To maintain and improve the region’s economic growth and competitiveness, we need to develop new job sectors and recruit and retain skilled workers for those sectors. Which sectors should metropolitan Washington focus on? How will this development and recruitment occur? What resources are needed to ensure success?

To answer these questions, the Council of Governments is working “to hammer out a plan for economic growth and competitiveness in a new reality of fewer federal workers and less federal spending.”

EDUCATION | One complaint in the conversation around education reform in the District is that there is a disproportionate number of “highly effective” teachers in wealthier school districts. The Examiner ran an analysis and found that when “effective” teachers are mixed in with the “highly effective” ones, the distribution is far more even across all wards. (Examiner, 1/30)

COMMUNITY | The Prince Charitable Trusts’ Kristin Pauly shared the news that Leonard Berman has joined their D.C. staff as a part-time Senior Program Officer. He has been serving as a consultant to Prince Charitable Trusts since 2001. He came to Prince with 15 years of philanthropic experience, having previously served as a Program Officer with the Public Welfare Foundation and as Senior Program Officer/Consultant with the Arlington Health Foundation and the Case Foundation.

Len has always been an important member of the WRAG community, and we’re excited to hear about his new role. Congratulations, Len!

FOLLOW UP | In a comment on my response to Pablo Eisenberg, reader K.L. Davis cited Mark Rosenman’s “Charities Suffer From a Wealth Gap, Too” article in last week’s Chronicle of Philanthropy as useful evidence to support Eisenberg’s position. Rosenman himself then weighed in with some interesting additional data related to the conversation:

According to the most recent data available in Foundation Center publications, well under a third of grant dollars are aimed at the “economically disadvantaged” and only about 12% (including many of those same dollars — double counting them) go to human services. That compares to 23% going to education and 23% going to health. As to “social justice” — (which includes — again double-counting — some grants categorized as for the economically disadvantaged, human services, health and education in the preceding sentence), that figure is about 12%.

Thank you to both Mark and K.L. – and our other readers who sent comments – for the thoughtful engagement!

ENVIRONMENT | You can thank a “Bandalong litter trap” for helping keep the Anacostia cleaner. The device, paid for by the District’s bag tax, captures floating trash. (WAMU, 1/30) I wonder if it captures floating bodies, like the one my little brother’s crew team bumped into on the Anacostia last year. True story.

HEALTH | Anti-Sprawl Doctor to Host PBS Series on Urban Design and Public Health (DC Streets, 1/27) “We have built America in a way that is… fundamentally unhealthy.”

- Related: This series sounds like it will be a good companion to the 2008 series Unnatural Causes, which generated great conversation in the funding community.

TRANSIT
- New Potomac river crossing coming? (WTOP, 1/30) Don’t hold your breath!

- ‘Social Equity’ to Be Weighed in U.S. Transit Funding Rule (Bloomberg, 1/28)

Happy Monday, friends. It looks like it is going to be a beautiful late spring mid-winter week, with temperatures in the mid sixties?!

In colder news, something pretty crazy happened at the X-Games this weekend. Snowmobiler Heath Frisby (great name) became the first person to successfully land a front flip in competition. Watch this video, and then consider what might have happened if he wasn’t absolutely perfect in the execution.

- Next week the National Mall’s lighting will be replaced with more efficient LED bulbs (thanks to Pepco, which installed the bulbs pro bono). (Huff Post DC, 1/26)

PHILANTHROPY
- Opinion: Charities suffer from wealth gap, too (Chronicle, 1/26).  ”As a general rule, nonprofit organizations at the top of the financial heap are less likely to provide the kind of assistance needed by those suffering from economic inequity. The wealthiest charities tend to cater to the wealthiest Americans—and both mutually reinforce inequality in the society and in the nonprofit world.” Definitely worth a read.

- College Students Get $100,000 To Give Away To Charity (Huffington Post, 1/25) The article discusses philanthropy courses at several universities – but (ahem) misses UMD’s Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership (and its Philanthropy Fellows partnership with WRAG).

