Wildflowers Institute, headquartered in San Francisco, offers a three-step Approach to discovering the informal ways that things get done in a community and the leaders and activities that quietly make a difference. The Wildflowers Approach is based on over thirty years of grassroots work and research in communities with millions of residents, all over the world.
Hanmin Liu and Jennifer Mei cofounded Wildflowers Institute in 1998 after spending the previous two decades training international leaders from the
fields of philanthropy, education, health care, and government. Through this accumulated experience, they learned that leaders wanted to know not only how to improve themselves, but also how to actually make sustainable social impact.
When they introduced leaders to new cultures, Hanmin and Jennifer recognized an immediate need for guidance on what was going on in these cultures, whom to trust, and how to make a difference in an unfamiliar system. After organizing dozens of cross-cultural exchanges, Hanmin and Jennifer knew that they had developed a unique methodology for helping different cultures understand each other. This methodology became the Wildflowers Approach that gave leaders and philanthropists who were not locals an understanding of how a grassroots community actually works and what the hidden informal strengths are.
Hanmin and Jennifer believe in following a low-overhead model and devoting their resources to the communities they are invited to work in. The work of Wildflowers Institute is made possible by the following foundations and corporations:
Adler & Colvin Akonadi Foundation Altagracia Fund ArtPlace America The Aspen Institute The Jenifer Altman Foundation Bank of the Orient Barr Foundation Beneficial State Bank The Benevity Community Impact Fund The Birge-Spivey Charitable Fund Brown Charitable Trust The California Endowment The California Wellness Foundation Campbell Foundation Fund The Candelaria Fund CartoDB The Annie E. Casey Foundation Marguerite Casey Foundation Catholic Community Services of Western Washington Center for Systemic Change Advised Fund Chinese American Citizens Alliance The Christensen Fund The Chrysopolae Foundation Community Foundation Silicon Valley Community Technology Foundation of California Dreyfus Health Foundation Duler and Company Ettinger Foundation Far East National Bank Fetzer Institute The Flow Fund Circle Fontanello, Duffield & Otake, LLP Frey Vineyards |
The Ford Foundation The Arthur J. Gallagher Foundation Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Haigh-Scatena Foundation Impact Experience The James Irvine Foundation Jewish Community Endowment Fund Justice Grace Vineyards Kalliopeia Foundation W. K. Kellogg Foundation The Kresge Foundation Patricia A. and William E. LaMothe Foundation The Marchese Company, Inc. The Moca Fund Morrison & Foerster, LLP Ramón and Sally Murguía Fund Khan and Liza Nedd Family Fund of Grand Rapids Community Foundation Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Fund The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Perry IP Group A.L.C. The Philanthropic Collaborative The Retirement Research Foundation Room 5600 The San Francisco Foundation Howard and Judith Sims Charitable Fund Robert D. Sparks Trust Levi Strauss Foundation Stupski Foundation 10129 Foundation Tenderloin Health Improvement Partnership The J. F. Thye Charitable Trust Haskell and Janice Titchell Trust TomKat Fund Salome E. and Jonathan T. Walton Family Fund Zendesk |