Registration Open for

On the Ground 2017 in Pittsburgh!

Click here  for more information and to register

On the Ground is Grassroots Grantmakers’ signature learning opportunity.  They are designed to inspire and support the meaningful involvement of residents in the work of grantmaking. We refer to On the Grounds as our “anti-conference” and work especially hard to ensure that funders attend with grassroots leaders and resident partners.  We model participatory and inclusive learning activities throughout, held as much as possible in neighborhoods where change work is happening.

Our Theme this year is Resident Power: Leading Neighborhood Change. We will meet some of the funders and their resident partners Pittsburgh who are leading neighborhood change.  With this theme, we hope to show:

• That residents have power and make compelling change every day
• Different ways that funders and community investors can strengthen their relationships with residents
• That grassroots change stimulates change at the city and regional levels and is the foundation for healthy systemic change
• That small investments in grassroots residents have big impact

How do OTGs work?

On the Grounds use the work of a field-leading place-based investors – partners of our host The Sprout Fund – as a platform for learning on a particular theme.  This year’s OTG will be a unique opportunity for funders and project leaders from across the United States and Canada to connect with Pittsburgh’s philanthropic leadership and grassroots community in an intensive shared learning experience. As a forum for engaging national peers and colleagues, this multiple-day retreat will enable the local philanthropic community to reflect on strategies for supporting resident-led change here at home, while also offering a platform for showcasing Pittsburgh’s most innovative people, projects, and organizations to visiting guests.

We want to stimulate analysis, insight, and the co-creation of knowledge.  For that reason, we provide participants the opportunity to share with each other in a Learning Marketplace.  Participants present their questions, challenges, or sucesses in a more structured format that allows time for focused dialogue with other participants. The topics for the Learning Marketplace are both developed beforehand and also solicited during the opening plenary.