An Open Letter to Our Partners

Dear Friends & Partners,

In this unsettling time with the global COVID-19 pandemic impacting all our lives – and the lives of our families and communities around the world – we are thinking of you, what you may need and how we can best assist.

Your health and safety as well as the communities you serve are our top priority.Imaginable Futures is committed to doing what we can to continue to support you and your organization during this time. We know with so many learners out of school and parents and caregivers figuring out how to adjust and manage themselves, people are asking how you can and should respond or help – and we recognize that places an additional burden on you, your staff and your organization or company.

We also know that you are facing business disruptions in transitioning your staff to remote work, attending to the mental health of your colleagues, and solving for how your program can scale rapidly and sustain in the long-term to support learners and their families in a moment when the world is far from business as usual.

At Imaginable Futures, we are also adjusting how we work during these unprecedented times. And, with the fluid situation, we will continue to adapt to what the situation brings in the many months ahead. Just like many of you, we are adopting new routines (e.g., working remotely, caring for children home from school, avoiding all travel).

Despite the uncertainty, one thing is clear: our focus is helping our partners, and to the best of our ability, learners worldwide, to weather this storm.

With our values front and center, as Compassionate Changemakers, we are committed to responding in 3 important ways. We commit to be:

1. Your partner in adapting – we are here to support as you evaluate strategic shifts;
2. Your partner in action – we are working on making our funding decision-making and operations faster and more flexible so we can help swiftly;
3. Your partner in connections – we offer to contribute our network to help link you to people or resources that might be helpful.

Additionally, for our non-profit partners:

• We recognize that the context has changed and that some of the initially agreed upon success metrics will be negatively impacted. We are prepared to adjust grant terms, and advance future disbursements where and when appropriate, and consider increasing our financial commitments to provide you with the flexibility to run your business and serve our learners in the current environment. Further, if your grant is up for renewal in 2020, we will consider accelerating your renewal.
• For partners without immediate need during this crisis, we appreciate your patience as we prioritize those in our portfolio with the most pressing needs.

Let me reinforce this simple point: we are here for you – to support you personally and professionally. These are stressful times; if you need to just talk, cry or get advice, please reach out.

In addition to serving the needs of our partners, we are actively exploring a handful of initiatives to deploy philanthropic capital to support those learners and families most impacted by this crisis. If you have other ideas we should consider, or ways that we can be helpful during this time, please let us know. We are all learning together.

Finally, a word of recognition for the intense work required of leaders in this crisis. These are the times when leadership is tested and when it is proven. These are the times when you gain both the trust and love of your people – and when together, can defy gravity. Thank you for being those leaders. And, thank you for leading towards the future we all imagine.

Stay healthy and safe; let’s all keep the lines of communication wide open as we move ahead.

Virtual hug,
Amy Klement and the team at Imaginable Futures

P.S. We encourage you and your organizations to be your own community advocates to stop the spread. We have signed the StopTheSpread campaign in the United States. You can sign this as well and also use your channels to share the advice of local, state and national public health experts. Your amplification of this important information will protect our global communities.