Sophia Johnson, Feedback Labs | January 2024
We are thrilled to announce the Feedback Champions for this year! The Feedback Champions Fellowship proudly supports ten emerging leaders in the feedback field within the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors in the United States. These individuals are dedicated to enhancing their understanding of feedback and expanding their feedback practices. The selection process was highly competitive, and we are delighted to introduce a cohort of leaders who have demonstrated a strong commitment to actively listening and responding to feedback.
WHAT THE FELLOWSHIP ENTAILS
In collaboration with the Fund for Shared Insight, this year-long fellowship provides our Feedback Champions with exclusive access to the Feedback Crash Course, opportunities for speaking and writing, personalized one-on-one coaching, and complimentary tickets to the Feedback+Summit. Additionally, fellows have the chance to connect with a supportive community of feedback practitioners through a mentor and fellow champions. Furthermore, champions from the nonprofit sector will receive a generous $10,000 grant for their organization, covering their time commitment to the fellowship and enabling them to participate in related sector events, where they can share insights about feedback.
MEET THE FELLOWS
Our selection of Feedback Champions is driven by a commitment to diversify voices in the feedback space. All selected champions will be attending the Feedback+Denver Summit from May 15-17, 2024, providing an excellent opportunity for everyone to get to know them better.
Beth Campbell (she/her) – YMCA of Metro Atlanta
As the Manager of Strategic Impact at the Atlanta Metro YMCA, Beth helps advance the Y’s Strategic Plan by creating, implementing, and reviewing the outcomes of feedback loops throughout the organization. In addition to loving living and working in Atlanta, Beth enjoys reading, eating good food, and spending time with her family.
Dana James (she/her) – Community Centric Fundraising
Dana James is the executive administrator for the Community-Centric Fundraising Global Council. Dana’s work as a speaker and information design specialist focuses on dismantling the traditions of white supremacy culture through meaningful gatherings and data-driven strategies.
Deborah Tien (she/anything spoken with love) – Common Agency
Deborah Tien is the Founding Steward of Common Agency, setting up neighborhood networks leveraging digital tools to encourage more off-line connections across differences and local decision-making. Her work centers around how to ensure ‘feedback’ is not only consultative but allows people to jump into the driver’s seat and build collective efficacy.
Garrett Blaize (he/him or they/them) – Appalachian Community Fund
Garrett Blaize is a 24-year-old community organizer and administrator from the Appalachian Mountains. They serve as the Executive Director of the Appalachian Community Fund (ACF), a regional funding intermediary and movement support fund. As a representative of ACF, Garrett sits on the Steering Committee of the Appalachian Funders Network, where they also serve as Co-Chair. Ex officio, through his work with the Appalachian Community Fund, Garrett supports the leadership of the Waymakers Collective, an Assembly of radical arts grantmakers serving artists and culture-bearers across Appalachia. Intersecting and exceeding with his philanthropic work Garrett is a community organizer serving on the Coordinating Committee of the Alliance for Appalachia and as a leader of their local Alliance affiliate Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, a community led organization dedicated to building deep democracy and accelerating just transition in the Appalachian Coalfields.
John Ferguson (he/him/his) – Indiana Philanthropy Alliance
In his role as Director of Member Programs, John develops, directs, and implements a comprehensive offering of IPA’s philanthropy education, networking, and collaboration programming, including a biennial conference, regional forums, peer communities, skill-building workshops and webinars, and cross-sector issue collaboratives. Prior to joining IPA, John was a Fellow at The Patterson Foundation (TPF) based in Sarasota, FL. His dynamic fellowship consisted of collaborating within and/or managing multiple special projects across several different initiatives to provide strategic value and further innovation. His primary roles included serving as manager of the Digital Access for All initiative, and intimate involvement with the creation of multiple offerings within TPF’s Nonprofit Thrivability initiative. Previously, he spent three years with Indiana United Ways in a variety of roles dedicated to supporting all local United Ways throughout Indiana. Prior to that, John was in hospitality for more than 18 years in a myriad of roles, including trainer and manager. He is passionate about helping people and organizations thrive. John received his degree in Philanthropic Studies from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the world’s first school dedicated solely to the study and teaching of philanthropy. He was named Chancellor’s Scholar for his graduating class and proudly served as chair of the Alumni Association board of directors for the school.
