August 2024

Dan Maddox used to say, “It is my job to make the money and her job to give it away. She is doing a better job than I am.” He was referring to his wife Margaret – in fact a Vice President of the Maddox companies and fully engaged in business matters. Still, the anecdote (a popular joke at parties in the ’70s and ’80s) illustrates a persistent practice among foundations: the disconnect over how the money is made and how it is given away.

Historically, the Maddox Fund’s Investment Committee structured the organization’s investment program with the singular focus maximizing returns. The Grant Committee, another group altogether, developed a process for giving the money away. The committees reported to each other at board meetings; their work, however, was guided by different values and directives.

With this siloed structure, Maddox’s market investments and grants could easily work against each other. For example, we might have invested in a company that degrades water quality while our grants prioritized healthy water systems; or, we might have invested in companies with extractive labor practices even as Maddox espouses justice and liberation.

During our 2020 equity audit, we interrogated our practices and began to ask how we could align our resources with our values. We asked ourselves what it would look like if every dollar we invested worked to further our mission.

Meanwhile, the Investment Committee went to work crafting our investment North Stars, which led to a 14-month search for an investment adviser who specialized in mission-aligned investments. In 2022, we hired Bivium Westfuller – a multi-racial, gender-diverse investment advisor “compelled by the power of financial resources, invested with purpose, to drive a flourishing society and planet.”

As of March 2024, approximately 71%, or $41M, of our assets have moved to Bivium Westfuller and invested with seven (7) diverse managers focused on solutions to three of our society’s most pressing problems – affordable housing, renewable energy and economic equity.

One of Maddox’s overarching North Stars is to be a “learning organization embracing all stages of transformation and change toward liberation.” We are in a steep learning curve right now as we plan for the transition of the remaining 29% of Maddox’s legacy investments toward alignment with our North Stars. In the year ahead we will be learning about impact measurement, shareholder activism and Net Zero investing. We are also learning, alongside other area foundations, about program- and mission-related investments in order to invest 95% of our resources in companies/markets that work for good.

The Maddox Fund seeks a world in which people and planet flourish together in regenerative systems free from oppression and threat. The old ways of working will not address our society’s most intractable systems and problems. New ways of thinking and investing are required. 

I come by it honestly. For 50 years my mom was part of a women’s group called the “Walkie Talkies.” You got it, they walked and talked weekly—seeing one another through personal crises, solving the world’s problems and cooking up a good deal of southern-woman mischief. It is no surprise that my response to almost every organizational crisis or transition is, “You want to take a walk?”

In my 15 years at the Maddox Fund, I’ve walked with long-term CEOs and young folx entering the nonprofit space. Walking puts people on an equal footing, creating a safer and more mutual environment for conversation. It also embodies what I believe to be true—we move forward together. ¡Adelante!

Walking also gets us outside, connecting us to nature and its rhythms. In the Spring, I choose Centennial Park, which is full of goslings and protective parents. In the Fall, Shelby Park’s colors make it my go-to place. And any season is perfect for Mill Ridge Park—our newest anchor park, thanks to the support of the Joe C. Davis Foundation and the excellent leadership of Darrell Hawks. The natural environment reminds us that seasons come and go—as do problems—and that our place in creation is both profound and insignificant.

In my final months at Maddox, I’d like say goodbye to everyone personally because you have shaped my life. But the closest I can get is inviting you on a walk–in small groups for cross-pollination and conversation. As appropriate, we might grab a coffee or a beer after our stroll.  Recognizing that walking is not for everyone, and even ableist, I’ve included some times at the Maddox office for a bite of lunch.

Use the form to RSVP for one of the sessions. All the dates below are open, but we will keep the groups small so that I can connect with each of you.

I anticipate that, as we stroll together, I’ll say “thank you” a lot. For your inspiration and courageous leadership, thank you.  For your boundless compassion and demand that systems be transformed, thank you. For your insistence that Maddox lead toward justice, thank you.  For envisioning a more liberatory Middle Tennessee, thank you.

In the months ahead, the Board of Directors of the Maddox Fund will announce the name of our new Executive Director. We hope they will join the team in the 4^th quarter of 2024 as I exit at the end of the year. I know the new leader will be motivated by the Middle Tennessee nonprofit community as you welcome the next season of Maddox philanthropy.