Advancing Partnership & Collaboration: More Critical than Ever #ForumCon18

*This post was originally published on the United Philanthropy Forum blog.

At the moment, the populations and principles for which the philanthropic community often fights are under daily attack. For my organization — perhaps for yours, too — this is a very familiar story.

Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) started in response to government indifference in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We find ourselves, more than 30 years later, back in a very similar place. But there is strength in numbers. At times like these, it is more important than ever to join with like-minded organizations to better protect the principles we hold dear and to stave off greater damage. For FCAA, that means collaborating with other philanthropy groups focused on the populations and interconnected issues impacting our work.

FCAA is the leading voice on philanthropic resources allocated to the global AIDS epidemic. But HIV/AIDS does not exist in a vacuum: structural factors and social issues greatly impact health access and equity and, as a result, the trajectory of the epidemic. These complex and often overlapping social determinants — poverty, race, gender identity, and mental health, to name a few — place people at disproportionate risk for HIV infection and impact access to care. FCAA is committed to identifying and engaging funders who work at these critical points of intersection.

That is why I was very eager to participate on the planning committee for the United Philanthropy Forum’s annual meeting. As a new Forum member, this was a way to meet other members, learn more about their work and find ways to collaborate.

Read the full post here.