Community-Building Through Trust-Based Philanthropy

Have you ever stood in a thicket of bamboo?

It seems impenetrable, like a green curtain that you could disappear behind so long as you were prepared to navigate a dense tangle of stalks and spears bound together by a unique root structure – a rhizome – that makes bamboo one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet.  While the stalks soar upwards, the rhizome grows horizontally beneath the soil in a rapid and unpredictable fashion, serving as a communication network that connects towering thickets to each other and to the rest of the surrounding forests in ways humans are only beginning to understand.

It is no wonder that social theorists Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari took the concept of the rhizome to describe a revolutionary theory of social organization. Like a bamboo thicket, a rhizomic community spreads horizontally, without hierarchy, and its roots give rise to nodes and connections to like-minded communities. Unlike traditional structures, rhizomes possess unparalleled flexibility. They foster a harmonious, horizontally-structured network, enabling fluid growth and adaptability.

So what, then, is rhizōma?
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rhizome (n.)

1832, in botany, "a stem of root-like appearance," from Modern Latin rhizoma, from Greek rhizōma "mass of tree roots," from rhizoun "cause to strike root, root into the ground, plant," from rhiza "root" (which is probably from PIE root *wrād- "branch, root"). Also in English in Modern Latin form rhizoma. Related: Rhizomic.
(Source: https://www.etymonline.com/word/rhizome)

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Rhizōma is the living narrative of the growth and development of EMA Foundation’s impact network of partners. It aims to fill a critical gap by building a broadcast network for small nonprofit organizations to build awareness and bring more people into their work. It is a vibrant tapestry of stories of courage, resilience, and healing from places like Safeplace International’s Dream Academy and  Haa Tóoch Lichéesh. It is a curated collection of stories of hope and promise from places like Children of the Forest. 

Rhizōma is a space to learn about the underlying “why” that drives EMA and our partners, to develop empathy with the human beings behind the logos and statistics, and to consider how you might get more directly involved.

The stories that live on rhizōma are an invitation to join our community and become part of a global network. We envision rhizōma as a nexus for learning, where educators, learners, funders, and individuals from all walks of life connect with each other through diverse narratives, live events, and transformative courses designed to move people beyond donations to deeper empathy and action in support of equity.  

You will hear conversations about the movement to decolonize philanthropy. You can take interactive courses from our growing Learning Center to dive deeper into the underlying issues driving the work of our partners. You will discover new and critical perspectives from young people as part of our commitment to youth agency, which we consider essential to any progress towards solutions to the issues that dominate current headlines.

For our partners and other value-aligned organizations, rhizōma provides a crucial space for networking and collaboration. Through convenings, calls for stories, and co-designed initiatives with partners and their networks, our aim is to help the rhizome grow organically. As the rhizōme grows, the thickets will converge into a thriving forest – a powerful network dedicated to equity and the growth of more just systems.

We invite you to dive into the thicket and join us for new stories every week that will move you towards empathy and action.

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We understand philanthropy, in a broad sense, to be a tool for driving positive social change. But does philanthropy itself need to change? 

Trust-based philanthropy is a relatively new practice offering an alternative to traditional philanthropy. The core objective is to build more equitable relationships between funders and nonprofits. 

Decision Making

In traditional philanthropy structures, foundation leaders and board members are the primary decision makers. Financial decisions are driven by the board’s interest in building or maintaining wealth. The individuals in leadership and board positions are considered the “experts” who assess funding opportunities to avoid risk and keep payouts low. 

Trust-based philanthropy instead promotes inclusive decision making, involving both foundation and nonprofit staff. This model views the nonprofit staff and the communities it serves as the “experts,” since those are the people closest to the issues on the ground. Trust-based funders emphasize building close relationships to their grantees in order to best understand their needs; those needs then guide decision making. 

Funding

Traditional grants are usually restricted to specific projects or programs, with strict timelines and objectives. This means that the funder decides how and when the money will be spent, decisions that often come from the top down without feedback from the grantee. Because of these restrictions, most grants are oriented toward short-term goals. Grant renewals or long-term funding are much more difficult for nonprofits to obtain.

