CLUB NEWS
The Power of Community and Inclusion MAF’s work helps build strong relationships and cultivates a broader understanding of each communities’ needs.
T
he Webster-Merriam Dictionary defines community as “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interest and goals.” The Multnomah Athletic Foundation defines community more broadly by embracing the power of inclusion — a feeling of fellowship developed by sharing common attitudes, interests and goals strengthened by our willingness to invite others to the conversation, listen deeply and amplify voices different than our own.
Action means regularly reviewing the foundation’s inclusion practices and sharing decision-making processes with grant partners and scholarship recipients. Cultivated relationships and trust in its grant partners made it an easy decision to relax the use of the grant funding — expanding it from specific programs to general use. This
The Multnomah Athletic Foundation is powered by people, and their relationships form a community that is willing to be coached and learn. A vital component of the group is Multnomah Athletic Club members, who share the foundation’s belief that youth deserve the opportunity to play, learn, succeed and thrive.
Embracing inclusion requires sharing resources, shifting the power of decisionmaking, creating access and deepening understanding. Current events have accelerated the need for meaningful inclusion and demands everyone to lean in to act. This year, foundation board members decided that they needed to do more to provide value to their community. The first step was developing an action plan that involves listening and educating themselves about the population they serve. They also committed to better understanding how each of their individual unconscious biases impacts the foundation’s practices and policies. The goal of their work is to remove barriers in MAF’s efforts and outreach so existing foundation funding can have a more equitable impact.
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shifted the decision-making power to the community to use the funding where it was needed most. Also, in response to the many changes impacting the lives of students during COVID-19, the board established a deferment policy for all eight scholarship programs and encouraged deferment without justification during these unexpected times. The foundation trusted students to make the decision best for them at this moment in time.
Scott, Aiden, Avery and Marian Dougherty
SEPTEMBER 2020
“We have such a variety of grant applications each year, and every organization that applies is serving a different intersection of youth,” says Scott Dougherty, MAF board co-chair and MAC member. “We are working continually to remove barriers to reach even more nonprofit organizations, and even more kids. Not everyone has the access and opportunities that we have, so becoming more understanding of those circumstances and how to support them is important.”