HIV/AIDS | The Health Resources and Services Administration has announced a funding opportunity for organizations that provide family-centered primary medical care to women and children living with HIV/AIDS. (AIDS.gov, 1/25)

BUDGETS | Prince George’s Co. $126M in the red (WTOP, 1/27)

HOUSING
- The redevelopment plan for the former site of Walter Reed, which contains 115 units of affordable housing, is moving forward. (City Paper, 1/26)

- 4 years after fire, ex-tenants and Mount Pleasant area face frustration (WaPo, 1/26)

HOMELESSNESS | D.C. conducted its annual headcount of its homeless population this week. The numbers will be released in the spring. (WaPo, 1/26)

SMART GROWTH
- The fight over sprawl, commercial growth, and sustainable planning continues in Frederick County. (WAMU, 1/20)

- Greenbelt Ponders A Suburban Experiment, 75 Years On (WAMU, 1/20)

I think this is the only reason I would ever want to go some place as cold as northern Norway.

-Rebekah

COMMUNITY | The Horizon Foundation has announced that Nicolette Highsmith Vernick will succeed founder Richard Krieg as its new President and CEO. She comes to Horizon from the Center for Health Care Strategies in New Jersey where she worked to “develop innovative solutions for improving healthcare quality and reducing disparities in publicly-financed care.”

Shirley D. Collier, The Horizon Foundation’s board chair, says:

[Highsmith Vernick] has the right attitude and intellectual energy to help us assess community needs, develop evidence-based strategies and implement measurable initiatives to improve health and wellness in Howard County.
…
Nikki is particularly accomplished in collaborating with a broad spectrum of regional and national stakeholders to affect positive change. We are confident that she will be able to lead our efforts to leverage the Foundation’s resources with those of others to tackle increasingly complex health and wellness issues in our community.

We’re excited to welcome Nicolette to the WRAG community!

EDUCATION | A significant study commissioned by Mayor Gray recommends that DCPS either “turn around or close” more than three dozen public schools in the city’s poorest neighborhoods and expand the number of charter schools. (WaPo, 1/26) “The study also signals the start of an unprecedented attempt to coordinate decision making between two school sectors…”

ARTS/NONPROFITS | The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation recently announced that, beginning with their upcoming March 1 deadline, arts and humanities organizations applying for funding will be required to complete a data profile annually through the Cultural Data Project website. The Foundation Center is hosting a CDP New User Orientation next Wednesday, February 1. More information is available here.

NUTRITION | The USDA has released new standards for public school meals that will reduce sodium and fat while offering more fruits and veggies. The standards require meals for K-5 students to have 550-650 calories, and grade 6-12 students to have 450-600 calories. (CNN, 1/25) Bullies are coordinating to shift their strategy from “Gimme your lunch money!” to “Gimme your extra 50 calories!”

HEALTH | U.Md. moves ahead with P.G. health care overhaul (Examiner, 1/26)

PHILANTHROPY | If you’re interested, here’s my response to Pablo Eisenberg’s piece on giving priorities. I’d love to hear your thoughts. (WG Daily, 1/26)

Related: In Annual Letter, Gates Predicts More ‘Giving Pledge’ Members (Chronicle, 1/26)

ECONOMY/TRANSIT
- In D.C., street cars could spur a $15 billion property boom. (Examiner, 1/26)

- But in Maryland, the proposed Purple Line is putting some owners at risk of property condemnation. (WaPo, 1/26) It would also ruin the Capital Crescent Trail.

You might ask, “Is the title of this video Worst Church Singer Ever a hyperbole?” No, friends, it most definitely is not. As the song progresses, the octaves keep going up and up and up…

Rebekah has the Daily tomorrow. Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

To borrow a phrase from President Obama, let me be perfectly clear. What follows is my personal opinion, and I’d like to start with the concession that Pablo Eisenberg is an expert on philanthropy and a lot of other things. I am not.

That said, his recent piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy – Misplaced Giving Priorities of America’s Wealthy – seemed to me to be almost completely wrong in its approach.

