My guest today is Donita Volkwijn. As the Senior Director of Member Engagement, Donita Volkwijn excels in leading member engagement and recruitment, comprehending member objectives and educational priorities, and steering several of Philanthropy New York's (PNY's) prominent networks and leadership development initiatives. Her approach is grounded in robust facilitation skills, a focus on relationship-building, and deep expertise in aiding organizations with their racial equity endeavors. Her journey in philanthropy commenced in 2012 at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), where she held the role of Manager, Knowledge Management. In this capacity, Donita harnessed knowledge management tools and methods to foster fair and equitable distribution of access, information, and, consequently, power across organizations, enhancing engagement and performance. Her tenure at RPA also included advising individual donors and family foundations on their grantmaking strategies. Additionally, Donita's rich experience in the performing arts as an opera singer has seen her gracing stages in diverse locations such as London, Paris, Harare, San Francisco, and Tulsa. In her commitment to community support, Donita serves as a board member of the Loveland Foundation, dedicated to empowering communities of color, especially Black women and girls. She is also a co-founder of Circle of Change, an informal yet robust network bolstering the BIPOC community in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. In this episode we discuss opera, philanthropy, the arts, the power of voice and the power of connecting with people through art.

Website - https://philanthropynewyork.org/donita-volkwijn

IG - https://www.instagram.com/donitavolkwijn/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/donita-volkwijn/

In this episode you will learn:

1. The power of art and how it can help and heal.

2. How art and philanthropy intersect and can create social change.

3. The importance of your story and it's impact in the world.

"There were a lot of challenging aspects. I think part of it was trying to be, you know, opera is for the elite." - 00:04:26

"Philanthropy has a troubled history. A lot of money coming from philanthropy was taken off of the backs of marginalized communities."- 00:31:10

"I fail all the time. And that is, I think that's the big lesson. Yeah. Failure is not a bad word." - 00:52:44

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