Women’s Fund Signs Joint Statement on Sexism, Racism & Xenophobia; Encourages Women Candidates

by Posted in Advocacy, Equity, Events, Member Highlights, Member News, Member Sponsored Events, Philanthropy, Policy

On July 24, 2019, the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island was proud to sign a joint statement by hundreds of sister funds condemning the recent attacks on four of our country’s elected officials who are women of color, in response to chants of “Send them back!” The statement reads: ” Women’s and Girls’ grantmakers, organizations and supporters across the country stand together in condemning the recent vitriol shown towards our country’s female elected officials, and in particular, female elected officials of color.”

To these attackers and their defenders, we say this: ‘You do not represent the shared values that move our country forward.  These values recognize and embrace leadership from all walks of life, recognizing the strength of diversity. For more than 100 years, American women have fought to gain our rightful place in our government institutions.  We will not back down. You cannot erase our presence, nor keep us from taking our place as leaders of this great democracy. As you continue to judge and demean people by gender, country of origin, and skin color, we will take the high road. We will judge people by character and by actions alone.  We will never stop speaking out against the words and actions of those driven by sexism, racism, and xenophobia.‘

The Women’s Funding Network, its members and partners are steadfast in their support of women of ALL backgrounds who serve and aspire to serve our country in an elected capacity.

We support the active participation in our democracy by those who were not born here, but who have worked hard to become citizens and have pledged their loyalty to our country.  America has always been a country of immigrants. We do not turn our backs on these citizens, and we will not stand to let the actions of a few diminish the valuable contributions they have made to our society.

Your words were intended to divide. They did not. Together we stand, more united than ever.

This past Saturday, WFRI joined with the Women’s Fund of Southeastern Massachusetts and VoteRunLead to provide training to 60 women considering a run for political office. Participants practiced campaign “stump” speeches on the changes they wanted to make in their communities. When WFRI last ran this program in 2017, 18% of the participants ran for office and of those who ran, 60% won their seats.

The 19th Amendment to the U.S Constitution became law on August 26, 1920, giving women the right to vote. This date is now recognized nationwide as Women’s Equality Day. In preparation for the 100th Anniversary of this landmark decision, several organizations and volunteers are banding together to increase voter registration and the number of people voting in 2020.

WFRI will be hosting a training for volunteers on Aug. 26 from 3:00-4:30 pm in the State House Library on the RI voter registration process. Afterward, participants will gather on the State House steps for a picture and a commemorative “Toast to Tenacity” in tribute to the suffragists who fought for American women’s right to vote and in recognition that true gender equity for all has not yet been achieved. GCRI members are invited to attend the Toast without having to go to the training.

Both programs are sponsored by the Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. Co-hosts include Vision2020, Planned Parenthood Votes! RI, RI NOW, The Woman Project, RI Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, RIDP Women’s Caucus, RI Democratic Women for Leadership and the RI Federation of Republican Women. 

United Way and OneCranston Partner to Explore “American Creed”

by Posted in Equity, Events, Member Highlights, Member News, Member Sponsored Events, Uncategorized

On July 24, The Cranston Public Library, in partnership with OneCranston Working Cities Challenge Initiative (a grant competition designed to advance collaborative leadership in smaller, postindustrial cities to transform the lives of their low-income residents), hosted a screening of the PBS documentary American Creed at Central Library. The screening was followed by a Community Conversation facilitated by Larry Warner, Director of Grants and Strategic Initiatives, United Way of Rhode Island.

In the documentary film AMERICAN CREED, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Kennedy come together from different points of view to investigate the idea of a unifying American creed. Their spirited inquiry frames the stories of citizen-activists striving to realize their own visions of America’s promise across deepening divides.

The post-viewing discussion engaged participants around concepts like “the gap between the promise of America and the reality for far too many,” America as the “Melting Pot,” and what happens when you stop showing up for democracy and cede the field to those who do.

