New Sources

In my last entry I wrote that I emailed Sean Stannard-Stockton from the philanthropy blog Tactical Philanthropy to ask about venture philanthropy. He was kind enough to get right back to me with some organizations I should check out. Here's his email:

I think the best thing for you to do is explore the websites of Social Venture Partners - Seattle, Social Venture Partners - International and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. All of them are at the forefront of venture philanthropy. You can also list to my podcast with Paul Shoemaker, the president of Social Venture Partners - Seattle.

He also recommended that I try contacting Paul Shoemaker. A few days later Sean emailed me again and said he read this blog, which was I'm kind of embarrassed about because my blog is a bit of a mess.

Reaching out to Sean has been a relevatory experience. As a journalist I have to contact people all the time. Some are friendly, most are professional, and a small minority would rather not speak with me. Usually the relationship is I am the journalist - I call and ask my questions - and the experts/subjects answer my questions tell me their stories. And then I write the story and I usually don't talk to the people again.

In class my professors always talk about networks, the interconnectivity of the web, and the community there. About how it's no longer just the journalist producing news and the reader consuming. And I think I'm starting not only to understand that, but also experience it.