Certificate in Fundraising Management. He recently had poetry and prose published in literary journals, including Coe Review, Carnival and Inlandia Journal. Gil is a dedicated Tio to his nieces and nephew. He has a passion for music, good coffee, and fitness, especially running.
Gil strongly believes that the programming and services offered is vital to women and their families in Chicago. He is especially motivated by the organization’s commitment to Latina leadership development, believing that in the current national political landscape, advocating for real change in our communities will require strong, vocal leaders and that representation truly does matter.