Favorite Quote

"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it ... Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." Emerson

Her Secret is Patience, Series Three

Phoenix Civic Space
Downtown Phoenix, Arizona
Photos take by Aaron Stiner
April 13, 2009 with Blackberry Bold, Series Three


 
 
 

Series One and Two

Her Secret is Patience, Series Two

Phoenix Civic Space
Downtown Phoenix, Arizona
Photos take by Aaron Stiner
April 13, 2009 with Blackberry Bold, Series Two

Series One and Three

Her Secret is Patience

Phoenix Civic Space
Downtown Phoenix, Arizona
Photos take by Aaron Stiner
April 13, 2009 with Blackberry Bold, Series One

 
 
 
 

Series Two and Three

Weekend weather prediction, east valley

A blog by Aaron Stiner
Saturday, April 11, 2009

My prediction for East Valley weather is we might see an afternoon or evening shower, but after that the wind is going to move in mid to late evening, clear out the clouds and the humidity and tomorrow will be a cool, clear, sunny day!

Perfect for playing outside in the yard.

Have you seen what we've done?

A blog by Aaron Stiner, MNpS
3:54 PM, April 10, 2009

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Leticia de la Vara
Organizer extraordinaire

Civil Rights Forum

Major wisdom laid down today in the lobby. The panelists, Raul Yzaguirre, John Echohawk, Peterson Zah and (fourth name to come) are civil rights and community leaders, they are doers and thinkers and at today's event they were just telling truth.

Leticia was the lead behind the scenes making sure all the pieces fit together. And they did beautifully. The setup with John Echohawk as the lead speaker...telling me there are 4mm Natives in more than 500 tribes across the US, soveriegn nations mind you, 1% of the population...telling me that the US government holds their land in trust - whatever that means - and the supreme court ruled in the 1800s that Native tribes were not foriegn nations, rather a nation within a nation.

Then on the panel you had Raul Yzaguirre laying down the truth from beginning to end. The significant issue facing the Lation communities and Native communities is the shared legacy of conquest - bam! How conquest changes a culture and has implications for a culture that aren't shared or understood. We need to know someone's pain, we need to know their story he said.

A moving event, a learning moment definitely, filled with pretty heady talk. My kind of thing!

More pictures later. Maybe...

Nice work Leticia!

By George, do I have it?

A brief blog post by Aaron Stiner
April 3, 2009

Do I have it defined?

In the realm of voluntary action for the common good that is philanthropy we are focused on supporting and building the donor pool at all levels in order to increase the availability of financial resources for nonprofit organizations across Arizona and the Southwest.

We believe a rising tide raises all ships and we can help rise the tide of donors interested in philanthropy. We leverage the nonprofit research, academic resources and expertise of the ASU Lodestar Center to guide donors in their philanthropic giving so they achieve the social and personal goals that are important to them.

Our mission is accomplished through a comprehensive portfolio of research, education, technical assistance and conference activities that provide stakeholders with knowledge and tools that enhance their effectiveness and impact.

We collaborate with leading philanthropic organizations to help inspire and empower donors to invest in our community.

Jane Reddin and Wayne "Whilred" check out Jane's new Kindle

Practical Art Downtown Phoenix

A blog by Aaron Stiner
April 3, 2009

I am in between an early morning YNPN Phoenix board meeting and a lunch meeting with foundation staff person for Advancing Philanthropy. Both meetings are in the Camelback corridor so I figured it was more efficient to work remotely at Lux then to head back to the office.

As I was walking in someone called my name. It was Jane Reddin, owner of downtown Phoenix business, Practical Art, and a United Way board member and supporter. Jane had just come from a United Way board meeting and was enjoying coffee with her friend, Wayne.

I joined the two of them for a few minutes of chatting on the patio. I got caught up on Practical Art, where Jane trades in unique, useful household items handcrafted by local artisans. She recently celebrated a year in business and said they, along with many Central corridor businesses, are experiencing a wave of customers who are supporting local businesses and artists.

