Sep
26
2024
by Frances Kunreuther
In 1999, while I was working at Harvard’s Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, I convened a group of 20 people from across the United States to talk about the need to support nonprofits working for progressive social change. I had hoped to bring attention to these groups countering the pervasive assumption – at Harvard and in the field overall – that nonprofits should be more like for-profit businesses, equating efficiencies with effectiveness. The people who attended this meeting – organizers, advocates, service providers – were more concerned about how to address systemic barriers and understood that the long process of building people power was key to making change.
That 3-day meeting led to what would become the Building Movement Project (BMP). We started as a group of volunteers, learning together without a plan – things just evolved. It has been a collective effort with so many brilliant people offering their best thinking to the work.
Now, 25 years after that first gathering and a decade of co-leadership with Sean Thomas-Breitfeld, I am leaving for whatever comes next. What we built over the years was an organization that provides usable and important information to strengthen nonprofits’ ability to live their values while staying razor focused on supporting movements for social change.
There were always so many people who contributed to BMP and I will name only a few, mostly from the early days when we sent our “Project Team” (never a Board) a four-inch thick binder full of readings in advance of our meetings that took place over several days two to three times a year. Kim Klein, well-known for her fundraising skills, contributed so many ideas we could barely keep up. Helen Kim kept us focused on the work and its impact on organizations. Robby Rodriguez brought in his experiences as a young leader of an organizing group taking over from his mentor/founder. Aurea Montes-Rodriquez, from Community Coalition, the powerhouse organizing group in Los Angeles added her experience working with service organizations that supported movement building. Linda Campbell, who I had worked with in NYC when she headed the Minority Task Force on AIDS, applied our BMP learnings to her new work in Detroit eventually founding the Detroit People’s Platform. And of course, Sean who made the last ten years at BMP the most insightful and productive.
Executive transitions are not for the faint of heart. That said, my appreciation and excitement about the Building Movement Project’s incoming executive director, Janis Rosheuvel has steadily grown. Our discussions over the summer clearly showed how prepared Janis is to take on this role. People ask me what will happen to BMP. I say it is well-positioned for the future. The organization will continue its movement building work with a new leader who is bringing her own experience and ideas.
It’s a big change for me and the organization, but we are both ready. I am looking forward to seeing how BMP stretches and changes over the next decade. I hope you are too.
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