I could talk about Eisenberg’s implication that there must be a common value system for philanthropic giving. I could also talk about his idea that it is the media’s responsibility to hold philanthropists accountable for their giving. And I could certainly talk about Eisenberg’s harsh claim that “few, if any, of the nation’s wealthiest citizens seem to care” about those in need.

But instead, I want to talk about pandas and monuments.

To illustrate his point about “deeply disturbing…misplaced giving priorities,” Eisenberg picks on local billionaire and philanthropist David Rubenstein. In recent months, Rubenstein has made large gifts to support panda reproduction at the National Zoo and to help repair the severely damaged Washington Monument. Eisenberg doesn’t seem to find value in these gifts. He says:

Was a gift to pandas a matter of national interest that merited prominent treatment? Would the $7.5-million donation [to the Washington Monument] help solve a national societal problem?

One could argue that there is inherent value in the preservation of animal species. Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund certainly believe this to be true. There is also a very strong argument to be made about the importance of preserving historical structures.

Eisenberg, however, thinks that Rubenstein’s gifts aren’t valuable because they don’t address poverty. So I’ll approach from that angle.

The giant pandas at the National Zoo are one of the region’s most popular attractions. They rank with the monuments, the Capitol, and the cherry blossoms as symbols for our city’s tourism market. The pandas are even printed on Metro farecards.

By the same token, the Washington Monument almost single-handedly defines the District’s skyline. It is the literal centerpiece of the National Mall, which attracts millions of visitors a year.

Tourism is a major driver in our region’s economy. People buy tickets for planes and trains, and they fill up their cars with gas. They stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, and shop at our stores. They spend money on Metro, Marc, and VRE, visit the gift shops and cafeterias at our museums, and take back wonderful memories that encourage others to come here to visit.

How does this help fight poverty? According to data from last year, our tourism industry employs 61,000 local residents. It also generates more than $600 million in revenue for the city from taxes and fees.

That money funds our schools, supports job training, and provides essential services to those who need it most.

Without attractions like the Zoo and the Washington Monument, people wouldn’t be eager to visit. That would result in lost jobs, lost revenue, and lost services. Gifts like the ones that David Rubenstein has made in recent months promote the health of our region, which is essential for promoting the well-being of those who need support.

If he’s going to attack the giving practices of those who freely and generously choose to give away their own money, Pablo Eisenberg should more carefully consider the inter-connectivity of things. Yes, the gift to the pandas merits “prominent treatment.” Yes, fixing the Washington Monument can help contribute to the solution of a “societal problem.”

A final point. I’m not sure that Eisenberg actually believes this, but the emphasis he puts on Rubenstein’s gifts to the Zoo and Monument make it seem like he believes those things constitute the extent of the billionaire’s philanthropy. An article from the Chronicle in 2011 talks about Rubenstein’s signing of the Giving Pledge and the ways in which he was planning to give away more than half of his wealth – estimated now to be more than $2.6 billion. It also mentioned the $100 million that the philanthropist has given to arts, education, and children’s health.

At the very least, Eisenberg might consider revising his comment about Rubenstein’s giving being “miserly.” He might also rethink his assertion that the “Rubensteins of this world can easily give more generously to charitable organizations.”

After all, when asked about the future growth of his wealth, David Rubenstein replied, “If I make more money, then I will have more money to give away…And I’ll be happy to do it.”

Eisenberg makes some provocative and interesting points, but it seems to me that he draws connections that might not be as obvious as he thinks. I’ll have my own longer response to his piece posted on the Daily, hopefully later this afternoon.

Coincidentally (or maybe not), the Post’s Courtland Milloy has a profile of Rubenstein today – For David Rubenstein, hitting economic jackpot began with education (WaPo, 1/25)

WORKFORCE | Microsoft, DC government to partner on jobs training, economic development venture (WaPo, 1/25)

SOTU | The Times has a useful breakdown of President Obama’s State of the Union address by issue area. (NYT, 1/25)

Related: President Vows Not to Deter Wealthy From Giving (Chronicle, 1/25)

TRANSIT | Chef Geoff, of Chef Geoff’s fame, isn’t pleased about some sneaky speed cameras near one of his restaurants. So he’s taking matters into his own hands. (WaPo, 1/25)

Slowwwww news day. That said, I think everyone should read Pablo Eisenberg’s piece above. It packs a punch. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it – please share them in the comment section. If you read the Daily through an email subscription, you can add a comment by visiting the Daily directly here. 