Cranston Patch article

Resources for Educational Equity

by Posted in Children & Youth, Education, Equity, Events, Philanthropy, Policy, Resources

Thanks to those of you who were able to attend this morning’s session on Education Disparities.  It was a compelling conversation about equity in both education and philanthropy. 

If you would like to listen to the audio of the session, please contact Nancy at Nancy.wolanski@uwri.org. Panelists were Marcela Betancur, Latino Policy Institute; Elizabeth Burke Bryant, RI Kids Count; Karla Vigil, EduLeaders of Color; Nick Donahue, Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

  • If you would like a copy of the Latino Policy Institute report on education disparities, as well as some policies recommended by the Schott Foundation and the National Education Policy Center for ensuring that all children have the opportunity to learn, regardless of their background or which school they attend, or Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s new principles centering their work around racial equity, please contact Nancy at Nancy.wolanski@uwri.org.
  • The Schott Foundation in Boston, which has done a lot of work around racial equity in education, is offering a webinar this Thursday, April 11 at 2:00pm if you’d like to learn more about Culturally Responsive Curricula.  Learn more
  • Some of the handouts Nick shared are:

Paid in Full by Dorian O. Burton and Brian C.B. Barnes

The Road to Achieving Equity by Kris Putnam-Walkerly and Elizabeth Russell

Paying Attention to White Culture and Privilege by Gita Gulati-Partee

Where White Privilege Came From by Allan G. Johnson

  • Look for more information soon about our May GCRI session on Collective Impact.  We will be working with the Federal Reserve and Working Cities Challenge on an engaging session about developing deeper partnerships and co-creating with community partners.

GCRI Corporate Members Fidelity, Tufts Health Plan Give Back on Annual Days of Service

by Posted in Aging, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Corporate Citizenship, Employee Engagement, Events, Member Highlights, Member News, Member Sponsored Events, Philanthropy

Tufts Health Plan Employees Tackle 35 Projects in 4 States

In honor of the Tufts Health Plan (THP) Foundation’s 10th anniversary in 2018, employees of Tufts Health Plan set an ambitious goal of 10,000 volunteer hours for the year.

After a very successful annual service day, THP is more than halfway to its goal.  This year’s record-setting Volunteer Day engaged 773 Tufts Health Plan employees in giving back to communities–in total 2,100 hours through 35 projects in 4 states–all in one day.

Pictured above are employee volunteers cleaning up the playground and outdoor areas at Federal Hill House in Providence; they were getting the grounds ready for summer camp. Other projects included building beds for children; prepping gardens that will supply healthy, local, affordable food; sorting donated food, clothing and toys for families living in poverty; and making paracord survival bracelets for deployed service members.

Fidelity Employees Assist Over 100 Nonprofits on Fidelity Cares Day

1,600 Fidelity employees in New England, joined colleagues around the globe to assist 110 nonprofits for the company’s annual service day.  A total of more than 8,000 employees globally provided services that will benefit over 15,000 students and almost 1,000 teachers.

In Rhode Island, Fidelity worked with United Way of Rhode Island to provide financial success fairs at Connecting for Children and Families and Genesis Center, assistance in building an outdoor classroom with DownCity Design, refurbishing a community center with Partnership for Providence Parks, and meal packaging for Project Outreach.

RI Council for the Humanities Hosts NEA, NEH Leaders for Cultural Conversation; Announces Grants

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Children & Youth, Education, Events, Member Highlights, Member News, Member Sponsored Events, Philanthropy, Policy

GCRI Member RI Council for the Humanities hosted A Cultural Conversation with Jane Chu of the National Endowment for the Arts and Karen Kenton of the National Endowment for the the Humanities, as well as all of Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation.  Over 300 community members attended the session, which took place at Trinity Repertory Theater.

RICH also announced a total of $136,429 in new grants to 14 humanities initiatives across the state.  The announcement ceremony, attended by over 50 representatives from civic and cultural organizations, recognized Rhode Island’s strong humanities community and the role the humanities play in civic and community engagement.

