Writing Great Grants - A Murdock Trust Podcast

For season three of our podcast, we are taking a moment to reflect on our benefactor, Jack Murdock. We are looking at current industry leaders who focus on and exemplify key areas and traits that were of particular importance and interest to Jack.

In today’s episode, Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock Trust, speaks with Jeff Carr, the CEO of Albertina Kerr about the current state of mental health services in our community.

For more than 110 years, Albertina Kerr has provided services for children and the families of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health challenges and other social barriers through a variety of projects and programs. As a fun side note, Albertina Kerr received the first official grant approved by the Murdock Trust in 1975. 

Jeff joined Albertina Kerr in 2016 where he oversees management of the nonprofit. A graduate of Northwest Nazarene University, he has an extensive professional background leading organizations serving vulnerable communities, including the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Los Angeles and the Special Olympics World Games held in Los Angeles in 2015 as well as a wealth of service to community-focused roles, including Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Los Angeles , COO of Sojourners and the Executive Director of the Bresee Foundation.

Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock Trust, discusses the role faith-based organizations play in serving our community with Jan Elfers, the President of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.

EMO is a statewide association of Christian denominations, congregations, ecumenical organizations and interfaith partners. Committed to mutual respect and understanding, EMO brings together diverse communities of faith to learn, serve and advocate for justice, peace and the integrity of creation where they serve more than 18,000 individuals throughout the year. 

A graduate of Lewis and Clark College, Jan went on to earn her Master’s at Marylhurst University. Prior to her current position overseeing the statewide nonprofit, she held multiple roles with EMO, starting her career with the organization in 2003. She has received numerous awards for her leadership and service and regularly serves on the board of directors of community-focused organizations.

In today’s episode, Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock Trust, talks about the value of Mentorship with Greg Sherwood.

Greg is the President/Chief Investment Officer of Quest Investment Management, a Portland based institutional investment advisory founded in 1985. The firm manages pension and non-profit funds around the U.S.

Greg is currently an active parishioner at St. Michael’s in Portland and has been involved with several evangelical ministries serving youth and young adults for over 35 years. He is attending St. Vincent Benedictine Seminary pursuing a Master’s degree in spiritual direction. He serves as the rector at St. Michael’s Alpha program, teaches RCIA and helps as a retreat speaker and mentor for the Catholic Newman Center at Oregon State and Portland State University.

In 2001, he founded Mentors360, a college and young professional ministry serving on 7 college campuses which seeks to connect through mentoring one generation to the next in the areas of professional development, personal growth and spiritual formation.

For season three of our podcast, we are taking a moment to reflect on our benefactor, Jack Murdock. We are looking at current industry leaders who focus on and exemplify key areas and traits that were of particular importance and interest to Jack. 

In today’s episode, Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock Trust, talks about the value of entrepreneurship with Navin Chaddha, Managing Director at Mayfield Fund, a top-tier venture capital firm with $2.5 billion under management. He has been involved in some notable IPOs of companies including Poshmark, Lyft, SolarCity, and Akamai, as well as acquisitions of CloudGenix by Palo Alto Networks, CloudSimple by Google, Nuvia by Qualcomm, Portworx by Pure Storage, and Volterra by F5 Networks. He is a serial entrepreneur turned venture capitalist who co-founded three successful companies, including VXtreme, a streaming media platform, acquired by Microsoft to become Windows Media. He is an active philanthropist who supports education, diversity, equity, inclusion, and food scarcity groups.  He holds an MS degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and a B. Tech. degree in electrical engineering from IIT Delhi, where he was honored with the distinguished IIT Alumni Award.

For season three of our podcast, we are taking a moment to reflect on our benefactor, Jack Murdock. We are looking at current industry leaders who focus on and exemplify key areas and traits that were of particular importance and interest to Jack.

In today’s episode, Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock trust, chats with Dave Blanchard the co-founder and CEO of Praxis about Innovation. Dave is passionate about encouraging Christian-led entrepreneurship that has a positive impact on society. To this end, he co-founded and leads Praxis, which works to motivate, educate, and resource Christians to pursue redemptive entrepreneurship, to renew the spirit of the age. Each year, Praxis runs its flagship accelerator programs, equipping leaders from 24 early-stage businesses and nonprofits, as well as Praxis Academy, an undergraduate initiative that works with over 50 schools. 

In a time of great division and conflict, the secret to success lies not in hate but in love. This is the central argument made by Arthur Brooks, former President of AEI and current professor at Harvard as he seeks to help individuals and communities flourish and thrive.

In today's show, Arthur helps us see the biochemistry behind our emotions, how that impacts the way we move through our day and how that can positively and negatively impact our work and community. He helps show how turning to love creates a more productive society and can help us navigate some of our most complex challenges.

One of the key pillars in building a strong organization is promoting your work, both immediately and in an ongoing, reputational manner.

Michael Kaiser oversees the DeVos Institute of Arts Management’s training and consulting programs, both in the United States and around the world. An expert on nonprofit development and management with a particular emphasis on the arts community, Michael has been a pivotal leader at some of the most prestigious arts organizations around the world, including serving as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Executive Director of the Royal Opera House, the largest performing arts organization in the United Kingdom, Executive Director of American Ballet Theatre and Executive Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Foundation. 

In today's episode, Michael outlines the importance and value of marketing for nonprofit organizations and offers helpful strategies to best tell your story. He also shares valuable insight into how to lead and grow a successful organization.

http://devosinstitute.umd.edu/

While a primary emphasis in the nonprofit world centers on donations, partnerships and time investments by industry experts and dedicated volunteers can be just as valuable to an organization's mission.

The Murdock Trust Partners in Science program relies heavily on this notion, pairing researchers in labs across the Pacific Northwest with high school educators, providing teachers an opportunity to gain hands on experience in the field.

Kim Newman, program director with the Trust, was a participant in the Partners program for many years before joining the Trust to lead the effort. In today's episode she shares how partnerships can help serve, support and uplift a nonprofit's mission as well as how organizations can help cultivate and nurture these sorts of connections.

The Human Resources (HR) department plays several vital roles in the health and stability of a nonprofit as well as in an organization's ability to grow and flourish. Jerry Calhoun, Senior Fellow with the Murdock Trust, has more than 30 years of experience in the Human Resources sector. In this engaging conversation, Jerry helps outline how organizations should think about the role of HR in their success and what are the primary functions that should live within the HR department.

Nonprofits flourish when they are surrounded by a robust community. The investment of expertise and support through carefully nurtured relationships can mean the difference between a successful organization and one that never fully gets off the ground. 

In this episode, Rudy Carrasco, Program Director with the Murdock Trust, shares his expertise on the value and importance of investing in building community to help your organization thrive.