The 1772 Foundation’s executive director, Mary Anthony, spoke at Exponent Philanthropy’s CONNECT conference, held in Chandler, Arizona, from October 5-7.

With Jennifer Esterline, founder of and project consultant for Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium, and Jason Sabo, founder of Frontera Strategy, Mary presented a morning session titled, Catalyzing Change in Your Community.

Mary discussed how The 1772 Foundation has emerged as a national leader in one of its primary areas of interest — historic properties redevelopment. She explained that a small foundation can become a catalyst for change if its leaders have intellectual curiosity, a willingness to learn from the community, and an entrepreneurial mindset that allows for creativity, nimbleness, and risk-taking.

The session was attended by over 50 funders with a shared interest in learning about the mindset and strategies that impel change on complex issues. During the workshop portion of the session, each attendee identified an issue important to his/her foundation and three ideas for moving ahead with thinking and planning for catalytic change.