Founder & funder event recap · The Surge Institute & Schusterman Family Philanthropies

We’re thrilled to launch a new ‘Founder & funder’ series, in which we pull back the curtain for an in-depth look at how a founder started an organization and the funder helped made those dreams a reality. We were joined for our first event by Carmita Semaan of The Surge Institute and Julie Mikuta of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.  

Carmita Semaan is the founder and CEO of The Surge Institute. After starting her career as an engineer and strategist for multiple Fortune 500 companies including Procter & Gamble and Danaher, corporate America could not contain Carmita’s desire to lead initiatives that benefit youth and transform urban communities—so she blazed a trail within the nonprofit sector, primarily in K-12 urban education. Carmita’s expertise is supporting and elevating the genius of emerging and seasoned leaders—particularly women and people of color—and shining a light on the brilliance and ingenuity that is too often overlooked and untapped in solving systemic issues. Her guiding principle is the connection of head, heart, and soul in leadership to drive sustainable impact and lasting partnerships.  

Julie Mikuta is Co-President of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and leads their K12 Education portfolio. In this capacity, she oversees their strategy and investments in increasing the number of low-income students, especially students of color, who graduate from high school ready for college and the workplace. Julie joined the organization in 2013 to build their Education portfolio and team.  

This inspiring conversation revealed several themes on how to turn your big idea into a successful organization—some of which might be familiar to you. But one key factor might have you squirming in your seat: breaking out of the scarcity mindset. We’re talking know your worth, speaking your vision into existence, and acting as if your idea is already a reality. Bold, right? It worked for Carmita, and here's how.  

Power of Relationships 

Before you can boldly share your vision, you have to get in the room with the right people—but how can you make that happen? Building a robust organic network, without a specific ask or outcome in mind, paid dividends for Carmita.

When she was ready to take action on her big idea, she went to her network and asked them for feedback, to poke holes in her vision, and to challenge her assumptions. Those conversations then led to members of her network opening doors for her—ultimately connecting her with Julie at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies (spoiler alert—her first funder!). 

“Some might consider it bold, but I felt comfortable because I had warm introductions with the right people. I had to take those warm introductions and run with it,” Carmita shared. 

Carmita and Julie began building a relationship rooted in trust, authenticity and shared mutual interests. Keep reading to hear more on how that first round of funding was secured, but what’s important to note here is that Julie was transparent from the get-go that this would be a one-time grant from the foundation to get The Surge Institute off the ground. Fast forward almost a decade, and the Schusterman Family continues to be both a funding and trusted thought partner to Surge, thanks to Carmita’s intentionality around consistent and candid communication, flexibility and clear focus.

“Communicate often. Not just around grant periods—it’s important to let funders feel like they're a part of what's happening in the organization.” 

Clarity is confidence 

There are several ways that Carmita set herself apart from the crowd as a leader and set Surge up for success. Carmita made a great first impression with the clarity of her vision. She knew exactly what need she was solving for, and Surge’s unique approach to addressing that need. Not only that, but Carmita was driven by the passion of her lived experiences of navigating Corporate America as a Black woman. She found ways to connect personally with both Julie and Stacy Schusterman and create a bridge for them to fully understand her vision.  

The lesson here is a good reminder for us all that fundraising is not about our idea or mission —but instead contextualizing it for community members in a way that connects to their heart and allows them to see themselves as part of the work. Carmita could see the need and solution in a way that Julie admitted she couldn’t, and found a way to make it resonate personally, without just saying “trust me.” 

Carmita also shared some solid nuggets of wisdom for founders, encouraging leaders to be clear about you do really well to guide the highest and best use of your time. On the flip side, recognize your weaknesses and overinvest time and money into support for those areas. 

Know Your worth 

Carmita was clear that she wanted to present how much it would actually take to make her vision happen, and there was no way she was willing to do it halfway. She kept coming back to her mantra of “teach people how to treat you.” When talking about the ask, she expressed “If I went in focused on nickel and dime or holding on by a shoestring—that's how'd they think I was approaching this organization.”  

So, she asked for $1 million. And, she included a line item for her own salary, maintaining her most recent compensation as CEO of a nonprofit. Carmita wanted to signal that she knew her worth and be sure that the funder knew her worth too. 

“Speak a thing into existence—if you don't believe it, they certainly won't,” Carmita expressed. 

Julie’s reaction? “Another check in the confidence column.” The ask indicated that Carmita had thought this through and was clear on what was needed to get this organization off the ground and get it to where it needed to go.  

And though Julie was transparent that this was a one-time grant, Carmita’s investment in relationship building and demonstration of impact inspired the foundation to continue providing funding, which was critical in those early days. 

“We saw that Carmita was not able to attract all of the funding that she needed. We wanted to stay involved to signal to other funders that this is someone we back.” 

Value of vulnerability 

One thread of this conversation that deserves to be amplified, and demonstrates the power of this partnership, is hearing their perspective on the current fundraising landscape, especially as it relates to racial injustice. Both noted how saddened they are to see the retraction of funding and attention from racial justice efforts, and for Carmita how that’s personally affected her work at Surge. Carmita shared that from her lived experience as a Black woman, she was cautiously optimistic about the moment spurred by the murder of George Floyd. “I was hopeful that this energy would sustain, but so many signals say that this is a moment in time, not a movement.” 

They consistently have open dialogue on the realities of racial injustice in today’s world, with Julie seeking to learn from Carmita’s lived experience to be able to better understand and support other organizations that she is working with. So often we see funder relationships being more transactional, with money flowing from the funder to the organization. The strong partnership between The Surge Institute and the Schusterman Family shows both the value of a mutually beneficial relationship, and bringing vulnerability to connect with each other on a human level. 

We can’t thank Carmita and Julie enough, along with our moderator Liz Ngonzi, for joining us and pulling back the curtain on their relationship. We look forward to continuing the Founder & Funder series with our next conversation on November 2 from 12:30-1:30 pm ET, featuring Jabee Williams of Live Free OKC and Perrin Duncan of the Arnall Family Foundation. Learn more about our panelists and register for our next free session here.   

This event series is offered as a collaboration between Aperio Philanthropy and the George H. Heyman, Jr. Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising within the NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs. 

About the author

Colvin Hedgepeth is an Associate Director of Client Services with Aperio Philanthropy. Prior to joining Aperio, she supported grassroots to international organizations, including leading the fundraising efforts for Blue Sky Fund, an outdoor education organization in her hometown of Richmond, VA, to running events for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.