Dr. Novien Yarber is the Senior Learning Officer at Prebys Foundation, where he helps the foundation listen, reflect, and learn from its work with community partners. Known around the office as “Dr. Novi,” he brings a rare combination of rigor, warmth, and curiosity to the practice of evaluation. Before joining Prebys, Novi served as Director of Leadership, Philanthropy, and Social Impact at the University of San Diego’s Nonprofit Institute, where he led community-focused programs at the intersection of leadership and social change
This Episode:
What does it look like when a foundation takes a closer look at itself?
In this episode, Novi and Grant reflect on what Prebys heard from grantee partners through its most recent Grantee Perception Report. The conversation explores both the affirmations and the invitations for growth, including how grantees perceive Prebys’ leadership, impact, adaptability, transparency, and relationships across San Diego County.
This episode offers a candid look at how a foundation makes sense of feedback, wrestles with trade-offs, and thinks about its role in community. Novi and Grant discuss one of the central tensions in place-based philanthropy: how to keep learning and responding to changing conditions while also being clear and predictable for the organizations doing the work every day.
They explore what real transparency requires, why trust matters for shared learning, and how funders and grantees can build relationships strong enough to hold wins, losses, lessons, and setbacks.
Key Moments:
- [2:02] What the Center for Effective Philanthropy is and why the report matters
- [10:28] Why relationships are central to place-based philanthropy
- [23:55] How deeper trust can support shared learning between funders and grantees
- [30:39] Grant reflects on adaptive leadership, values, and predictability
- [38:08] Novi connects transparency with accountability
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
- Center for Effective Philanthropy – A national nonprofit that supports more effective philanthropy through research, data, and resources for foundations and donors.
- Prebys Foundation – A place-based foundation working to advance purpose, opportunity, and belonging across San Diego County.
- Healing Through Arts and Nature – A Prebys-supported approach that expands access to arts, culture, and nature as resources for youth mental health and well-being.
Take Action:
- Practice Transparency – Share not only what you decide, but what you are learning along the way. Being open about process can build trust, even when the answers are still evolving.
- Build Relationships That Can Hold Honesty – Invest in relationships where people can share what is working, what is hard, and what needs to change without fear of losing trust.
- Stay Open to Feedback – Treat feedback as an opportunity to grow, not as a final judgment. Listening, reflecting, and adjusting are part of building stronger organizations and communities.
Credits:
This is a production of the Prebys Foundation
Hosted by Grant Oliphant
Co-Hosted by Crystal Page
Produced by Adam Greenfield, Tess Karesky, Edgar Ontiveros Medina, and Crystal Page
Engineered by Adam Greenfield
Production Coordination by Tess Karesky
Video Production by Edgar Ontiveros Medina
The Stop & Talk Theme song was created by San Diego’s own Mr. Lyrical Groove.
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Special thanks to the Prebys Foundation Team
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