A Soul/Spirit Connection: Remembering Why Philanthropy Matters: Part II

April 17, 2013

ABFE-logo5By Karen Kelley-Ariwoola

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is the second of two parts written by MCF member Karen Kelley-Ariwoola, a Minneapolis Foundation donor advisor and community leader. She is the former Vice President, Community Philanthropy, at The Minneapolis Foundation, and a former MCF Board Chair.

Yesterday I wrote about my experiences at the recent Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) conference, where I was led and taught by some of the best and the brightest Black professionals in philanthropy.

Today I’ll share how I was also lifted up by the special track of workshops for Black trustees who serve on foundation boards, as well as the annual James Joseph Lecture.

Equipping Black Trustees to Serve Their Community
The trustee workshops were part of “Leverage the Trust,” an ABFE initiative that equips Black trustees with support and tools to be excellent foundation trustees and represent the needs and concerns of Black communities in foundation deliberations and investments.

After serving many years on various nonprofit boards and chairing the MCF board for three years, I was honored to lead “Leveraging the Trust” with co-chair Anita Brown-Graham, a trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in North Carolina.

In the workshops, Black trustees from around the country shared their experiences as foundation trustees and deeply explored the challenges and opportunities in moving philanthropy toward equity. I was honored to listen and learn from my peers and elders, and I will use their wisdom and experiences to help ABFE finalize a tool to strengthen the ability of Black trustees to serve with excellence and impact.

James Joseph Lecture: Invest in Early Education
Finally, the James Joseph Lecture given by Dr. Robert Ross, president and CEO of the California Endowment was the centerpiece of my weekend. Last year, I had the privilege of receiving this award and delivering the 21st annual lecture, the highest honor in Black philanthropy, and this year I was pleased to be on the other side of the podium, listening to Dr. Ross’ powerful message.

Troubled by the growing violence in our nation, this very busy foundation head took three months off to dive deep into better understanding causes and solutions. His lecture was an edge-of-your-seat recounting of the vivid conversations, tears shed, and revelations that emerged from listening and learning.

Read the full text of his speech “Enough and Now.” Dr. Ross noted three primary early warning signs that Black boys or young men are signaling for help: third grade reading, chronic school absence, and school suspensions or expulsions.

In response to these concerns he called for “greater investment in the early childhood years, reducing and or eliminating out-of-school suspensions; replacing unreasonably harsh discipline practices with restorative justice and other more accountable and effective policies; monitoring and reporting systems for chronic school absence; the incorporation of wellness, physical and social-emotional health into school achievement testing approaches.”

I’m sure these were not the kinds of recommendations most people expected to hear in response to violence in our communities. But those of us who work in community understand that these are the very kinds of investments that serve as protective factors for young children.

Dr. Ross also called for more people of color in philanthropy, noting that most foundation efforts focused on Black men and boys are led by people of color. In the absence of this diversity, he fears that much of the work focused on equity will not exist.

Dr. Ross closed by reminding us that if we truly “love” the black boys and young men in our community, then we are compelled to fight for justice on their behalf. “Love is justice.”

I could say much more about these three days that were jammed with networking, learning and discovering strategic tools to place Black communities on a path to healing. Though the snow in Minnesota is trying hard to hang on, I refuse to look back to the cold, dreariness of winter.  And I refuse to give in to the sense of hopelessness that often accompanies discussions of lifting the Black community out of its current condition.

I’ve received my annual ABFE elixir and am ready to face the work of building community in partnership with allies that share the commitment to strengthening Black communities.  Springtime brings my new resolve.

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Community Partnerships Key to Education Reform

March 28, 2013

TPT_P-Head_mediumCommunity partnerships that include grantmakers are the path to retooling Minnesota’s education for the future. That was a key observation during the discussion about public policy and education at the first event in MCF’s public policy discussion series Redesigning Minnesota: Policy Choices for Our Future, co-presented with Twin Cities Public Television.

