Power-Sharing Under Pressure: What a Decade of Community Partnership Reveals for Philanthropy Today

Between 2017 and 2024, U.S. philanthropy experienced a period of significant innovation as many foundations reconsidered long-standing assumptions about control and began taking steps to share power more directly with the communities they fund. This article draws on community leaders’ reflections, alongside the authors’ perspective as long-term evaluators, to examine how these commitments were experienced in practice. The article focuses on the David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s Starting Smart and Strong Initiative (S3I), a 10-year effort to strengthen early learning systems across East San Jose, Fresno, and Oakland, California. Drawing on interviews with grantees and technical assistance partners, along with longitudinal evaluation findings, the authors examine how power-sharing shaped grantmaking, support for the work, and evaluation. Although S3I began under different circumstances, it offers insight into what sustained community partnership makes possible — and what may be at risk. When foundations retreat from shared power, they may regain control, but at the cost of the trust, alignment, and adaptive capacity that enable communities to navigate uncertainty and sustain change.