PFC News Together 25 Ensemble: The joy and fulfillment of learning together André Vashist Oct 15, 2024 4 mins read News & Insights PFC News Together 25 Ensemble: The joy and fulfillment of learning together If you have ever put effort and care into making a great meal, you know even before serving it to your family and guests that it will be enjoyed. Yet, we still need to see the looks of satisfaction on their faces to really feel that sense of accomplishment. So much of the joy stemming from that feeling comes from sharing the feeling together. Drawing from my South Asian heritage, during our planning I used the analogy of making a good curry as an expression of what it takes to make a delicious dish enjoyed by many. Doing so requires assembling the right ingredients – location, partners, team and advisors; combining the right balance of spices – offering a variety of programming options to accommodate different tastes and objectives, and; the fortitude to bring it all together in a well-presented dish – managing logistics while offering an inviting environment and thoughtfully produced experience. For this year’s PFC conference, I can’t say I knew our recipe was going to be a hit. Yet it turns out that the meal we created together as a team, and as a community, was enjoyed by many this year. How do I know? The smiles. The conversations. The gratitude. The comments. The reflections on LinkedIn, the energy to keep working on shared issues, and the overall vibe of our collective conference experience. We shared a meaningful experience, and this is another wayfinding stop along our journey, together. There are lessons learned, feedback to consider, and (always!) room to improve. Planning for our 2026 national conference basically starts now. We are incorporating your feedback to refine our recipe to make our next meal even better than the last. For now, let’s honour this year’s conference – reflecting on all the knowledge, the dialogue and the collaboration that was nurtured during our time together. Here are ways to keep the momentum going: Photos, video recordings, and conference information have been captured on PFC’s website, along with conference session resources and content. For only a few more weeks, you can still access the conference Cvent App and Website to view your fellow-Attendee profiles, speakers, and sessions. If you are a grantmaking organization that is not already a PFC member, there is no better time to join PFC’s network than now! In the coming weeks, our Media Partner The Philanthropist Journal will be publishing more coverage from the conference If you haven’t already, we invite you to connect with us on LinkedIn – there are some great recaps and highlights from our community – and feel free to explore at #Together25Ensemble. *** In the spirit of philanthropy, the greatest investment we have made together is in our relationships. And, building trust in these relationships. Trust needs to not only be built, but to be nurtured, renewed and returned to – between so many of our different sectors, communities, and walks of life. I am committed to doing this together, with all of you. Within our theme that marked our 25th anniversary, a big takeaway for me is that we are a network that is maturing – in our mindset, in our pursuits. Looking ahead, as we continue to mature as a community and network, I feel the next step in our collective journey is to nurture these relationships with the approach of reciprocity. Our membership is driven to create spaces to hold different views, and to encourage and foster productive dialogue across the sector. But most importantly, what I heard from you in abundance is that our work together must lead us to focus on solutions. This is what the PFC network is all about. *** As was said in our closing plenary by Mohammed Hashim, from Canadian Race Relations Foundation: “The future is unwritten and belongs to you and I.” And, as Brian Jackson added, in his culture they don’t say goodbye, rather: “Until we meet again.” Share This Article Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
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