Diana R. Sieger is the president of the Grand Rapids Commmunity Foundation. For more information, visit Diana's President's pages or view her biography.

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President's Point of View: The innovative Office of Foundation Liaison - a "must have" for the state of Michigan!

February 26, 2008

Two of my foundation colleagues had a brilliant idea in 2003 - well let’s hope that they have continued to have brilliant ideas since then! David Campbell, President of the McGregor Fund and David Egner, President of the Hudson Webber Foundation - both in the Detroit area - hatched the concept of creating an office that would act as a way to link the philanthropic community to state government. This idea led to the formation of the Michigan Office of Foundation Liaison (OFL) which serves as a unique, nonpartisan link between state government and the philanthropic community!

When the Office began its journey, Gov. Jennifer Granholm was just taking office in her first term as governor of Michigan and there was discussion about how to make this office decidedly non-partisan so the foundation community could objectively leverage their resources without the accusation of being too closely aligned to a particular political party. Through the Council of Michigan Foundations and the leadership of its president Rob Collier, funding was sought from the foundations around the state and the office was launched!

Now it is 2008 and there has been tremendous success I am happy to report. As a member of the Advisory Committee since the Office’s inception, I have watched the Director, Karen Aldridge Eason expertly manuever this ship and help inform state officials about the role of foundations (not an endless money pit!) and help educate foundations about state government (not just a mindless bureaucracy!). Maura Dewan is the program associate for the OFL and has helped this foundation with keeping us posted on a variety of potential public/private partnerships.

In fact, three years ago, the OFL organized a trip to New York City for a number of statewide foundation leaders to observe Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone and the Children’s Aid Society’s community schools. I went on this trip (there was a nor’easter and the flights were backed up - not a glamorous trip!) and the Grand Rapids contingent returned to affirm that a project that was already underway in our community would be well served to connect with the Children’s Aid Society as they worked with the school system - not separate from the district. This seemed to be a model that would work better in Grand Rapids.

That helped to spur on the development of the Kent School Services Network which was initiated in September 2006 and is growing in size and importance!

The OFL has been continually evaluated by Grand Valley State University’s Community Research Institute of the Johnson Center. The Council of Michigan Foundations has been a critical organization for the OFL and the office is highlighted on their website here.

The office is the first of its kind in the U.S. and many states and communities are interested in replication! In a recent report, the OFL points to the following as key to their success:

* a neutral space where partisanship issues are minimized;
* a place where knowledge is shared openly across sectors and geographic boundaries;
* a shortcut or detour around traditional institutional and bureaucratic blocks to partnership,
* a clearinghouse for ideas, concepts and models… and much, much more!

The OFL is generously supported by many of the following Michigan foundations - W.K. Kellogg, C.S. Mott, Kresge, Hudson-Webber, Skillman, McGregor, Steelcase, Frey, and some community foundations including the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. It is not financed by the state government. And . . it is time to seek future funding and my hope is that many more foundations in our state see the importance of this critical office and step to the plate with their support! It is particularly important now as it is a vulnerable time for our state!