Jose Larios (he/him) – The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
José Larios is the Program Fellow for the Effective Philanthropy Group (EPG) at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. In his work with the Effective Philanthropy Group, he supports efforts to strengthen the capacity of the foundation’s programs, initiatives, and grantee partners — and philanthropy, in general — to achieve their goals and benefit the common good. Through his fellowship, José supports the Group’s strategy refreshes, grantmaking, as well as its measurement, evaluation, and learning efforts.Prior to joining the foundation, José tracked state and federal-led economic and racial equity investments in the higher education space as a Public Policy Intern at the Lumina Foundation. Earlier in his career, he conducted research at Harvard on the interconnections of non-profit-led anti-poverty measures on community college campuses as a means to boost college success for working-class and low-income students.A Queens native, José holds a bachelor’s degree in social studies with a secondary in economics from Harvard University and a master’s degree in education policy from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Outside of work, José can be found in a history museum, a hiking trail, or a boxing gym.
Juan Clavijo (he/him/el) – ORS Impact
Juan is a Director at ORS Impact, an evaluation and strategy consulting firm based in Seattle, and has a decade of experience in research and evaluation in the social sector in the United States and various South American countries. Since joining ORS in 2018, Juan has partnered with foundations, funder collaboratives, government entities, and nonprofits to support learning and strategic decision making that informs and advances their work. Juan’s ability to match a partner’s learning needs with right sized and adaptive evaluation methods has allowed him to successfully serve as learning and evaluation partner to clients like the Fund for Shared Insight, Habitat for Humanity International, the Census Funder’s Collaborative, and the Leadership Conference. Keeping equity at the center of his work, Juan strives to ensure that research and evaluation efforts interrogate power structures and remain in service of creating a more just and equitable society.
Michael Campbell (he/him/his) – Charity Navigator
Michael cares deeply about uplifting voices for marginalized communities and contextualizing different experiences in the work that he does. At Charity Navigator, one of his goals is to help push nonprofits toward perceiving feedback as a method to developing trust with their constituencies. He has a background in STEM and Sociology and likes taking a critical lens on topics that span across multiple sectors, as he enjoys the nuances of intersectional projects.
Sarah Moody (she/her) – Missouri Foundation for Health
Sarah Moody joined Missouri Foundation for Health in 2012 as a Policy Officer working with health advocates in Missouri. In 2017 she began a pilot position as Program Officer – Community Liaison and moved back to a rural community in Missouri. Now Director of Community Relationships, she leads a team in deepening the Foundation’s knowledge of and relationship with rural communities in the 84 counties of MFH service region. She received her undergraduate degree from Missouri State University in 1998, and received her master of science degree from Missouri State University in 2007. She has worked in non-profit her entire career, particularly in human services and healthcare, and is a native of southwest Missouri.
Victoria Méndez (she/her) – GlobalGiving
Victoria Méndez is a Senior Associate at GlobalGiving, where she focuses on disaster response, community support, and grantmaking. She holds a master’s degree in disaster management and a bachelor’s in international relations from Florida International University, which informs her work. At GlobalGiving, Victoria actively monitors global disasters, provides resources, and builds connections with disaster-affected communities, advocating for community-led recovery. She is passionate about transcending the survival mindset and guiding communities towards embracing abundance, even amidst challenges. In her free time, she enjoys gardening and salsa dancing.
AN EXCITING YEAR AHEAD
We know that the 2024 Feedback Champions will do great things as they become leaders in the feedback field! We are eager to support them as they cultivate their skills, deepen their knowledge of feedback, and advance the feedback community. We will be sure to keep you updated on all of the things they do!
