Funder Focus: Angie Killoran and the Lawson Foundation
June 6, 2005
By Nicole Zummach
This month in our Funder Focus we feature the Lawson Foundation,
a family foundation whose goal is to become a respected source of support for sustainable community-based programs that positively influence the quality of life for Canadian families. The foundation is also a founding member of Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC). CharityVillage
spoke with executive director Angie Killoran about the foundation's
evolution, its proactive approach to funding, and its commitment to building community capacity.
CharityVillage: The foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, an impressive milestone for any foundation. How has it evolved over the years?
Angie Killoran: The foundation was established in 1956 by the Honourable Ray Lawson. Until the 1970s it was run by Ray and two of his children, Tom Lawson and Ruth Kindersley. During the 1970s, Ray turned the management of the foundation over to his son Tom, who managed it until his death in the early 1990s. At that time, his children and his sister's children took on the leadership of the foundation and they made the decision to hire two staff members: an executive director and an assistant. The original focus of the foundation was in the Oakville and London, Ontario area, but when the third generation took on leadership in the 1990s they expanded the mandate to be across the country, which was significant.
CV: The majority of your board of directors is comprised of fourth generation members of the Lawson family. How does this influence the work of the foundation?
AK: In the last fifteen years we've seen the leadership pass at the board table from the third generation to the fourth generation. So, yes this does influence our work because this fourth generation are in their thirties and forties and they've been brought up in a philanthropic family. Their interests are certainly respectful of the past interests of the foundation, but they've broadened the horizons while still building on past traditions. For example, our Beginning Years program has been a major area of interest since the early 1990s. It functions by seeking out and funding a very significant project for a number of years until its completion and then moving to another area of interest in healthy early childhood development. So our current area of interest is in parenting, and this complements the stage that our fourth generation directors are at in their own lives.
CV: The foundation received a Medal for Exceptional Contributions to Early Childhood Development in 2004. What did this mean for the foundation and the work you are doing?
AK: It was specifically for a national program in seven sites across the country that encouraged development of language and cognition in very young children. At the same time that we did that very significant, very major program, we were funding another series of projects in healthy child development that complemented that focus. So I think it's fair to say that the award the foundation received last year was for our significant commitment, both in terms of grants as well as our strong interest in the whole area of prevention in early child development.
Receiving the award was certainly a great honour, but we feel that the recognition really belongs to our grantees and the organizations that we support that are doing this important work. We provide the funds but they are actually carrying it out. So we feel that it's definitely shared recognition. We've been able to work for many, many years with people we consider to be champions and leaders in the field of healthy early child development. The accolades go to them.
CV: Speaking of accolades, you recently awarded lifetime achievement awards to four outstanding Canadians, who will each receive a $100,000 grant to be directed to the charity of their choice. Tell me about the recipients and why you decided to present these awards.
AK: As part of our 50th anniversary, we looked at ways that we could be creative and look at our past and celebrate that past. One of the areas that doesn't fall within a specific program at this time, but was a guiding light during the 1980s and 1990s, was Colonel Tom Lawson's interest in the importance of establishing community foundations. Hence, we wanted to recognize Monica Patten and the leadership she has brought to the whole field of community foundations in Canada. The other three awards went to three individuals we consider to be at the pinnacle of their careers - Bob Glossop, Freda Martin, and Fraser Mustard - who have had a significant impact on early child development and families.
In terms of the future, this has made us interested in leadership and the importance of leadership, and we're continuing to look at other ways that we can recognize leadership going forward. So I think it is the beginning of something. Whether or not we ever repeat these awards as they stand today remains to be determined, but we certainly have a very strong interest in leadership and its importance in shaping this country.
CV: One of the foundation's principles is to build sustainable community capacity. Why do you feel this is important?
AK: One of the expectations of any project that we do fund is sustainability. We hope that the funding we are able to give will launch a program or a project that may become the best practice in that area. That is why sustainability is so important to us. Of course, the other piece of that is community capacity. Partnerships are of great interest to us. A project needs to be embraced by a community, whatever that community may be. I'm not necessarily talking about a geographic community. But the stronger the engagement in any project, the greater effect it's going to have. So it's a key component of all of the work we do.
