Menzies Foundation join the Bridgespan Group Field Building Consortium

The Menzies Foundation is delighted to share that its incubation and impact-focused approach has been recognised by Bridgespan Group, who has invited the Foundation to join a select group of 5-6 global funders. The Bridgespan Group, is one of the world’s leading social impact consultants and advisors to nonprofits, NGO’s, corporations, philanthropists, and investors, provides strategy consulting and leadership development that addresses opportunities and challenges related to scaling social impact. The multi-year initiative focuses on field building toward equitable systems change. This is a collaborative and comprehensive initiative to significantly increase the amount of flexible philanthropic investment and support going toward field building efforts—including for field catalysts, which function as nerve centres for achieving equitable impact across social sectors. The objective is to assist these initiatives and organisations in enhancing their ability to facilitate population-level transformation across various fields and systems that profoundly affect the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

Liz Gillies, Menzies Foundation CEO said, “The Menzies Foundation strategy is closely aligned with the field building approach. We understand that catalytic initiatives for systemic change are dependent on the development of the field building capability of system intermediaries to scaffold multi-sector collaborations and believe this initiative will make an important contribution to the development of this capability in the system”

This initiative builds on Bridgespan’s robust research, deep work with proximate leaders, and prior experience on multiyear influence campaigns that change philanthropic practices and norms.

Further Information

For funders: “Funding Field Catalysts from Origins to Revolutionizing the World” Field Catalysts are among the highest leverage investments that philanthropy can make when it comes to equitable systems change. This report channels the input Bridgespan gathered from field catalysts to explore the dynamic range of activities field catalysts undertake and the challenges they must navigate to lead the way to impact in their fields. The report also provides detailed, practical guidance for how funders can create the enabling conditions that allow field catalysts to thrive. For NGOs and nonprofits: “Field Catalyst Origin Stories: Lessons for Systems-Change Leaders”  Bridgespan surveyed 100+ field catalyst leaders to better understand what it takes for field catalysts to launch and thrive. This article is a shorter piece primarily aimed toward nonprofit/NGO leaders, including existing and aspiring field catalysts. In this article, Bridgespan explores the highest priority challenges elevated by field catalysts in its research (i.e., funding, talent, finding balance between competing demands, and measuring success), and shares recommendations these leaders have for their peers to navigate them. To learn more and hear advice directly from field catalysts for fellow changemakers, we invite you to our webinar, “Lessons for Systems-Change Leaders” on May 23 at 12:30pm ET or May 25 at 9:30am ET." Bridgespan intends to leverage this research in its ongoing efforts to amplify the voices and value propositions of field catalysts with the goal of dramatically unlocking philanthropic capital to support systems change work. I hope you’ll consider sharing this with your contacts and welcome any reactions you have. We would be happy to introduce you to Lija Farnham and Emma Nothmann, authors of both articles and leaders of the field building / field catalyst work at The Bridgespan Group, should that be of interest.