Grantees included New Urban Arts, Manton Avenue Project, newportFILM, RISD Museum, South County History Center, Rhode Island Latino Arts, Little Compton Historical Society, Providence Preservation Society and Stages of Freedom for the Public Project category.  In the Documentary film category, grants were awarded to Center for Independent Documentary, Rhode Island PBS and the Rhode Island Historical Society, while Meeting Street and Pushed Learning and Media/New Urban Arts received grants in the K-12 Civic Education category.

More information

February and March Program Opportunities

by Posted in Corporate Citizenship, Disaster Philanthropy, Education, Employee Engagement, Events, Financial Literacy, Forum News, Philanthropy, Resources for Community Organizations

GCRI Program Opportunities

Meet the Funders — February 15, 5:30-8:00pm, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI

Federal and State Budget Impact on RI Communities — March 29, 9:00-11:00am, Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island

Catalyst Group Meetings

CyberGrants Users Group webinar on reporting — February 15, 2:00pm

Employee Engagement Conference Calls — February 27, 9am and March 27, 9am

Early Literacy and RI Reads — February 26, 3:00-4:30pm, United Way

Financial Empowerment — March 6, 9:00-10:30am, United Way

Partner Webinars

Hurricane Harvey Recovery Funder Briefing Webinar
Monday, February 12, 3:00-4:00pm
In addition to a recovery update, this briefing will focus on research that is helping to identify community needs. Funders will have an opportunity to share their work and to ask questions of each other at the close of the briefing. Speakers include Traci Brasher, TEM, Recovery Division Director FEMA Region 6;  and Shao-Chee Sim, Ph.D., Vice President for Applied Research at Episcopal Health Foundation.  Sponsored by The Simmons Foundation and Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

Going Public:  Overcoming the Foundation Transparency Challenge – Webinar
Thursday, February 22, 2:00-3:00pm
Join United Philanthropy Forum and Foundation Center for the “Going Public: Overcoming the Foundation Transparency Challenge” webinar. This program will begin with a compelling case for greater transparency; provide an overview of the powerful and free tools designed to help you improve the transparency of your foundation’s online presence; demonstrate a free tool for assessing your foundation’s online transparency practices (how will yours stack up?); and highlight examples from foundation peers that have been active in creating greater openness at their foundations.  Calls for greater transparency and accountability in the philanthropic sector are nothing new, but today as people access greater quantities of information online, public expectation is rapidly growing about what information is made available.   And today’s reality is that transparency and openness are not only trending, but revolutionizing the world around us. From user experience designed websites to Twitter to LinkedIn to the explosion of the blogosphere, shared networks and open data are transforming the way we shop, learn, and connect with each other.  There is also the deeper conversation about the nature of openness in our philanthropic relationships versus just being transparent about our work.  Openness referring to more of a relationship between philanthropy and their grantee partners and the communities they serve.   While many of us generally agree that transparency is a virtue, figuring out how to assess and improve existing foundation transparency practices can be a challenge. Attend this webinar to learn about free tools that are designed to help philanthropy work more openly, efficiently, and effectively.

Other Events in the Philanthropy Sector

Everything I Needed to Know..But Nobody Told Me:  A Retreat for New Foundation Staff — 2/25-27, Ardmore, OK.  Sponsored by Philanthropy Southwest

Grantmakers Concerned for Immigrants and Refugees National Convening — 2/27-3/1, Los Angeles

Funders Together to End Homelessness Funders Forum — 2/28, Los Angeles

Funding Forward (LGBT Funders) — 3/14-3/16, New Orleans

AACP: The Conference (corporate philanthropy) — 3/18-3/21, Portland, OR

CFUnited (community foundations) — 3/18-3/21, Las Vegas

PEAK Grantmaking Annual Conference (grants management) — 3/19-3/21, Orlando

Resource Generation’s Transforming Philanthropy (younger generation members of family foundations) — 3/22-3/25, Pomona, CA

 

Census 2020 and Tax Reform Implications

by Posted in Advocacy, Census, Events, Forum News, Philanthropy, Policy

Census 2020 Efforts to Get an Accurate Count

Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of The Leadership on Civil and Human Rights, wrote a compelling piece on the critical importance of the 2020 Census for the future of public and private support of vulnerable communities.  We have excerpted from the piece below:

The decennial census is a massive, complex undertaking with far-reaching impacts on American democracy, the effectiveness of government and private sector investments, and the lives and health of every person who lives in America.