CV: Granting has been suspended in two of your main focus areas substance abuse and cancer. What is happening with these programs right now?
AK: Our management strategy includes regular program reviews. We expect our grantees' projects to be evaluated, and in turn, we take time to evaluate our work and reflect on the successes of each individual program area. As part of that, we take the time to consult with experts in the field to see if our projects are making a difference and whether there are other areas within that specific focus area where we could have an impact with the funds that we do have available. So we are currently conducting reviews in the areas of substance abuse and cancer to further refine our focus. When we do that we feel that it's fair to suspend granting to allow us the time to be thoughtful and reflective.
It takes time to do this, and it certainly takes a commitment on the part of the board, but it's part of the philosophy of the way that this foundation operates. We've been really fortunate to be able to access what we consider to be experts in the fields that we do fund in, to talk to us about what is current. Since we are not experts we rely on others to keep us informed about how a body of knowledge is evolving.
CV: While some programs are under review, you are also getting set to launch a $1 million four-year diabetes funding strategy in June. Tell me about that.
AK: The family has had a long history of interest in diabetes and up until a few years ago we worked in what we would call a reactive way. Projects would come our way in the mail and if they met the guidelines of our diabetes program we would accept proposals and review them to decide whether we would fund them. During a review four years ago, we noticed that we weren't seeing many projects come our way in the area of diabetes and we decided that we would like to be proactive. We don't have a lot of money available in diabetes in the first place, so we created a four-year strategy that we are promoting across the country. During this phase, we are offering five grants of $100,000 each to innovative community-based healthcare delivery projects. And in the second round we will offer another $500,000 in funding.
What is really exciting about this strategy is that every year we are able to bring our grant recipients together so that they can showcase their projects to one another. We celebrate their successes and hold a panel discussion with experts in the areas of sustainability, project development, evaluation etc. in response to the needs of our grantees. It's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate these people who are working in the field of diabetes. In terms of the projects we are funding right now, there are a couple related to the care of children with diabetes, as well as a youth project on Vancouver Island, and a project in an Inuit community. So there is a whole range of projects. What is so interesting is that we weren't receiving any proposals for the program that was already in place, but once we became proactive and got the message out to everyone working in the field of diabetes, we put the Lawson Foundation on the radar screen.
CV: Aside from initiating major proactive projects, you also make multiple-year grant commitments. What do you feel are the benefits of this approach?
AK: There are many benefits to this approach. It gives projects an opportunity to further develop. It's very difficult to do something in just one year. That's not to say that one-off projects aren't viable and worthwhile, but to be able to provide funding to an organization that has a vision to succeed has a longer-term effect. However, it does mean that because of our multi-year commitments, our funding on an annual basis is quite limited. Being proactive has its own set of challenges. It requires great thought on the part of the funder, as well as knowledge and a consultative process to be able to identify where the gaps or opportunities are, and where you can make a difference with the funds you have available.
CV: Where would you like to see the foundation ten years from now? Where are you heading?
AK: It's an exciting time for the foundation as we celebrate 50 years of philanthropy and look to the future. Making good grants is essential. We'll build on the foundation's learnings to refine and advance the core elements of our work - our programs, strategic grantmaking, and planning - with a pan-Canadian perspective. Beginning Years, Healthy Communities, and the historical programs, will focus on gaps and opportunities where the foundation can make a difference, possibly where no other funders will be working. Recognizing leadership and the champions working in the charitable sector is one example of an area of interest on the radar screen. Exploring emerging areas of interest with a view to creating innovative programs will be central to our work.
Angie Killoran has been executive director of the Lawson Foundation
since 2001. Prior to that she worked in fund development. For more information about the Lawson Foundation, visit www.lawson.on.ca, or to
view their 2004 annual report click
here.
