Stronger/Together

Beyond a conventional consulting firm that affects change client-by-client, The Athena Advisors is driven by a belief in social justice and dedicated to raising the performance and capacity of our mission driven sector to achieve it. That’s why we have created programs that build individual, organizational, and global programs for good.

We believe we are Stronger/Together.

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Natalie Grandison, Inaugural Racing Upwards Fellow

Racing Upwards

The Racing Upwards Fellowship offers educational opportunities to a professional who is interested in increasing his or her fundraising skills or making a career transition that includes fundraising and nonprofit management. This fellowship particularly invites professionals from communities of color as a way of increasing access to nonprofit leadership roles and to enlarge the number of voices at the table in nonprofit organizations and boards. The fellowship is a mix of client experience and adding fundraising knowledge to your skillset. This is an educational fellowship, in which you will participate in work with clients and potential clients, directly through client contact or through research and presentations that will be used with clients. 

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IncuBetter Award

The IncuBetter Award provides a suite of resources to an entrepreneur to start or expand a for-profit business directly related to advancing social justice and strengthening the nonprofit sector.

Read about the work of our inaugural recipient of the IncuBetter Award, Hana Mandikova, here on the blog.

Food for Thought

Food for Thought is our latest service within Stronger/Together, a portfolio of capacity-building activities for professionals involved in social justice work. It’s a gathering of people who learn from one another in discussing some of the most challenging issues of our time. It’s just one hour and includes a short presentation by a specialist(s) on the chosen theme.

Previous themes have included Progress and Success, Sustainability, Happiness, Mentorship, Poetry for Social Justice, Women in Leadership, New Working Ways, The Trials and Tribulations of Starting a Nonprofit, Black Giving Matters, a Conversation on African Diaspora Giving and Digital Marketing for Nonprofits.

You will find all of our events listed on our LinkedIn events page, where you will find the Eventbrite link to register.

Upcoming events: 

Tech in Fundraising on June 7 at 10 eastern/3 London
Writing a Better World on August 16 at 10 eastern/3 London
Wellness in Fundraising on October 18 at 10 eastern/3 London
To Accept Or Not to Accept? Gift Acceptance Decoded on December 6 at 10 eastern/3 London
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The Athena Advisors and the Arts

Hear more about the arts and social justice at The Athena Advisors.
The field of social justice is best served when all of our senses and capabilities and interests are engaged.  The Artist in Residence Program and Music Curator Program bring the arts to clients and associates.

The Artist in Residence Program reflects our commitment to the capacity-building of the nonprofit sector, knowing that social justice work is difficult and vibrant. Teaching artist (Eleni Litt, Ph.D) serves as the artist-in-residence. It is freestanding “mark-making”, lasting one hour. It requires no particular artistic skills. A very diverse group of professionals joins from London, Paris—and Illinois.

The Music Curator Program reflects our passion for advocating for the powerful role the arts can play in the field of social justice. Our Music Curator in Residence, Carmen Bitar, selects music for our capacity-building events.

Hear more about the arts and social justice at The Athena Advisors.

Coffee Break Insights

We know you are busy and it is why we created ‘Coffee Break Insights’. With these 5-minute readings, you can learn more about various fundraising topics while enjoying a cup of coffee. Each post also recommends two ‘in-depth’ readings for you to deepen your knowledge.
The Stronger/Together Forum was an invitation-only group of business leaders in the nonprofit and affiliated space, talking monthly with candor and joy about the challenges of work and life during the pandemic.

You can read about it on our blog.