Heads nodded in agreement as participants watched the tpt-produced video, A Lesson in Change. In it, the Search Institute’s Kent Pekel observed that election cycles are the biggest barrier to achieving strategic policy reforms. While lawmakers are well-briefed on the looming challenges of achievement disparities, dwindling resources, and barriers to innovation, political realities have proven to be a formidable barrier to change.

“The dramatic turnovers in legislative leadership we’ve seen in recent years has made it hard for the legislature to act,” observed education lobbyist, Valerie Dosland of Ewald Consulting. She sees a path for school reform in opening more options for innovation by local school districts, superintendents and classroom teachers.

Diversity in Minnesota’s communities and schools is also central to the issue. Danna Elling, researcher for the Minnesota Senate’s E-12 Education Committee, addressed it head on. She observed that Minnesota had many more new citizens in the early part of the 20th century and found ways to make education work for them.

Elling noted the difference today is that most of Minnesota’s new citizens are black or brown. In the video, Hector Garcia from the Chicano Latino Affairs Council explained that resistance to recognizing the state’s diversity as a strength is holding back education reform.

It seems the state’s elected officials are stuck when it comes to tackling the big challenges of improving Minnesota’s schools. But participants in MCF’s “A Lesson in Change” discussion saw hope in community partnerships, citing the steadily growing influence and impact of nonprofit, business, education and grantmaking partners who have championed early childhood education.

To learn more about the task of redesigning Minnesota’s education systems view the A Lesson in Change video. Then join the ongoing  conversation by visiting the  Bush Foundation or tpt websites.

Also, if you are looking for information about how decisions at the Capitol in St. Paul might affect your grantmaking choices, follow Valerie Dosland’s and Danna Elling’s advice and call staff of Minnesota House or Senate Research, legislative committees , or the Legislative Library.

On April 8, the next event in the Redesigning Minnesota: Policy Choices for Our Future series will focus on transportation challenges. It will feature the tpt-produced video ”Road Work Ahead” and a conversation with former Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Grantmakers can register now.

- Bob Tracy, MCF director of government relations and public policy

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Let’s RESET Education

March 21, 2013

resetThis month The Minneapolis Foundation is introducing Let’s RESET Education: a public awareness campaign and event series focused on closing the achievement gap.

The campaign is built on five strategies for creating public schools where every student succeeds:

  • Real-time Use of Data: Continually monitor student progress and use the data to shape instruction.
  • Expectations Not Excuses: Expect every child will excel and do whatever it takes to deliver—accept no less.
  • Strong Leadership: Empower school leaders to shape staffing, resources and culture and hold them accountable for student, teacher and school success.
  • Effective Teaching: Consider teaching effective when students master the material, not just receive it.
  • Time on Task: Have students spend more time in the classroom and make every minute count.

You can get much more information on the strategies, including a video on each, on the Let’s RESET Education website.

By promoting what works, the foundation aims to raise expectations for what’s possible and help realize a brighter future for our community.

Let’s RESET Education is also hosting a number of experts to speak in detail on education reform at Minnesota Meetings.

Grammy award-winner and education reform advocate John Legend will join school principal and CNN contributor Dr. Steve Perry and graduate school Dean Mayme Hostetter as the featured speakers at the Minnesota Meeting RESET Education series in April, May and June at the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul.

The current schedule includes:

  • Dr. Steve Perry, April 22, 7 p.m., $25
  • John Legend, May 22,7 p.m., $40
  • Dean Mayme Hostetter June 17, 7 p.m., $25

Tickets go on sale this Tuesday, March 26, to the general public at the Fitzgerald Theater/MPR Box Office and through Ticketmaster.  Tickets for all three events are $75.

Visit www.fitzgeraldtheater.org to purchase tickets.

If you’re not sure what the achievement gap is or how bad it is in Minnesota, check Sandra L. Vargas’s article in the Star Tribune from earlier this week.

- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate

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An Introduction to White’s Black Psychology

March 6, 2013
Dr. Joseph White

Dr. Joseph White

Last week I attended a Black History Month Celebration: Renewing Hope in the Promise of Minnesota’s Youth, hosted by MCF member Youthprise and the Cultural Wellness Center. There I was introduced to the work of Dr. Joseph White, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine.

As a Caucasian female who grew up in mainstream circumstances — in a traditional two-parent family in suburban 1970s Wisconsin — I appreciated hearing Dr. White’s experiences of growing up Black, male and in a single-parent household in a 1940s Minneapolis.

Despite being very much a minority in the Minneapolis public schools, White experienced first-hand the benefits of quality out-of-school-time programming through his involvement in Pillsbury Community House programs (now Pillsbury United Communities).

Drawing on that and other experiences as a young Black man during a time of limited opportunity, he focused much of his work on exploring and uncovering practices and strategies that lead to the promotion of better opportunities for minority youth. He is a passionate advocate for creating access to high-quality learning opportunities – within and beyond the classroom for all young people.

White spent most of his career as a teacher, supervising psychologist, mentor and director of ethnic studies and cross-cultural programs. He is a pioneer in the field of Black psychology, has authored several papers and seven books, and wrote a seminal article, “Toward a Black Psychology,” which appeared in Ebony Magazine in 1970.

He says that African Americans have always had psychological strengths, and that they are among the traits that have helped them survive slavery and segregation. His job, he says, was simply to package what was already there. Today, he says the challenge for all of us is to share these values with Black youth to enable them to thrive.

So, here’s a brief introduction to the Seven Strengths of African Americans, a.k.a. White’s Black Psychology.

Improvisation: The ability to be resourceful, imaginative, creative and innovative in meeting life’s challenges, and the personal realization that answers come from within.

Resilience: The capacity to rebound from setbacks and become stronger in the broken places. (White shared the poem Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou.)

Connectedness: To family, extended family, peers, community, etc. The necessity of looking out for each other and how that teaches one to build successful mutual relationships.

Spirituality: A spiritual and life-affirming force which runs through the Black experience and is responsible for strength in the face of adversity and hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Emotional vitality: A zest for life, high energy, exuberance and a style that fully embraces life.

Gallows humor: The ability to cry when experiencing tragedy paired with the ability to see humor in the midst of human dilemma. (As an example, White recommends Langston Hughes’ popular writings as fictional character Jesse B. Semple.)

Healthy suspicion: Not paranoia, but a healthy suspicion of “you know who” — a group who has made and broken promises since 1619.

- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate

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Minneapolis Develops New Index to Measure Creative Vitality of City

March 5, 2013
The Minneapolis Creative Index 2013 is filled with graphics, like this one on nonprofit art organizations.

The Minneapolis Creative Index 2013 visually showcases the strength of the local arts community.

The Arts, Culture and Creative Economy program for the City of Minneapolis has released a new study using the Creative Vitality Index (CVI), commissioned by the city and developed by Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF). CVI is designed to capture the impact of the creative community in Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and to measure annual changes in the economic health of highly creative industries.

This system of measurement will provide a new resource for policymakers, arts professionals, artists and community arts advocates. Grantmakers may utilize the index to provide a more in-depth analysis of Minneapolis’ creative sector, including measuring the city’s creative employment by ZIP code. This will allow grantmakers to focus funding on the specific needs of the creative community in their target geographic areas.

According to the Minneapolis Creative Index 2013 report, the economic impact of the Minneapolis creative community on the economy is large, accounting for 1% of the overall retail economy and posting performing arts revenues almost ten times the national average.

On average, the MSA creative sector injects $700 million into the Minnesota economy each year. By comparison, this is approximately 70% of Minneapolis’ sports sector revenue without the benefit of publicly subsidized stadiums. Arts patrons spend on average an additional $20.40 per person on event-related purchases like parking and food.

The creative sector has also been crucial to Minneapolis’ job growth, employing nearly 20,000 residents, or about 5% of all jobs in the city. Creative employment in the MSA represents 74% of Minnesota’s creative occupations, the sixth highest CVI score in the country.

