Case Foundation and White House host public-private strategy session

Today the Case Foundation is partnering with the White House for a day-long strategy session: “Promoting Innovation: Prizes, Challenges and Open Grantmaking” (WaPo, 4/30). It’s about competitive crowd-sourcing in the pursuit of innovation.

You can tune in and watch—they’re streaming the session on their “Case Soup” hub.

We heard about the event because we are among the Case Foundation’s 328,557 (and counting) Twitter followers.

“We want to expand this discussion to as many people as possible,” explained Case VP of Social Innovation Michael Smith in a blog post earlier this week.

You never have to guess what the Case Foundation is doing, or why they’re doing it. Just this morning, CEO Jean Case posted her thoughts on today’s event in the context of the foundation’s ongoing effort to “engage citizens in public sector efforts.”

The Case Foundation is not a particularly large foundation in terms of assets. But they’re serious about making new connections, building strong partnerships, communicating their work, and engaging the public.

Grantmakers that take a Beyond Dollars approach don’t need a big endowment to make a big impact.

“Private money for D.C. public schools on track” [News, 4.30.10]

DC SCHOOLS
- Opinion: “School Funders on Solid Ground” (WaPo, 4/30) – Cate Swinburn (DC Public Education Fund) clearly explains the contract situation in a letter to WaPo.
- WaPo opinion: “the obstacles are not insurmountable.” (4/30)
- Turque: “Progress…”

LEADERSHIP | The Nonprofit Roundtable is accepting applications for its Future Executive Directors Fellowship program. Deadline: May 31.

ADVOCACY | Opinion: The Fawning of the Foundations (WSJ, 4/30) – This columnist is wary of foundations funding advocacy. Fair enough. Does he feel that way about all foundations, I wonder?

EDUCATION
- Deborah Gist, former DC state superintendent of education, is making waves in Rhode Island (Time, 4/29), and making the Time 100 list.
- Opinion: “School Budget Cuts Ensure Poor Kids Will Remain Poor” (Carl Chancellor, 4/28)

Foundations offer $506M for education innovation [News, 4.29.10]

EDUCATION | Foundations offer $506M for education innovation (AP, 4/28), “a portion of which is for a matching fund for the $650 million federal government grant program, called Investing in Innovation” [aka "i3"] … Ed.gov press release … Participating foundations launch “Foundation Registry i3″ to simplify the process for organizations seeking matching foundation funds for their (i3) proposal.

DC SCHOOLS | D.C. teacher contract undercut by doubts on private funding (WaPo, 4/29) – “Even if the foundation funds ultimately are approved for the teachers’ contract, Fenty and Rhee face serious challenges in funding the rest of the contract.”

HEALTH REFORM
- “The health insurance industry has decided to end its practice of canceling claims once a patient gets sick next month, well before the new health care law would have required it…” (Politico, 4/28).
- May 4 teleconference: What Health Care Reform Means for Philanthropy (Arabella)

May 27, 10am (WG event): Health Reform: What Does It Mean for Our Region and Our Work? (for WG members only!) Location: Public Welfare Foundation, 1200 U Street NW

LOCAL BUDGETS | Tax increases on D.C. Council agenda (WaPo, 4/29)

NONPROFITS | … that haven’t filed taxes 3 years in a row may lose tax-exempt status. (via @indsector)

CHILD WELFARE | Across the region, child welfare agencies struggle to find foster parents (WaPo, 4/29)

WORKPLACE GIVING | Newcomer Community 1st raises $2.6 million in workplace giving. The United Way of the National Capital Area raised an estimated $32 to $33 million. (WaPo, 4/29)

AWARDS | Last chance to submit nominations for National Capital Philanthropy Day awards.

Meet Sarah Oldmixon, director of workforce initiatives at the Community Foundation

Next up in our series of grantmaker profiles: Sarah Oldmixon, director of workforce initiatives at the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.

Biggest challenge you’ve faced?
“… Building an understanding of the District’s workforce development system alone would be challenging, but we’re a regional foundation… All told, my work involves four community colleges, five workforce investment boards, over a hundred nonprofits, several thousand employers, and more than a million workers. It’s a lot of information to wrap your head around.” [click for full interview]

> Related – May 25 event: Funders Forum on Workforce Development – cosponsored by The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region and Washington Grantmakers.

Kojo: ‘HIV in the Suburbs’ … Hitachi Foundation honored [News, 4.28.10]

HIV/AIDS | Kojo: HIV in the Suburbs (4/28) – featuring J. Channing Wickham (Washington AIDS Partnership), Emily Gantz McKay (Mosaica, author of the “Profiles Project” report), and Alicia Wilson (La Clinica del Pueblo)

DC SCHOOLS
- Foundations reserve right to pull funding if D.C. schools chief Rhee leaves (WaPo, 4/28) – “could… be a deal breaker for D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi.” Definitely problematic.
- Fight For Children’s School Night raised $800,000 for education programs for low-income kids in the District. Queen Latifah, who is awesome, was the MC. (BizBash, 4/27)

AWARDS | Congratulations to WG member Hitachi Foundation, a leading player in three of the highest awards presented by the Council on Foundations. (4/27)

THE NEXT GENERATION | …is now the “Now Generation” (Chronicle, 4/27) -  Of course, I suppose we’re all members of the “now generation?” For example, I am alive right now and so are you. My kids are definitely the “Why?” generation. “Why, Daddy, why?” Funny, it’s a little early in the week to be losing my mind. And yet, here we are!
-Nick

My testimony at last week’s budget hearing

by Mary Hallisy, Carter and Melissa Cafritz Charitable Trust

On April 19 I testified on behalf of WG’s Children, Youth & Families Working Group at a budget hearing in support of reform efforts at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. Also testifying at the hearing were the mother, aunt, and grandmother of the teenage girl who was killed two weeks ago, and the mother of one of the boys killed in that same tragic event. Their comments were powerful. Grief, anger and frustration filled the room.