EDUCATION
- In more uplifting news, two local women – a mother and daughter – have decided to break their family’s multi-generational tradition of dropping out of school by pursuing their GEDs. Their reflections on their conditions and the consequences of truancy are moving. (WAMU, 1/24)

- Montgomery County would pay $41 million for teacher pensions under plan (Examiner, 1/24)

GIVING | Viki Betancourt was excited to share the results of the World Bank’s Community Connections Campaign, where staff charitable donations during the holiday season set records. Here’s what she had to say:

Let me mention just a few highlights of the campaign. The FY12 campaign was our tenth anniversary – and the most successful to date by far! We raised 12% more money this year – $1.8 million compared to $1.6 million last year – and the participation rate of staff increased to over 61%.

A total of 6,028 staff gave (850 more than last year) which means that we well exceeded our target of reaching at least 55% staff participation – and thus met Bank Group Management’s challenge for the 100% corporate match for the fourth year in a row!

This means that the Bank Group will now be responsible for contributing $3.6 million to the nearly 300 nonprofit organizations on our campaign list.

She also noted out that more than $930,000 of the total contributions will go to nonprofits in the Greater Washington region. Congratulations to the World Bank staff!

PHILANTHROPY | In his new post for the Chronicle’s Against the Grain blog, The Meyer Foundation’s Rick Moyers says, For Executive Directors and Boards, Chairmen Matter. (Chronicle, 1/24) “[B]ecause board chairs matter so much, we need to create better systems and resources for training and supporting them.”

SOCIAL MEDIA | Teachers take to Twitter to improve craft and commiserate (WaPo, 1/22)

LOCAL | Study: District’s White People Walk More, Faster Than Non-Whites (City Paper, 1/24) What an odd study…although as a white male, it is true that I walk faster than just about everyone else I see. Mostly because walking is boring and I’d rather spend less time doing it.

REPORTS
- This is a bigger scale than the Daily usually covers, but Brookings has released an interesting analysis of the economic growth of global metropolitan regions. It is interesting unsettling because 95% of the slowest-growing metro regions are in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. (Brookings, 1/18)

- Earlier this month, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, with support from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, released a report about the changing demographics of giving. The quick take: “Identity-based funding is on the rise and following larger demographic shifts.” Read more here. (WKKF, 1/9)

WORKFORCE | Jobless rate down in Maryland, D.C. (WBJ, 1/24)

CORRECTION | Sometimes, you just write the complete opposite of what you mean to. Yesterday, I reported that Maryland outpaced Virginia in job growth, but I reversed the states in the headline. The headline was wrong and the main text was right - Maryland outpaced Virginia. Sorry for the confusion.

It’s a good Tuesday for movie nerds like me because the Oscar nominations are out. I have a lot of catching up to do on the Best Picture list, but the only real surprise contender is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which has a mediocre/bad 48% Rotten Tomatoes approval.

Here’s the full list. What are your predictions? I’ll make mine closer to the ceremony.

Today’s big challenges, however, tend to be regional in nature, requiring cooperation across county and state lines. When consensus is easily reached, the region has been able to coalesce around efforts such as the buildout of Metro or the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay. But too many other efforts have foundered on the shoals of short-sighted parochialism, rivalry and political pettiness.

Two promising groups of business leaders are rising to meet the “big challenges” – Chesapeake Crescent and the 2030 Group. Chesapeake Crescent is being co-led by George Vradenburg, president of the Vradenburg Foundation and a member of WRAG’s Board of Directors.

WORKFORCE | Newly released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Maryland outpaced Virginia in job growth in 2011.  (Examiner, 1/23) Needless to say, both states’ governors are using the data as an opportunity to make completely unnecessary partisan statements about each other.  Both men should read the column above.

