Marian Moore Biography

This website, including the bio below, is meant to enable the interested reader to discern whether there is work for us to do together. Below is my attempt to describe my professional and personal life to give you background on the experience and influences I bring to my work.

Current Professional Life

Currently, I design and facilitate conferences in the field of philanthropy and social investment and act as a coach and consultant to individuals, non-profits and businesses engaged in effecting social and environmental change. I’m also active as a songwriter, singer and producer of concerts.

Since 2005 my primary professional focus has been my coaching practice and Play BIG, a series of conferences designed to encourage more proactive, generous and strategic giving and investing for social change for people with exceptionally large capital reserves, (www.playbig.ca) Additionally, from 2003-2006 I was a conference design facilitator for Threshold Foundation, a national network of social change philanthropists (of which I’ve been a member for 20 years) and in 2005 for Momentum, a conference for 250 donors and activists hosted by Tides Foundation, Threshold Foundation and Resource Generation.

Personal Story

It’s easy for me to see the seeds of this work in my family of origin. My parents, both inheritors, were passionate about social justice and devoted their lives and their family life to that pursuit, my father as an activist Episcopal bishop, my mother as an activist and writer. I was raised in Washington DC in the sixties, immersed in social and political activism. Through words and deeds, my parents taught me a lot about my responsibility to others. What they didn’t do was teach me about the money I was to inherit and how to integrate the emotional reality of living with abundance in a world of need.

In 1990, I found a group called The Threshold Foundation, which has provided me with a venue in which to work toward my own integration of those seemingly disparate inheritances. In the process, I learned about the power of community and high-quality group process to empower members to do extraordinary work in the world. Since then I have sought training and experience to become more skillful as a facilitator and coach to fulfill my self- assigned role as facilitator and coach in the movement for social and environmental change. Additionally, I continue to cultivate awareness and skillfulness as a white person from a wealthy background, to be an effective and conscious bridge between philanthropists and non-profits, between people of wealth and activists, between white people and people of color, between investors and businesses seeking investment.

Professional History

Philanthropic Conferences– Lead Design and Facilitation
Selected agendas and featured speakers available by request.

Play BIG
Intimate conferences for high net asset philanthropist and social investors featuring individual’s stories, case studies, facilitated peer coaching and “vehicles for Playing BIG" designed to encourage and support donors to be more proactive, generous and strategic with their capital (see www.playbig.ca)

Six conferences since 2005 in British Columbia and San Francisco

Women Play BIG
In partnership with the Canadian Women’s Foundation, a series of Play BIG conferences for women. in Toronto and Calgary.
Four conferences since 2006

New Voices In Philanthropy
A two-day philanthropic conference for 50+ women sponsored by The Minneapolis Foundation. October, 2005

Momentum- February, 2005
Three-day conference sponsored by Tides Foundation, Resource Generation, Threshold Foundation, Funding Exchange, Women Donors Network and others for 250 progressive donors and activists seeking strategic direction as a movement. Speakers, panels and group process.

The Threshold Foundation: Creation and design of thematic five-day conferences for this 250-member national network of philanthropists, Content includes integration of social change philanthropic and issue education with rigorous group process exploring related personal work. Money and Class. Conference agendas available by request.

Threshold Leadership Institute: Co-produced a yearlong training engaging the talents of leadership trainings of Robert Gass/Art of Leadership, Lillie Allen/Be Present and Gigi Coyle/Council Training at Ojai Foundation.

Independent Consultant– Non-conference related
1998-2010 (partial client list)

Rockwood Leadership Institute, Consulting in proposed development of regional yearlong training, 2010. www.rockwoodleadership.org,

Renewal2, Senior Advisor, Business Development for social mission investment fund 2008-2009.

Marbrook Foundation, Guided board chair and E.D. of this family foundation through a yearlong process to shift mission focus and granting guidelines. 2007-2008

National Nonprofiter Voter Engagement Network, acted as fundraising consultant with this national nonprofit 2006

Let’s Talk America, Helped design and coordinate this national initiative supporting consciously facilitated conversations across political differences, 2004.

Strategic Planning and Retreat Design and Facilitation:

Utne Reader, Series of day-long staff retreats for this national magazine
2001-2003

Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire, Board and staff retreat, 2003

Campbell-Mithun Estes Advertising – Staff retreat 2002, Meditation and Creativity Series 2003

Minneapolis Foundation – Design of family philanthropy retreat. 2002

Kevin J. Mossier Foundation Board – Board Retreat 2001

Other Projects:

Project Mgr, Internet Rights Acquisition – Public Radio International ‘99-‘01

Project Mgr, Marketing for Green Mtn. Energy IPO- The Cullinan Group ’99

Music and Television

Co-producer Tribute to Bob Feldman, September, 2007, featured 15 musical acts and raised $25,000 for Redwood protection, Fitzgerald Theatre

Co-producer Minnesota Artists for Kerry, October, 2004, featured leading Minnesota writers and musicians. O’Shaughnessy Auditorium

Cofounder, co-chair, co-producer: Concerts for the Environment, national non-profit producer of multi-act stadium and arena concert events designed to bring public attention to environmental issues through multi-media, cross-marketed education campaigns. Annual Earth Day Concerts and other CFE events included artists Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Indigo Girls, Queen Latifah and dozens more. Venues included The Hollywood Bowl, Foxboro Stadium and the U.S. Capitol. 1989-94 Leadership role in all aspects of organizational and program development and implementation.

Independent concert and television producer: 1987-1992, Minneapolis. Conceived, produced and promoted concerts including:

"Women Who Cook" concerts and the 1988 Soviet Peace Tour
Co-founded this “all-star" group of Twin Cities’ women musicians. Organized all aspects of concerts and associated promotion and fundraising campaigns including two-week Soviet Tour. Found Soviet liaison, secured funding through individual, foundation and business support. Executive- produced accompanying TV documentary (aired on KARE-TV)
"Baby That Was Rock and Roll: The Music of Leiber and Stoller" Guthrie Theatre 1988. the musical review that inspired the long-running Broadway hit “Smokey Joe’s Cafe". Assembled cast of 16 Twin Cities musicians to interpret the music of Leiber and Stoller. Developed and organized all aspects of production and promotion. Remounted for Twin Cities Public Television production. Aired fall, 1988.
Producer/Host: KFAI Radio’s “Urban Folk" (90.3 FM) Minneapolis. Weekly, 2-hour music program with occasional live in-depth interviews with musicians. 1994-2000

Producing Staff KTCA-TV (PBS), 1979-1984 Minneapolis/St. Paul:

Associate and co-producer “Nighttimes Variety". Award-winning, weekly, in-studio, live music series featured hundreds of national and local pop, folk, rock and jazz musicians in 85 programs during three years of production. Artists included: Max Roach, King Sunny Ade, Queen Ida, David Grisman, Leo Kottke, Greg Brown, The Steeles,
Producer, documentary profiles of musicians including half-hour documentary "I Sing Because I Can’t Fly; a profile of Claudia Schmidt" and shorter profiles of Steve Kramer, Larry Long and the Steeles.
Associate producer, Festival of Friends; The Winnipeg Folk Festival featuring The Roches, Vassar Clements and more
Associate Producer, One Last Song On His Mountain, the story of Glen Exum’s fiftieth anniversary climb up the Grand Teton, hosted by Jim Klobuchar.
Researcher and production assistant for weekly public affairs program Electronicle.
Casting Director, Girlfriends,
Copy aide for the Washington Post 1974