March 30, 2007
ENVIRONMENT:
YOUTH REHABILITATION
Senate bill would close Oak Hill (WaPo, 3/30)
Maryland Sens. Mikulski (D) and Cardin (D) to close D.C.’s juvenile detention center in Laurel, Md., and build a new one in the District.
POVERTY
Nation’s first conditional cash transfer program (Newswire, 3/29)
Bloomberg Unveils Bold Fight Poverty Initiative (WCBS, 3/29)
NYC Mayor Bloomberg and foundations introduce a public-private partnership called “Opportunity NYC.” The pilot program will begin in September and last two years.
“GRANTMAKER” ACCOUNTABILITY
An interesting editorial in the Post this morning. Apparently, Maryland Senators and Representatives receive state funds to pass out as scholarships to whomever they choose–friends, donors, and even, potentially, family members. These funds total over $10 million annually. Only 20 out of 188 lawmakers have voluntarily given their funds to a state commission for distribution. Many think standards and oversight are long overdue.
No Comments » | 
WG's "In the News", environment | 
Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
March 29, 2007
Memorial Service - Henry (Hank) Strong
Monday, April 16, 2007 at 10:30 a.m.
Washington National Cathedral, Bethlehem Chapel
3101 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.
(Wisconsin and Massachusetts Ave., NW)
Washington, DC 20016
202-537-6200
[Directions]
Hank Strong was one of our most wonderful, stalwart philanthropic leaders. He became Chairman and President of the Hattie M. Strong Foundation in 1968, and was active in convening his peers in philanthropy when the Washington area funding community was very small. He was a founding board member of both Washington Grantmakers and the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region. He also played a leading role in shaping the boards of many anchor Washington nonprofit organizations, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center, Hillwood and the American Red Cross.
Julie Rogers, founding chair of Washington Grantmakers recalls: “Hank was a wonderfully generous and gracious philanthropic leader for over 40 years as our funding community grew and developed. We will miss him very much. He was proud to be a Navy aviator, and he often quoted this blessing which his many friends in our community would now offer him: “Well done, and may you have fair winds and a following sea.”
Maxine Baker, Chair of Washington Grantmakers’ Board: “The Board of Directors appreciates the wonderful years of service Hank gave to this community. His thoughtful contributions helped shape Washington Grantmakers into the organization that it is today.”
We send our community’s love to his wife, Malan, their family, and to Judy Cyphers and his colleagues and friends at the Hattie M. Strong Foundation.
Please send condolences to:
Hattie M. Strong Foundation
1620 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 700
Washington, DC. 20006-4005
1 Comment | WG announcement | Permalink
Posted by washington grantmakers
March 29, 2007
CHILD CARE
[VA] “Speaking Out for Subsidies” (WaPo, 3/29)
As Virginia’s waiting list for child care subsidies grows, Voices for Virginia’s Children is helping parents speak out. High child care costs cause many low-income families to return to welfare.
HEALTH
[MD] Hospital proposal sparks friction in Pr. George’s County (WaPo, 3/29)
County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) does not want a new state-appointed authority taxing the county’s residents to pay off hospital debts, but he is not offering specifics about his alternative plan. His plan involves a buyer which he will not name publically–yet he has informed the Post that it’s Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham. It all seems a little strange. Meanwhile, the hospital system, which serves 180,000 annually, will run out of cash in a few days.
EDUCATION
[MD] Leave Pr. George’s school board alone (WaPo editorial, 3/29)
[Opinion] A proposal to reshape the board is unwarranted since “the new Board of Education is focused, attentive and working well with Superintendent John E. Deasy.”
On Tuesday, April 3, WG Members are invited to attend
“Prince George’s County - Next Steps (Part Two)”
No Comments » | WG's "In the News", early care and education | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
March 26, 2007
BUDGET
[DC] “Forum Calls on Fenty to Remember Needy” (WaPo, 3/25)
“‘We can spend millions on a baseball stadium, but yet still our kids don’t have computers in their school,’ said Earnest Crawford, a homeless man… To resounding applause, Crawford continued: ‘You tell me: Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?’” The event was arranged by the Fair Budget Coalition and hosted by the Public Welfare Foundation [WG member].
(Tomorrow: Regional Budgets Briefing for WG Members - REGISTER)
PHILANTHROPY
“Retiring boomers worrying nonprofits” (Phil. Inquirer, 3/25)
In a 2004 survey by the Annie E. Casey Foundation [WG member], two-thirds of executive directors surveyed said they wanted to leave their position by 2009. “That has everyone concerned” says the foundation’s Patrick Corvington [WG board member].
“Women’s Giving Circles Combine Socializing with Philanthropy” (USINFO, 3/23)
An intro to giving circles, with quotes from Daria Teutonico of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
“How Much Are the Marriotts Giving” (Washingtonian, April 2007)
Pick up this month’s Washingtonian for an interesting profile on the Marriott family, Marriott International, Inc., and the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation [WG members].
