Business Commons^™

Defining Regenerative Business Through The Context Of Place: A Case Study West Michigan Businesses, Aislinn Teachout, Aislinn Teachout

Masters Theses

This study builds upon existing scholarly literature on regenerative design and regenerative sustainability by relating the framework to existing West Michigan businesses and their place-specific practices. Applying concepts from those more developed fields to business sustainability, this paper contributes to the still emerging field of regenerative business by proposing a comprehensive definition of regenerative business. The definition is then applied to three businesses in a case study format to highlight regenerative business practices. While none of the businesses highlighted claim to be regenerative, all have examples of practices that demonstrate regenerative action and enhance the West Michigan community.

By defining …

More Than Listening: Harnessing The Power Of Feedback To Drive Collaborative Learning, Clare Nolan, Kim Ammann Howard, Kelley D. Gulley, Elizabeth Gonzalez

The Foundation Review

Foundations can and should do a better job of gathering feedback from and learning with both grantees and the communities they seek to serve. This type of collaborative learning has the potential to inform and strengthen foundation strategy, grantmaking practices, evaluation, and communications. Gathering meaningful input is difficult, however, given power dynamics between foundations and those they support. Even when authentic input has been gathered, it can be difficult to apply insights to ongoing work.

What does it look like for a foundation to get feedback from its grantee and community stakeholders? Much of the feedback discussions taking place in …

A New Tool For New Times? Using Geographic Information Systems In Foundations And Other Nonprofit Organizations, Jeffrey L. Brudney, Christopher R. Prentice

The Foundation Review

The literature on nonprofit organizations exhorts them to understand and develop their communities’ strengths and capacities. Yet, identifying those communities, appreciating the conditions that affect them, and integrating organizational stakeholders can pose difficulties for any nonprofit, including foundations.

This article examines how a tool relatively new to nonprofits — geographic information systems — can be used to support community building by bringing together different stakeholders. A geographic information system is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data, thus allowing an organization to map its community and share that visualization with its stakeholders.

This article …

Activating The Power Of Place: A Case Study Of Market Creek, Elizabeth Castillo, Angela Titus

The Foundation Review

This article tells the story of a placed-based initiative to develop well-being and wealth in the historically underserved Diamond Neighborhood in San Diego, and discusses the place-based philosophy of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation and the foundation’s motivation for place-based work.

Its theory of change is presented through examples, along with the entry points the foundation chose for engagement and how it developed community capacity to engage effectively in this change work.

The article also discusses plans to transition ownership to the Diamond Neighborhood community when the foundation sunsets in 2030.

Participatory Decision-Making In Contested Societies: Examples From The Field Of Community Philanthropy, Avila Kilmurray

The Foundation Review

This article examines participatory, placebased philanthropy in two locations, Northern Ireland and Palestine, drawing on the work of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland’s Fair Share Programme and the Dalia Association’s Village Decides initiative.

The article considers the rationale for a participatory grantmaking approach as well as the manner in which local communities and residents experienced the methodology, and describes and evaluates the role com-munity philanthropy org-anizations played in providing an important added-value dimension to traditional grantmaking.

The fact that both Northern Ireland and Palestine are politically contested societies is factored into the analysis presented by the author, who conducted …

Enabling Community And Trust: Shared Leadership For Collective Creativity, Mohammed Mohammed, Kurian Thomas

The Foundation Review

The strength of nonprofit organizations comes from well-developed human connections that spur productive collaboration across levels of hierarchy. This article, exploring the experience of the Fetzer Institute, demonstrates that workplace creativity is best fostered if it is matched by a style of leadership that invites a wider spectrum of internal actors to actively participate.

While acknowledging the significance of shared leadership, this article does not necessarily advocate for the dissolution of hierarchy; rather, it points out that the key lies in finding the sweet spot between organizational structure and a creative community.

The article describes tools that are particularly effective …

Lessons In Building A Better Community, One Voice At A Time, Erica Wood

The Foundation Review

· By 2035 there will be an estimated 1.2 million new jobs and 900,000 new households in the San Francisco Bay Area (Association of Bay Area Governments, n.d.); without planning and management, this population increase will result in rising air pollution levels, climate change, escalating cost of living, increasing traffic, and less green space.

· Silicon Valley Community Foundation partnered with area nonprofits and government agencies on a two-year initiative, Envision Bay Area, to engage residents and community leaders in conversations about growth.

· At a series of 10 public forums more than 800 participants came together, including those who …