Minority leadership lagging at nonprofits … Housing first in Fairfax Co. … Blossoms peak TODAY [News, 3.31.10]

Cherry blossoms at their peak today! Don’t wait too long. “This will not be a 14-day bloom.”
____________________________

DIVERSITY | Minority leadership lagging at nonprofits, report says (BaltSun, 3/31) – Here’s the Urban Institute report. “Although nearly half (49 percent) the population in the Baltimore–Washington region is people of color, 22 percent of nonprofit organizations in the region have executive directors of color.”

MERGER? | In Montgomery County, Family Services Inc. will take over the financial operations of Centro Familia, “at the request of Centro Familia’s board and its executive director, Pilar Torres.” Programs will continue.

HOMELESSNESS | Housing first: In Fairfax Co., pilot program brings hope to homeless (Fairfax Times, 3/30) – “FACETS… is using Fairfax County funding that normally would go toward paying for the motel stays to lease the apartments…”

CHILD CARE | Commentary: Quality Childcare in D.C. – by HyeSook Chung, executive director of D.C. Action for Children. “[L]imited access to quality and affordable childcare programs… perpetuates an entrenched cycle of poverty.”

B CORPS | Maryland in line to become B corporations pioneer (Gazette, 3/29) – “New type of company would be organized around social agenda”

HEALTH/NUTRITION/SCHOOLS | A TV Show and Congress Tackle School Lunches (NYTimes, 3/31) – Has anyone seen Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution? I heard it’s good.

“As more get insurance, community health clinics must grow” [News, 3.30.10]

HEALTH | Opinion: “It’s fortunate that the [community] health centers’ business models are well suited to scale up”…because in the wake of health reform, they’ll need to. (WaPo, 3/28)
> Learn about innovations in community-based care from the Regional Primary Care Coalition.
> April 5 at WG: Health Working Group monthly meeting

ENVIRONMENT | Big impact for bag tax: In 2009, food establishments handed out 22.5 million bags per month. In January, 2010: 3 million. (WaPo, 3/30)

DC SCHOOLS | DC a finalist, but not a winner, in the Race to the Top education competition (WaPo, 3/30) – “lost support because of lack of union support, poor data collection and questions about the sustainability of its test-score gains.” Rhee: “We are determined to reshape our application and submit for Phase Two.”

POVERTY | Petula Dvorak devotes today’s column to poverty in DC. “The recession has been a hurricane for these folks, and it exacerbates long-standing problems…” (WaPo, 3/30)

AIDS | Red tape holds up federal funding for local AIDS programs (WaPo, 3/30)

BROADBAND | Billionaire George Soros to Google: “Consider Baltimore” for “first pilot project for ultra-high-speed broadband access.” (BaltTech, 3/29)

A Happy Passover to all our friends who are celebrating–have a wonderful week!
-Nick

New position openings (Post jobs here – $60 for 60 days)

• Director of Grants – Jewish Social Service Agency (Rockville, Maryland)
• Operations Assistant – Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors LLC (District of Columbia)

Click here to post/view all jobs. (WG members post for free.) Positions appear for 60 days on the WG website, are featured in WG’s blog and member newsletter, and enter the Simply Hired database to appear on LinkedIn, Myspace, and others.

“Maybe great teachers are both born and made” [News, 3.29.10]

EDUCATION |  What makes a teacher great? (School reformers, take note.) (WaPo, 3/28) – by Marc Fisher – “[Aleta] Margolis believes that people who are in teaching for the right reasons can be molded into “instigators of thought” rather than providers of information” … “Maybe great teachers are both born and made. ” Featuring DC nonprofit Center for Inspired Teaching. Supporters include a bevy of WG members.

HEALTH | Md. bill would alter way primary health care is delivered (BizJournals, 3/26) – “patient-centered medical home program” – “It’s a system in which your insurance company shares vital medical records with any physician who treats you and then rewards those doctors for keeping you out of the hospital.”