The Census Bureau needs a steady and significant ramp-up in funding in 2018 and 2019 to test new technologies and procedures, from start to finish, in a census-like environment and to create an effective outreach and advertising campaign. However, the Trump administration’s budget request for next year is woefully inadequate. Necessary testing has already been cut back due to lack of sufficient funds.

The recent congressional failure to pass an appropriations bill and instead merely pass a short-term continuing resolution until Dec. 8 will force the Census Bureau to operate at current year funding levels, leaving the agency without any budget ramp-up well into the first quarter of the new fiscal year (which begins on Oct. 1). This will further stall much-needed, rigorous planning and preparations for the upcoming census. The window for the administration and Congress to prevent a failed 2020 Census is narrowing quickly.

Bipartisan action is needed immediately to shore up the Census Bureau’s budget and to put in place experienced, qualified leadership in the wake of the previous Census director’s unexpected resignation.

Why the Census is so important

The decennial census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. It is central to the constitutional design of the United States as a representative republic.

It determines the apportionment of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives among the states. The same data are used to ensure that congressional districts within states comply with the principle of one person, one vote, to configure state and local voting districts, and to assist in the implementation of the nation’s civil rights laws, under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Census data guided school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education and continue to inform Voting Rights Act enforcement. Nothing less than fair representation in our public lawmaking bodies is at stake.

Data collected in the decennial census and the ongoing American Community Survey (ACS) provide information that is vital to effective decision-making by policymakers, government and nonprofit agencies, and private industry. Congress allocates at least $600 billion annually in federal grants or direct payments to states, localities, and individuals/families for a range of vital programs and services, based on census-derived data. Business leaders use the data to make decisions about where to locate and market their businesses.

Why the 2020 Census is at risk for a potential disaster

Congressional expectations that the 2020 Census must cost less than the 2010 enumeration have driven efforts to develop and deploy new technologies and procedures. For example, giving people the option of responding online and equipping enumerators with connected handheld devices are advances that could dramatically reduce paperwork and streamline operations, with potential savings of more than $5 billion.

But technological failures could compromise data security as well as accuracy. These new technologies and procedures must be fully developed, tested in the field, and refined well before final preparations for the 2020 enumeration start in 2019. That requires a significant ramp-up in funding.

Insufficient funding for 2017 and uncertainties for 2018 have already forced the Census Bureau to cancel final testing of some key activities, including the only field evaluation of special methods for counting rural and remote communities. The bureau has canceled two out of three planned sites for the 2018 End-to-End Census Test – informally known as the “dress rehearsal” – which will severely limit the scope of the only integrated evaluation of all operations and technological systems before the 2020 Census takes place. Other damaging program changes resulting from underfunding include delays in opening regional census centers and in developing the advertising and partnership programs that are essential to ensuring participation in historically hard-to-count communities.

Bipartisan action is needed now

There are two urgent steps that the administration and Congress must take. First, the Trump administration must nominate a highly qualified, well-respected, and nonpartisan candidate with a clear vision for an accurate, fully inclusive census to fill the now-vacant position of director of the Census Bureau. If the administration’s nominee meets those criteria, the Senate should make confirmation a top priority.

And, second, as Congress takes up fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills this fall, it must give the Census Bureau sufficient funding to ensure comprehensive final testing and development of all 2020 Census systems and operations. To achieve that goal, