Clare Brewka

Purpose hero

Clare Brewka’s background in social work, coupled with a series of research projects and internships, helped her realize how interested she was in the relationship between the nonprofit and funding communities. She was especially curious about the power dynamics within philanthropic systems and the influence of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

“I loved the concept of impact through giving. I think a lot of people, myself included, traditionally and historically have rooted themselves in the thought of giving being altruistic. It can be something that allows for the ‘feel-goods’ and a personal connection with a cause. But it can also enable strategic impact, moving the needle thoughtfully and based on evidence and research that says change is coming. This is how change can be made in a sustainable way.”

Clare Brewka, Community Engagement Manager at MiTek

Purpose program

MiTek transforms the construction industry with better building solutions. They enable their partners to meet the demand for smarter, more affordable and more sustainable homes and buildings.

MiTek has over 6,000 team members, but its community affairs team is lean—just three people globally. That small team relies heavily on MiTek’s employees to act as torchbearers for their strategic vision of change. Collaboration, trust and transparency are the core tenets of their emergency corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

“These values have enabled MiTek team members to effectively practice our guiding principle of stewardship. It shapes our social impact efforts around community need, while simultaneously understanding how MiTek can come alongside communities with deep impact that is based upon our unique strengths.”

Clare Brewka, Community Engagement Manager at MiTek

And while they're building relationships externally with community partners, they’re also doing it internally, pulling together to create a community of trust and a culture of giving. In turn, that helps them transform global communities.

Connect with your cause partners

Before implementing a program, Clare recommends having conversations with nonprofits to determine their perspective on best practices and potential pitfalls.

“Asking doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to follow through with every single one of their desires and hopes and dreams. It does, however, help you build relationships, which is a best practice within the field of giving—a funding relationship has such potential to be more than transactional.”

Clare Brewka, Community Engagement Manager at MiTek

Consider the opportunity for scale-up

If you’re thinking about a grant program and what platforms can enable it to grow, look beyond your immediate needs. When MiTek issued a request for proposals to grant management software vendors, they knew that as they matured as a program, they’d need an employee giving and volunteer platform as well.

“We have such an appetite for our members to be able to give back, not just with their treasure, but with their time and talent. Benevity was one of those companies that had both solutions in their portfolio. It was truly a comfort to know those solutions could integrate and communicate with one another. It enabled us, as social impact professionals, to glean better insights about employee giving and our social impact metrics across the company.”

Clare Brewka, Community Engagement Manager at MiTek

Clare believes that even if you’re just starting out, it’s good to look into the future.

“See what you’re going to need, not just in the next year or two, but potentially five years down the road. If you’re a new program, in particular, having that future orientation is going to serve you well.”

Clare Brewka, Community Engagement Manager at MiTek

The impact

Clare’s work enables her to connect with MiTek team members all over the world. While the locations, tenures and passions of her coworkers vary, the thread tying them together is how much of a difference they all want to make.

“One of the most heartening experiences for me is knowing that a new MiTek team member accepted a job offer not just because they wanted to step into those core job responsibilities, but also because of our culture of giving. I’ve learned that MiTek team members are drawn to our commitment to transform global communities. To me, that is probably one of the biggest successes I could in any way contribute to, because it translates to purpose and passion.”

Clare Brewka, Community Engagement Manager at MiTek