I also got Jane caught up on my new role at the Lodestar Center (Advancing Philanthropy). As you may know, since I started in January, I have been in a three month process of defining and developing the goals and objectives of the Adv Phil initiative.

I have spent a lot of time meeting with community leaders and I tried several different elevator speeches to relay exactly what I am planning for the Adv Phil initiative. Most of my trys so far haven't seemed to hit home and lead to a lot more questions than answers.

Well, that's fine, but it's time for answers and it's time to brand ourselves. In fact, I have been working with Pat Lewis at the Center over the last couple of days to bring some clarity to how we talk about what we do (I think we mostly know what we want to do).

So talking with Jane was the first time I could practice some new branding for the program, telling her, "We are supporting and building the pool of individual and family donors at all levels of giving to increase the financial resources available to support nonprofits in Arizona and the Southwest. We provide resources to guide donors in their philanthropic giving so they achieve the social and personal goals that are important to them."

What do you think?

It seems to mostly have landed pretty square, although I think some further tightening of the statement needs to happen.

I also let her know about our upcoming workshop at the Lodestar Center, Practicing Strategic Philanthropy for Individuals and Families, April 14th from 10AM - 3PM at the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix (link soon).

The workshop is designed for individuals and families who are interested in using philanthropy as a meaningful way to invest their financial resources, passion and time to benefit the community and exercise civic leadership. Participants will gain a greater understanding of ways in which they can leave a legacy through philanthropic impact, they will receive ideas for teaching their children and grand children the value of giving, and they will meet other Valley philanthropists interested in effectively deploying their philanthropy.

It's going to be a great workshop with good people and lively conversation. If you want to join us, let me know. Or pass on the evite to someone you know. Donors only by the way, no funders!

So there, see the work that can get done over coffee at Lux with a dj! =)

Mobile Uploads via Blogger not Facebook
Why? Because I don't want Facebook to own everything.
Google shold own the other half.

A blog by Aaron Stiner, April 3
Friday morning at Lux

Mobile Uploads, Four Days

Photos posted by Aaron Stiner, MNpS
March 25, 2009

Taken with my Blackberry Bold (love).

Action, Advocacy, Arts, An Open Mind is a Canvas for Change
April 3, 2009 at ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus, copp.asu.edu/aaa

Photos posted by Aaron Stiner, MNpS
April 1, 2009

One reason why I will be going to ASU Ucent for First Friday...perhaps make an offer on some fantastic artwork?

Marty Party
Photos taken from Facebook without permission
posted by Aaron Stiner, MNpS
April 1, 2009

Action, Advocacy, Arts, An Open Mind is a Canvas for Change
April 3, 2009 at ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus, copp.asu.edu/aaa

Photos posted by Aaron Stiner, MNpS
March 25, 2009

Taken with my Blackberry Bold (love). Go here or here to read more and see better photos.

Or, better yet, come to the 4th Urban Gallery Exhibition from 6 to 10PM on April 3 to see the beautiful, powerful, storytelling artwork yourself. I'll be here, it's the second floor of my building!

Part One


My Father's Son
Artist Martin Moreno


Born and Died in the U.S.A.
Artist Martin Moreno


Captain America is Off Balance
Artist Luis Gutierrez


Todos Conocen Mi Dolor
y
Cruzando la Frontera
Artist Ruben Galicia

Proprietary Information?

A blog by Aaron Stiner, MNpS
Tuesday, March 24, very early AM

Goals for Nonprofits in using New Media:

• Be a central hub / virtual meeting / conversation space and information / tools / referral source for your organization's stakeholders: stakeholders include supporters, volunteers, recipients, civic and business leaders and media
  
• Build and grow relationships with and among your nonprofit and it's stakeholders
  
• Increase the visibility, credibility and connectivity of your staff to community stakeholders
• Market your organization and it's activities online, including creating opportunities for fundraising
  

Good eats, Matt's Big Breakfast.

