Insights for Change Podcast features conversations with people in philanthropy about funder listening to shift power.

In this episode, Molly Schultz Hafid, principal consultant at MSH Consultants, talks with Eileen Farbman, co-founder and board co-chair of the Kolibri Foundation, about what it takes to truly share power in family philanthropy.

Farbman shares her journey from decades of work on women's issues, gender racial justice, and with youth impacted by the criminal justice system to inheriting control of a traditional family foundation and transforming it into a movement-led organization. Together with Schultz Hafid, who helped guide the transition, she reflects on lessons learned about participatory grantmaking, governance changes, and the emotional realities of "letting go" of control.

They discuss how Farbman and her family joined with movement leaders to develop collective decision-making practices —  including bylaws that require family members represent a minority of the board — and structure grantmaking that supports building power through organizing and movement-building. Farbman also offers candid advice to other families exploring how to move money and power closer to communities.