HOUSING Proposal To Boost Housing In Fairfax (WaPo, 3/29) - “County Would Buy Foreclosures to Sell As Affordable Units” - Seems like a good idea from Mr. Connolly. Could other localities do this?
BASEBALL
- Play Ball! A New Era Dawns in Washington (WaPo, 3/31)
- D.C. Residents Wait In Stadium’s Shadow - ”Ward’s biggest fear is that the team and its owners won’t interact with the children who will grow up near a baseball stadium. She was able to get tickets for 22 neighborhood children for Saturday night’s exhibition game through a nonprofit group she founded to help them…“But I want more than just a game. I want them to have learning opportunities and life opportunities. The team can do this.” (WaPo, 3/31) It’s true, they could. Isn’t anything possible when baseball comes to town?
WG MEMBER “Stewards of the environment” - the origins and mission of WG member Newton Marasco Foundation (Daily Times, 3/27)
TRANSPORTATION Metro spells out goals, including more on-time trains and “reducing by 10 percent the number of times riders have to get off trains that have broken down” (WaPo, 3/28). Y’know, those two issues just might be related.
Two WG members are represented on the panel—PNC Bank and Deloitte Services LP. Deloitte’s Emily Rothberg is a former co-chair of WG’s Corporate Philanthropy Affinity Group.
“During this panel discussion, you will discover how leaders in national corporate philanthropy are responding to the ever changing world of corporate giving, the economic environment, and the needs of their constituents—stakeholders, employees, and the community.”
EVALUATION Meyer Foundation VP Albert Ruesga’s full remarks from the recent Bradley Center panel (White Courtesy Telephone, 3/26) - “More nonsense has been spoken and written about evaluation than about any other subject in philanthropy.”
FLOODING?
FEMA says the 70-year-old levee system has critical weaknesses that expose the city to catastrophic flooding… wait–they’re talking about D.C.!? Fenty will allocate $2.5M to build 17th Street levee. (Examiner, 3/27)
Training meets philanthropy at [WG member] IBM (IHT, 3/26) “IBM’s program, which it calls the Corporate Service Corps, stands out on several counts. It uses the volunteer ethos to throw together employees who might otherwise never meet, even as it gives IBM a high profile in countries where the company does not yet have a major presence.”
It was great seeing so many of you at ”Washington Grantmakers 101: Understanding Working Groups & Funding Collaboratives.” If you missed it, you missed a great conversation about how participating in those groups has enhanced the impact of WG members’ work, provided them with knowledge, and increased their skills. To get involved or to learn more about any of the groups, contact Carolynn Mambu at mambu@washingtongrantmakers.org.
New CEOs at WG member organizations
Afterwards we held a reception to welcome some of the network’s newest leaders (pictured above, l to r): Phyllis Caldwell, president of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation; Karen Green, executive director of the Healthcare Initiative Foundation; Patricia Mathews, executive director of the Northern Virginia Health Foundation; and Lyn Hainge, executive director of the Campbell Hoffman Foundation.
HUNGER/NUTRITION “Our job is not going well,” says Harvard’s Dr. J. Larry Brown, the nation’s leading hunger scholar. He notes that while the nation’s largest hunger charity used to say ”we have a job that should not exist,” it now calls itself an ”equal partner” with government in “addressing hunger.” He proposes that the hunger sector “announce publicly that it intends to go out of business within the next four years.” (Morning Sentinel, 3/24)
AGING “The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation could dole out $9 million nationally over the next three years to help support caregivers of the elderly.” (BBJ, 3/24)
REGIONAL BUDGETS
D.C. - Fenty’s budget proposal (WaPo, 3/21) - $61M, not $117M, to affordable housing. “In July, Fenty told the Washington Interfaith Network, an advocacy group, that the city would commit $117 million to housing. His aides said that the pledge was never intended to be fulfilled solely through city operating funds and that the mayor would bridge the gap by dedicating city-controlled land and other resources.”
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Posted by nick geisinger
Two WG members are represented on the panel—PNC Bank and Deloitte Services LP. Deloitte’s Emily Rothberg is a former co-chair of WG’s Corporate Philanthropy Affinity Group.
- On PBS starting this week: “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” an important documentary series on the root causes of poor health, illness, and disparities. 