EDUCATION
- Last week, an advocacy group charged that the District is illegally underfunding charter schools. The city’s Attorney General Irvin Nathan responds that charters aren’t actually entitled to more funding. (WaPo, 1/21) One of his reasons is that Congress hasn’t objected to the uneven funding between DCPS and charters, which might be a valid point if more than 13 percent of the American people thought Congress knew what it was doing.

- Nearly every eligible DCPS teacher chooses to skip evaluations (Examiner, 1/23)

TRANSIT | Everyone knows how terrible traffic is in our region, so the Council of Governments has been doing some research about possible options for financially disincentivizing driving. (City Paper, 1/23) On the flip side, Metro does a fantastic job disincentivizing public transportation. That leaves us with only two other options – jetpacks and teleporters.

NONPROFITS
- After 123 years, Chicago’s Hull House has announced that it will close due to financial difficulties. Tamara Copeland points out, “If Hull House, the foundation of modern day social work and community outreach, is closing due to tough economic times, we know that so many other nonprofits must still be at risk, too.”

- Nonprofits Added Jobs Faster Than Businesses Last Decade, Study Finds (Chronicle, 1/20)

ENVIRONMENT | D.C. Sees A Boom In Green Buildings (WAMU, 1/22)

So the Patriots and the Giants are playing each other in the Super Bowl (again). I’ll be scouring the rule books trying to find some loophole where both teams can lose. For the record, the Redskins beat the Giants twice this year.

In other news, today marks the start of a new Chinese year – the Year of the Dragon. Since Ozomatli played an awesome show at the 9:30 Club this weekend – at which the band brought Jose Andres on stage to honor his work at D.C. Central Kitchen – here’s their song Don’t Mess with the Dragon! See, everything’s connected!

- On the Washington Area Women’s Foundation‘s blog Maya Garrett writes about the importance of early childhood nutrition and the impact of the six percent cut in the 2013 budget for WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. (WAWF, 1/17)

EDUCATION
- The District, like many states, is applying for a waiver to the No Child Left Behind law. The waiver would allow the city to use a set of metrics that the Office of the State Superintendent of Education argues would give a better picture of student performance than is provided by NCLB’s Annual Yearly Progress measurement. (Post, 1/19)

- A report from a court-appointed monitor says that DCPS did not accurately report their progress in meeting the needs of special education students. (Examiner, 1/19)

HOMELESSNESS | An employee of a homeless shelter in Falls Church talks about the services provided to those who are in need in one of the richest areas of the country. (WAMU, 1/20, audio)

INFRASTRUCTURE | George Hawkins of D.C. Water was on the Kojo Nnamdi Show yesterday to talk about the massive improvements that the area’s water infrastructure needs to undergo to become a sustainable system. (WAMU, 1/19)

ECONOMY | According to GMU’s Stephen Fuller, if our region’s economy doesn’t begin to diversify soon, it will fall behind other regions as the federal spending declines. (WBJ, 1/20, subscription)

REGIONALISM | For those interested in regionalism as a concept, here’s an interesting look at how New York is taking a regional approach to economic development that empowers regions around the state to leverage their particular economic strengths. (Atlantic Cities, 1/20)

While I, for one, am pretty happy about our snow-less winter so far, I wonder if our region’s crows feel like they’re missing out on something.

-Rebekah

Advocacy by 110 nonprofit organizations over a five-year period has brought more than $26.6 billion in benefits to low-wage workers, communities of color, rural residents and other marginalized groups…

The report titled “Leveraging Limited Dollars: How Grantmakers Achieve Tangible Benefits by Funding Policy and Community Engagement,” found that every dollar grantmakers and other donors invested in policy and civic engagement provided a return of $115 in benefit.

Read: Full Report.

GIVING | The Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein, who recently donated more than $17 million to the National Zoo and the Archives, has announced that he’ll donate $7.5 million to help fix the Washington Monument’s earthquake damage. (WaPo, 1/19)

WORKFORCE | Following up on yesterday’s article about job training funding, WAMU says that the city has frequently offered training for industries that don’t have a high rate of hiring. The city is now working to focus its training opportunities in “high-growth, high-demand” industries. (WAMU, 1/19) There goes my hope of being trained as a private eye for animals.