Trust-based philanthropy prioritizes unrestricted and multi-year funding. This gives nonprofits the agency to allocate the funding according to their own needs and priorities. These funds are also not restricted only to projects or programs, but can be used for overhead costs such as rent, salaries, and other essential expenses. This funding approach encourages long-term relationships between funders and nonprofit organizations, which promotes stability and security for nonprofits to tackle larger issues.

Impact Metrics

Historically, acceptable metrics to demonstrate the impact of funding have been extremely limited. Impact metrics are traditionally quantitative, focusing on measurable outcomes and numeric indicators. While these numbers can be helpful, and are especially important to donors and advisory boards, they often fail to convey the human impact of the investment. 

Expanding the scope of impact metrics, trust-based foundations and the nonprofits they support often report in both quantitative and qualitative metrics relevant to their mission. Qualitative metrics can be more personal, shining light on the human impact of funding. They also allow for a more nuanced conversation about social impact and how it looks in different contexts.

Culture

The predominant focus of traditional philanthropy culture is on compliance and reporting. Relationships are considered to be transactional; extensive applications are required to facilitate a partnership, and these agreements are maintained by equally rigid reporting processes. Avoiding risk and proving impact are the goal outcomes, and all dynamics exist to ensure them. 

The culture in trust-based philanthropy is more concerned with learning opportunities. Relationships are personal and meaningful. Partnerships are viewed as opportunities for collaboration and shared learning, and they are upheld through systems of mutual accountability. 

While the missions of two different philanthropic organizations may be similar, their funding approach marks a vital difference in the grantee experience, and often the funding outcomes. As more organizations move to a trust-based model, work becomes more values-driven, nonprofit partners feel better seen and heard, and the potential for positive social change only grows. 

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In 2018, a new chapter began for EMA Foundation as Bill Meyer, a lifelong educator and Connie Adler’s son, stepped into the role of Executive Director. 

Bill's teaching career began in 1992 at the Webster Magnet School in St. Paul, Minnesota, but it was in his second job as a History/American Studies Teacher at Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island, that his philosophy took shape. His friendship with his colleague Thierry Gustave birthed a shared dream: an "un-school" where learners, unburdened by hierarchy and institutional constraints, could explore freely in community. This vision echoed EMA's trust-based approach to philanthropy and would ultimately become the basis for rhizōma, EMA’s learning platform.

In 2003, Bill moved to Marin Academy in San Rafael, California, where he taught History and English and also co-created innovative programs like MA’s Conference on Democracy and the Transdisciplinary Leadership Program (TLP). His experiences teaching U.S. History for nearly thirty years unveiled the stark realities of structural injustices, compelling him to champion stakeholder-based partnerships that shifted power and resources to historically marginalized groups. The TLP course he taught focused on Migration and the Refugee Crisis, which  influenced EMA’s future work in supporting migration-based organizations such as Lighthouse Relief, Children of the Forest, SafePlace International, and In-Sight Collaborative. 

In 2020, as the world grappled with COVID, social isolation, and racial inequity, Bill wondered how he could leverage his network to create momentum for a different approach to the problems existing systems couldn’t solve.

"As I thought about the systems that had produced the murder of George Floyd and the chaos of the COVID response and put it all in the context of what I had learned—and really unlearned—teaching U.S. History, it seemed clear: A ‘return to normal’ was the wrong goal. There were signs everywhere that existing systems—some by design, some by decay—were not serving the interests of much of the world. The gift of a career in teaching is that I met so many incredible thinkers, most of whom are former students, and so I wondered: How could I activate my network with intent to see if we could collaborate to build infrastructure for more equitable systems?”

An opportunity to pilot new approaches came later that summer when EMA partner CAFILM Education (formerly CFI Education) reached out for assistance with exploring options for moving programming online during the pandemic. Bill assembled a dedicated team of seven college students and his former colleague Thierry Gustave to craft "CFI Education Reimagined." Through interviews with 38 stakeholders from 21 global organizations, EMA provided recommendations that helped CAFILM Education conceptualize their next steps, and the initiative culminated in a successful $100K match campaign. It also provided proof of concept of EMA’s belief that young people are not only ready to handle significant responsibility, but also that they could produce professional-quality results.