Young and No Profit

A blog by Aaron Stiner, MNpS
Tuesday, March 24, very early AM

Program Manager, Advancing Philanthropy
ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation
Phoenix, AZ
aaron.stiner@asu.edu

Vice President
YNPN Phoenix Board of Directors
Phoenix, AZ

This blog is about being a young nonprofit professional - one of the roles I play in this life.

A little bit about me. In addition to walks in the park and rides on the trails, I like meeting friends and making connections. I truly enjoy talking with passionate, hard working people about how to make our world a better place - yes, I know that is tres nonprofit nerd!

I am from Michigan, and after six years I consider the Valley my home and count friends and colleagues among both the non and for profit communities. I think this community has so much to offer on a wide variety of fronts - personally, professionally, recreationally, etc - and I am a big promoter of Metro Phoenix life (and also a vocal critic of poor policies and governance).

My work includes two and half years selling pharmaceuticals to veterinarians, six years at Valley of the Sun United Way in development and a Master of Nonprofit Studies from Arizona State University. I joined the ASU Lodestar Center in January of 2009 to begin developing programming for the Advancing Philanthropy initiative.

I am married to my lovely wife Beth, Director Organization Development at Banner Health and we have one son, Omar, five. We have two dogs and two cats - all from rescue organizations. We have a lot of fun together!

My personal goals include working to understand others, creating connections and building a strong social fabric. I think nonprofit organizations play an incredibly important role in providing opportunities for individuals and families to lead the happy, successful lives of their choice. I think most people want to be happy, healthy and self sufficient without getting ripped off by someone in more power. Building community seems an important contributor to happiness and so that's one thing I like to do.

I also like plants and taking mobile phone photos.

I hope you will return on a regular basis to read my and my friends musings on a host of topics related to building happy healthy communities of happy healthy people. I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Best regards,

Aaron

A mobile upload. If you are a Facebook friend you are used to seeing these! All taken with my Blackberry Bold - oh yeah!

Conversations and connected communities. It's one thing I think young professionals want to create. A place where friends and colleagues can gather, face-to-face, to talk about important issues with people they like and respect.

I think it's something I want to see. And it's something I have heard my friends say they would like to be a part of and help create. It's a big reason why I am involved in YNPN Phoenix.

The driving force behind the creation of YNPN Phoenix is the idea of connecting people - specifically young nonprofit professionals - and supporting their community. In our first 16 months we have accomplished a lot on the way to that goal.

From the tactical side, we have hosted 13 events with more than 500 people in attendance between those 13 events. We have had some great professional development speakers and fun social events. We are up and running on New Media, like Twitter and Facebook, and we have a robust website with event management software to help us connect with our members.

What we hope has happened in that time is that our members have started to make connections with one another and we hope that is building into a community.

What we hope is members come to our YNPN events because they know they are going to get to connect with a great community of other young nonprofit professionals, nice smart people wanting to change the world. Hopefully at a YNPN event members are connecting with people they knew before ever coming to a YNPN event as well as people they meet through our organization. Both help build a community.

We want our members to be excited about coming to our events because they know it's going to be filled with some great conversation. Robust conversations about how to be a better professional and how to find personal balance, conversations about forming communities and conversations about saving the world. And mixed in all that is a lot of fun and laughing! =)

Sort of like shoving all the nonprofit geeks in one room and shaking their heads around - good stuff is going to fall out!

We hope our members have fun, learn and build community. That's why we exist.

Eventually, we hope the YNPN Phoenix community grows into a deeply embedded aspect of our larger community's social fabric. Young nonprofit professionals aught to be strongly connected to one another, it only makes sense! They are the front line changes makers in the Valley, making our community a better place in which to live and work. We need these people!

If you are interested in a community of young, smart, funny nonprofit professionals, you have found your place - come connect!

Alright, that's about all I have to say on that point today. Thanks to Shawn Rudnick, an MNpS student, young nonprofit professional and YNPN member, for the inspiration!