JUNE Member Spotlight
Meet Doug Griesenauer Doug Griesenauer is the Vice President of Community Impact at United Way Suncoast. Serving his community at United Ways for over a decade and working in three different anti-poverty research centers before that, Doug is committed to ensuring that all communities have the best tools at their disposal to help families receive what they need to be successful in whatever they do. With a Masters in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, Doug works to connect national best practices with a local understanding of the community so that our communities can do the smartest work for their families. |
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What is your involvement with Florida Philanthropic Network? What influenced you to join?
"Our best work is done together. This is true in nearly everything and especially true in philanthropy. I always appreciate the opportunity to connect with leaders to discuss how we can collaborate and serve our community as best as we can, and joining FPN allows opportunities to make this happen easily. I have been involved in FPN’s Economic Security and Policy Cohort, various collaboration meetings, planning committees for their upcoming summit, and pretty much anything else Ashley asks me to attend!"
Name one thing you find special about the Florida philanthropic community.
"The Florida philanthropic community is open to new ideas and collaboratives. I recall during the pandemic when federal and state assistance funds were available to the community, a cadre of philanthropic organizations came together to discuss how best to get these funds into the community where they’re most needed. We came together and discussed not only how to fund supports in the area (which are always needed) but also what rules and regulations were most needed – and what rules were unnecessarily redundant – to get resources to community residents effectively and easily. Through collective conversations with local leaders, we were able to help build a system that provided needed funds to families in the height of the pandemic."
Are there any partnerships or collaboration efforts you have found most meaningful to you in the last year?
What's the biggest challenge you've faced with your philanthropic efforts? How have you overcome them? |
"When our mission is to mobilize communities to action for all, the biggest challenge is determining where to start and how to allocate our time and resources most effectively. With such a gargantuan calling, there will always be more community need than the resources to support this need, and so it is especially necessary to be creative and collaborative in our community work. In addition, this work requires looking at our community issues from different angles: in some cases, funding can help address an issue in the community but often the best solution is removing the issue itself – this requires deeper partnerships and collaborations between various partners. It’s hard work, but it can lead to real change."
What fuels your cup - in life and at work?
"I’ll get the obvious out of the way first: my wife and two daughters (8 and 4) are amazing individuals! It doesn’t matter how tough the day has been, playing nonsense games with them in the evenings always gives me my fuel. After that, my background is in Social Work, and so participating in collaboration that leads to real community change truly drives me and my work. Things can be tough for families these days, and so being able to be a part of something that makes our families’ lives a little easier keeps me going every day."
Can you share one piece of advice you would give to someone considering a career in philanthropy?
"Work hard to balance long-term systems change with daily incremental change because we need both. We need to help people who are struggling today, definitely, but we need to simultaneously look toward what’s happening in our systems that lead toward this struggle. We also know that systems change work can take years to see the fruits of our labor, and so we equally need to couple long-term work with supports that can address immediate crises. They just have to go hand in hand in order to help move our communities forward toward real change where everyone can live their lives with just a little less stress."