“Philanthropy has its rewards” (S.J. Mercury News, 3/25)
COMMUNITY
“D.C.’s new planning boss sets her sights on making the city affordable, walkable”
(WashBizJournal, 3/23)
Harriet Tregoning’s challenges include developers who oppose the requirement to build affordable housing in all new developments.
No Comments » | WG's "In the News", budget, community | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
March 23, 2007
Mayor Fenty’s fiscal 2008 budget to be released today:
PHILANTHROPY
A founder discusses sustainability, permanence (onPhilanthropy, 3/21)
Mario Morino, on the changes at Venture Philanthropy Partners
EDUCATION
[DC] “Students Welcome Shot At College Scholarships” (WaPo, 3/23)
A follow-up on the Gates Foundation’s $122 million investment in D.C. (WaPo editorial: “The Gates Foundation deservedly gets credit for its contributions to education locally and nationally. That doesn’t let the rest of us off the hook. After all, six schools are just a drop in the bucket of places where children deserve more.)”
CHILD WELFARE
[MD] “Right wrongs of Md.’s child welfare system” (Examiner, 3/22)
A Maryland child advocate has suggestions for fixing the state’s child welfare system.
YOUTH
[VA] Flaws in Virginia’s juvenile justice system (WaPo, 3/23 - scroll)
A new report finds that Virginia isn’t tracking the effects of adult prisons on the youths who end up there. In Virginia, defendants as young as 14 may be tried as adults. In 2005, three-quarters of the juveniles sent to adult prison were black “even though African Americans accounted for less than half of juvenile arrests that year.”
DC VOTING RIGHTS
[DC] “House Vote on D.C. Seat Thwarted” (WaPo, 3/23)
A representative proposed tying the voting rights bill to a weaking of D.C.’s gun laws. Fearful of losing votes that “pro-gun members of their party could be tempted to side with Republicans,” Democrats postponed the bill.
> Voting Rights March - April 16
No Comments » | WG's "In the News", budget | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
March 22, 2007
PHILANTHROPY
Bank of America matches donations of “citizen philanthropists” (PRNewswire, 3/20)
This is interesting. At DonorsChoose.org, individual teachers can submit “proposals” for classroom projects that need funding. Individual donors can then fund all or part of a project. (Globalgiving [WG member] does the same thing on a multi-issue, global scale.) It’s an exciting model that allows small donors to act big. But when major givers like Bank of America [WG member] start matching private donations, the line between big philanthropy and small donors really begins to blur [EDIT--in a good way, I mean]. So, could/should a similar model be used to benefit an entire non-profit community in a particular city or region? Why only use this on a global scale and for classroom projects?
EDUCATION
[DC] Gates Foundation to fund scholarships in D.C. (WaPo, 3/22)
Select students at six high schools–Anacostia, Ballou, H.D. Woodson, Friendship Collegiate, Maya Angelou-Evans and Thurgood Marshall Academy–will receive college prep classes, college mentors, and scholarships. The D.C. College Success Foundation will receive $112 million, and $10 million will go to the D.C. College Access Program (DC-CAP), a nonprofit funded by several WG members, to administer elements of the program and to expand operations.
[VA] “In Fairfax’s ‘No Child’ Fight, A Refusal to Leave Children Behind” (WaPo, 3/22)
The Dept. of Education is threatening to withhold $17 million in funding, but Fairfax County Superintendent Jack Dale refuses, as columnist Marc Fisher puts it, ”to make a kid who has just arrived in the country sit at a desk and be humiliated by a test that can only make him feel like a moron.” Virginia’s senators are backing a bill to preserve funding.
1 Comment | WG's "In the News", education | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
March 20, 2007
EDUCATION
One-third of adults in D.C. are functionally illiterate… (AP, 
3/19)
…and D.C. LEARNs (D.C.’s Literacy Education, Advocacy, and Resource Network) wants to change that. Anyone can help, either with book donations or by becoming an individual or organizational member. The Philip L. Graham Fund [WG member] has funded the organization’s hotline and data collection efforts. The Fannie Mae Foundation [WG member] has supported the Read Out Loud Campaign, as well as research and outreach. D.C. LEARNs is also a part of the Verizon Foundation’s [WG member] nationwide literacy campaign.
Charter School Effort Gets $65 Million Lift (WaPo, 3/20)
Donor money will make the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) the largest charter school organization in the country. KIPP runs three middle schools in the District (AIM Academy, KEY Academy, and WILL Academy). LEAP Academy, an elementary school, is due to open in summer 2007.
HEALTH
Whitman-Walker Clinic to sell 14th St. Properties… (WBJ, 3/16)
…and reassemble under a new single roof.
POVERTY
Event: Reducing Poverty in Washington, DC and Rebuilding the Middle Class From Within: A Community Discussion
Monday, March 26, 2007, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
No Comments » | WG's "In the News", education, poverty | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