The report also detailed the effects of the creative sector on Minneapolis’ nonprofit community and the greater creative arts ecosystem. Despite recent losses in overall nonprofit revenue, contributions to nonprofit arts organizations increased 10% over the two year period ending in 2011. Increased revenue from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment also fueled growth in the nonprofit arts community.  The amendment specified that 19.75% of $7.5 billion dollars to be generated statewide over the next 25 years will go to fund arts and cultural activities.

Although the new CVI measurement system has proven to be a valuable tool for measuring the economic benefits of art in Minneapolis, the system has some limitations. It relies is heavily on business transactions and employment, and does not capture non-commerce related impacts like community cohesion and safety, feeling of well being, expressions of identity or rates of attendance. Also not captured in the measurement are nonprofit organizations with annual budgets under $25,000 or demographic traits like race, age or gender. As looking for arts funding has become more competitive, proving the impact of the arts remains a difficult but crucial part of arts advocacy.

Minneapolis plans on releasing core CVI data annually, with a full report to be published bi-annually.

-Kaitlin Ostlie, MCF administrative assistant

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Great Lakes Launches College Success Grants

January 24, 2013

great lakes higher education logoMore students are entering college than ever before, but many of these students—particularly those from traditionally underserved backgrounds—face unique obstacles that prevent them from completing their studies. As a result, college completion rates have not increased at the same rate as college enrollment.

To help more students access the support they need to graduate, MCF member Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation is offering College Success grants of up to $300,000 each.

“With the College Success grants, we build on our commitment to support programs that are helping more students succeed in higher education,” said Richard D. George, Great Lakes’ president and CEO. “While our earlier College Ready grants focused on preparing students for academic success in college, we know that arriving on campus academically prepared is often not enough. Many students need additional support to stay in college and graduate—particularly students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, and those who are the first in their family to attend college. Our College Success grants will recognize and reward programs delivering that extra support, for the students who need it most.”

College students who develop connections with peers, faculty and staff are more likely to stay in college until they graduate. Great Lakes’ College Success grants are intended to support programs that connect students of similar backgrounds who are attending two-year, four-year, or technical colleges—and are working toward the common goal of college completion. These grants will help students develop those connections through specialized services such as mentoring, proactive advising, development of learning communities and academic tutoring.

Colleges and community-based organizations located in Iowa, Minnesota or Wisconsin are eligible to apply for individual grants of up to $300,000 each for the 2013-2014 academic year. Applications are due March 14, 2013.

To learn more and download an application for this new grant opportunity, visit the Great Lakes website.

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McKnight Open Letter Forecasts Its 2013 Grantmaking

January 23, 2013

mcknight-foundationIn an open letter to its grantees and program partners, The McKnight Foundation announced its grantmaking plans for 2013.

These plans includes core giving of $79 million in the coming year, about on par with previous years, as the foundation continues to recover from the economic downturn. McKnight will also finalize $25 million in grants that will go toward addressing climate change and developing renewable energy.

The foundation also celebrated some key 2012 achievements, and tied them back to its new strategic framework grounded in adaptive leadership, meant to infuse new agility in how the foundation serves the community. These 2012 milestones include:

  • Co-funding a University of Minnesota report on ensuring a network of 14 Twin Cities transitways planned for 2030 reaches its full potential.
  • New grants to Twin Cities school districts and charter schools to create a seamless pipeline from pre-kindergarten through grade 3, and increase the percentage of successful third grade readers. McKnight also funded a case study that examines the impact in Minnesota from investments in early education.
  • Loans that helped the State of Louisiana purchase coastal wetlands important to the native environment.
  • The launch of the State of the Artist blog, which provides a new platform for important conversations about and among regional and national thought leaders in the arts.

Congratulations to The McKnight Foundation on these accomplishments, and on the recent launch of its new website! You can head over to it to read President Kate Wolford’s full open letter.

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