After they spoke it was my turn. I decided to ask that my prepared testimony be accepted into the record and speak personally for a couple of minutes. I tried to respond to the grief, offered my sympathies, and stressed the need for early intervention in the lives of troubled youth. I concluded by reaffirming our support the reform efforts of DYRS, asked for the Council’s financial support and for movement on Marc Schindler’s confirmation.

> Testimony of Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers Before the Human Services Committee Budget Oversight Hearing (April 19, 2010)

HIV/AIDS in the DC suburbs (New report!)

Today the Washington AIDS Partnership, a project of Washington Grantmakers, released “The Profiles Project: How the Washington, DC Suburbs Respond to HIV/AIDS” (pdf). The District has one of the highest infection rates in the nation, but nearly half of those living with HIV/AIDS in the region live in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. The study calls for better regional coordination/communications, and opt-out HIV screening in all healthcare settings. It points out that school-based HIV-prevention education is inconsistent and often timid. This morning’s news coverage includes:

• - D.C. suburbs lag behind city in efforts to fight AIDS, study says (WaPo, 4/27)
• - HIV Study Shows Washington Suburbs Need Cohesive Prevention Plan (WAMU, 4/27) -
  “[Partnership Executive Director Channing] Wickham says local governments have to start talking to each other. ‘Our biggest single recommendation is communication and collaboration.’”

• Dvorak: D.C. suburbs can no longer draw the shades on AIDS crisis (WaPo, 4/27) – “[T]he easiest, cheapest and best long-term solution is simply information,” but the “classic demonstration of unrolling a condom on a banana is forbidden in many schools that are little more than a Metro ride from the nation’s HIV/AIDS epicenter” … “The number of young people in Northern Virginia 13 to 19 years old with HIV went up 50 percent from 2006 to 2008″
• Kojo: HIV in the Suburbs (4/28) – featuring J. Channing Wickham (Washington AIDS Partnership), Emily Gantz McKay (Mosaica, author of the “Profiles Project” report), and Alicia Wilson (La Clinica del Pueblo)

The study was commissioned by the Washington AIDS Partnership and WG member Kaiser Permanente.

What does health reform mean for our region? [News, 4.27.10]

HEALTH REFORM | Some insurers starting early (BaltSun, 4/27) – Young adults to stay on parents’ plans until age 26.

May 27, 10am (WG event): Health Reform: What Does It Mean for Our Region and Our Work? (for WG members only!) Location: Public Welfare Foundation, 1200 U Street NW

BEYOND DOLLARS | Grantmakers Urged to Take Activist Role (Chronicle, 4/25)

CORPORATE | Northrop Grumman chooses Northern Virginia (WaPo, 4/27) – “Our main focus is STEM education and we partner with local organizations that provide unique programming to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and technicians.”

WORKFORCE | Walmart Foundation Grants NCLR $1.2 Million to Provide a Pathway to Latino Employment (wire, 4/27) – One of the National Council de La Raza affiliates receiving funding is the Spanish Catholic Center in Washington, DC.

NEWS NEWS | Washington Blade to resume publishing (WaPo, 4/27)

PHILANTHROPY 101 | Students Award $31,000 to Local, Global Nonprofits (Georgetown, 4/26)

SERVICE | Seeds of volunteerism planted early at D.C.’s Gonzaga College High School (WaPo, 4/27)

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

• Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships – ACORE (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.

Announced — May 18: “Philanthropy and the Economy: Shifting Strategies to Sustain Impact” (WG event)

Funders only – click here to register
May 18 – 9:30am to noon
Location: Case Foundation, 1717 Rhode Island Ave NW, 7th Fl.

There might be light, but we aren’t out of the tunnel yet. The economy bottomed out: millions of jobs lost, foreclosures skyrocketed, poverty shot up and foundation assets and government budgets plummeted. It may be some time before we see giving occurring at the pre-2008 level. How has the recession changed our giving priorities and the ways we are working to make an impact?

Join us for a high-level overview of the economic state of the Washington metropolitan region, followed by a discussion about how the current climate has led funders to find new ways of working to achieve impact. The Urban Institute’s Marge Turner will provide an overarching regional context. Following, Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, will moderate a panel featuring:

• Sarah Oldmixon, Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative, to discuss shifting grantmaking strategies
• Rubie Coles, the Moriah Fund, and Ed Lazere, DC Fiscal Policy Institute to discuss the Defeat Poverty campaign to and how advocacy can be used as a tool for leveraging limited resources
• Christa Velasquez (invited), Annie E. Casey Foundation, to discuss the More for Mission campaign and how mission consistent investing is a way to use all foundation resources toward addressing social change