COMMUNITY | Rebekah attended the Consumer Health Foundation’s annual meeting last week, and says that keynote speaker Angela Glover Blackwell gave a powerful talk about the need for an equity-driven model of growth in our region and across the country. Here’s her recap of the event. (WG Daily, 1/19)

YOUTH
- Junior Achievement of Greater Washington announced that it has opened the brand new College and Career Center at its Finance Park thanks to sponsorship from Deloitte. Read more about the new center and the Finance Park – which teaches students critical financial skills. (Junior Achievement, Jan ’12)

- Fairfax Starts Domestic Violence Support Group For Children (WAMU, 1/19)

TRANSIT | Three Metro stories today:
- Metro may install shields on buses to keep drivers safe (WaPo, 1/19) And what about the passengers? If somebody bothers me on the bus, I just make really loud noises and wave my arms around in kung fu motions. It usually scares people away, although sometimes I just end up fitting in with the other people on the bus.

- Metro’s Silver Line to Dulles might not go to Dulles anymore. (Examiner, 1/19)

- Two Metro employees have been arrested for stealing thousands of dollars in coins. (Examiner, 1/19) To make up for the lost revenue, Metro has proposed another fare increase. No, just kidding! Not yet, anyway…

LOCAL | The Post’s Robert McCartney tackles a pressing regional controversy and has a wise answer. (WaPo, 1/19)

Ever wonder what Abraham Lincoln really looked like…in color? Here’s a cool photo gallery where artist Sanna Dullaway adds vibrant color to iconic black-and-white photos.

On a related note, here’s a picture of (brilliant) actor Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln for Steven Spielberg’s now-shooting biopic. Day Lewis is known for staying in character for the duration of every movie shoot.

Last week the Consumer Health Foundation continued their ongoing conversation on improving health and racial equity in our region at their 15th annual meeting, Connecting Communities: Advancing Regional Solutions for Health Equity.

In her keynote address, Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink, called for a new growth model for America based on economic and racial equity. Describing how the country’s current economic growth model – which has systematically excluded minorities and exacerbated income and racial inequality – is clearly broken, Ms. Blackwell explained why equity can drive a “superior” growth model. Creating an inclusive economy in which all people have the opportunity to gain skills needed to move up the economic ladder is critical for future growth and economic prosperity for all people, regardless of race or income.

Framing a new growth model in terms of equity is especially necessary at this particular moment, given the rapidly changing demographics across the country: by 2042, America will become a majority-minority country. Noting how the “racial divide has become a generational divide,” Ms. Blackwell described how the U.S. has become a “pull up the ladder nation” as older adults – 80 percent of whom are white – don’t feel the need to address critical investments in education, workforce development, public infrastructure, and other public services needed to ensure the prosperity of the next generation – the majority of whom are not white.

Ms. Blackwell outlined the critical components of an inclusive growth model:

• Investment in public infrastructure projects that both serve and employ low-income communities and communities of color;
• Growth of new small businesses that can increase jobs and create new opportunities for these communities;
• Creation of training systems and educational opportunities that prepare workers for the “jobs of tomorrow,” the majority of which will require at least an Associate’s degree; and
• Fostering of a strong, cross-sector movement, from the local level to the national level, that advocates for the political and economic change required to bring about an equitable economy.

While Ms. Blackwell spoke broadly of the need for equity across the country, her message is especially relevant to the Greater Washington region, which is experiencing an unprecedented demographic transition. Moderator James Gibson, senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, observed that our region is somewhat unique, in that a large population of well paid, highly skilled workers, employed by the many universities, hospitals, and other anchor institutions here, exists alongside a large low-skill, predominantly minority and immigrant workforce. Today the demographic trends in this region are attracting a lot of attention, creating a potential opportunity to finally address the impediments to economic and racial equity that currently exist. The moment is now to leverage this awareness to foster a cross-sector commitment to developing a high quality education system, meaningful workforce development programs, and better public infrastructure that serves – rather than pushes out – low income communities, in order to achieve an economic, social, and political model that serves everyone.