CENSUS | As census nears, officials make final appeal in diverse settings (WaPo, 3/28) – “In the Washington area, about one in three households had responded, ranging from a low of 29 percent in the District to a high of 40 percent in Loudoun County.” (Texans find the whole darn thing a little suspicious.)

ARTS | D.C. arts groups cautiously emerging from recession (WaPo, 3/28) – Some see gradual signs of turnaround.

Fighting foreclosures… DC teacher contract close?… Women’s Foundation’s Leadership Awards winners [News, 3.26.10]

DC SCHOOLS | D.C. teachers contract may be close, union chief says (WaPo, 3/26) – “Rhee is expected to fund a significant portion of the raises with donations from private foundations.”

FORECLOSURES
- Obama readies steps to fight foreclosures, particularly for unemployed (WaPo, 3/26)
- Bank of America to Reduce Mortgage Balances (NYTimes, 3/24)

AWARDS | Washington Area Women’s Foundation announces winners of its Leadership Awards (3/25) – 10 nonprofits recognized for their innovative work with women and girls

COMMUNICATIONS | New website aims to increase visibility of philanthropists and organizations (DailyTell, 3/24) – Videos on Youtube–but appears that they don’t have a Youtube channel.

DOMESTIC | Secret Women’s Shelter Expanding In D.C (WAMU, 3/26) – My Sister’s Place | supporters

HOMELESSNESS | District to Fire D.C. General Shelter’s Manager (CityPaper, 3/25)

EDUCATION DATA | Judging high schools by students’ college success (WaPo, 3/25)

NOMINATIONS | …for 2010 Montgomery County Philanthropist of the Year–deadline: April 1

…and Ted Leonsis to buy the Wizards.

Meet Maria Harris Tildon of CareFirst

Next up in our series of grantmaker profiles: Maria Harris Tildon, senior vice president of public policy & community affairs for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Meet Maria Harris Tildon.

Biggest challenge you’ve faced:
“Having limited resources to feed a burgeoning demand for funds. Last year, requests for grants increased by more than 25%.”

“When local charities become state budget casualties” [News, 3.25.10]

ADVOCACY | When Local Charities Become State Budget Casualties (Forbes, 3/25) – Among suggestions for funders: “first-hand involvement in advocacy activities organized by your area’s regional association of grantmakers.” Yeah, Forbes!
> Related: Think Twice Before You Slice campaign

POVERTY
- Rise in D.C. poverty to nearly 1 in 5 residents (3/25) – WaPo covers Defeat Poverty DC launch and new report.
> Also in today’s WGDaily: “Funders go ‘Beyond Dollars’ to defeat poverty”

INVESTING IN PEOPLE
- Local governments “spend more taxpayer cash each day to jail a criminal than to educate a student” (Examiner, 3/25).
- Apartment rents cheaper than stays in homeless shelters (USAToday, 3/25)

RECESSION | US charities hit by recession’s impact on spending (Reuters, 3/24) – The 30,000 foot view.

CENSUSFAIL? | Will this wording encourage late returns?: “How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?”

NUTRITION | To fix the lunch program, D.C. schools hire a chef (WaPo, 3/24) – Follow the issue on the Better DC School Food blog.

COMMUNICATIONS | The always-innovating Case Foundation launches Case Soup, an interactive hub of videos and live discussions. (First live session – April 1: nonprofit video.)

Funders go “Beyond Dollars” to defeat poverty

Two ways that funders can help achieve BIG change are by building true partnerships and being a strong voice. Yesterday, DC Appleseed’s Walter Smith spoke about the role of several Washington Grantmakers members in forming the Defeat Poverty DC coalition:

“About a year ago, people like Rubie Coles, Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat, Margaret O’Bryon, and Sarah Oldmixon, from some of the key foundations in town, said it was time to bring people together from the various communities in this city–the nonprofit community, the business community, the faith community, and the District government–to bring visibility to this issue, to raise it up in the coming campaign…”
[ - "Launch of Defeat Poverty DC"]

Beyond Dollars grantmaking (.pdf) in action!

Washington Area Women’s Foundation names Nicola Goren president [News, 3.24.10]

PEOPLE | Washington Area Women’s Foundation names Nicola Goren president (WBJ, 3/24)

EARLY EDUCATION
- DC is nearing agreement with Buffett Early Childhood Fund to open a $12 million early-childhood education center in the Parkside neighborhood of Ward 7 (WaPo, 3/24). The Educare center is envisioned as “an important strand in an eventual web of birth-to-college social and educational services, similar to New York’s Harlem Children’s Zone.”
- Same article: “This fall, the District will add 25 more preschool and pre-K classrooms at 18 schools for about 435 new students. Half of the new seats will be east of the river.”

POVERTY… |  The Defeat Poverty DC coalition (funded by WG members) is  putting pressure on D.C. officials (WaPo, 3/23). Why? “An estimated 11,000 District residents fell into poverty in 2009, causing the city’s poverty rate to jump from 17 to 19 percent – the biggest single-year increase since 1995.”
> See new report from DCFPI for “the Impact of Unemployment in 2009 and 2010″ (.doc)

…ONE THING WE COULD DO ABOUT IT:
- Save Our Safety Net DC spells. it. out. “We can raise revenue.“  “In the past two years, our leaders have targeted our safety net for easy cuts — slashing more than $100 million from programs that help low-income DC residents… A marginally higher tax bracket for the highest-income residents of our city (households making over $200,000 a year) could generate more than $50 million annually.” That’s clear. Clarity is good.

CENSUS 2010 | Daily census response updates? Nice work, Census people. Today we’re at 16% nationally. DC is up to 20%. Maryland’s at 25%, Virginia’s at 23%. New York is at 11% (come on, New York, pull it together), and absolutely dominating the top 5 is Iowa (…not much to do in Iowa).

DC SCHOOLS | Reading performance has climbed in D.C. elementary schools (WaPo, 3/24). Numbers have stalled nationally.

VEEP BLEEP | Quote of the day: “I kind of like Big [#&!$] Deal as successor to Square Deal, New Deal…” – @benpolitico

Until tomorrow,
Nick

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Washington, D.C. > News

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 2:37pm EDT Washington Area Women’s Foundation names Nicola Goren president

“Economy prompts changes in how foundations aid charities” [News, 3.23.10]

PHILANTHROPY | Economy prompts changes in how foundations aid charities (Chronicle, 3/21 — subscription) – “more foundations are making grants to help charities diversify their sources of revenue and otherwise bolster their finances” … “seeking new ways to strengthen nonprofit groups” … “have become more selective” … “holding charities to higher standards…”  Article quotes WG Board members Viki Betancourt (World Bank Group), Rick Moyers (Meyer Foundation), and WG President Tamara Lucas Copeland.

GOOD. IDEA. | “American University students are teaching English to the workers who clean their dorm rooms and cook their meals.” (WaPo, 3/23) I love a great, simple idea. Funding provided by Students Serve.

TOO MANY NONPROFITS? | Or is that the wrong question? From yesterday’s Bisnow: “There are 38,558 non-profits in the DC metro area, but only 9,532 are public charities focused on serving the region. That’s one charity for every 562 people or 18 per 10,000—similar to low-populated states like Alaska, Maine, and Montana. The non-profit sector has grown over the past five years, says Elizabeth [Boris, director of the Urban Institute's Center of Nonprofits and Philanthropy], with the exception of human services—the only segment with negative growth. She says the real question should be whether non-profits are adequately serving the populations in need.” [emphasis mine]

EDUCATION | New report: Advanced Strategies for Influencing Education Policy (EdFunders.org Feb. 2010)

DC SCHOOLS
- Rhee Attempts Contract With Washington Teacher’s Union (WAMU, 3/23)
- Katherine Bradley’s donation is allowing the hire of Anita Dunn “to help tell the school reform story more effectively.” (WaPo, 3/22)

COMMUNICATIONS | From 10 Take-Aways from SXSW for Nonprofits (Matt Koltermann, 3/17): “Get your message across in as few words as possible… [N]othing’s important if everything’s important.” True. Many good reminders here.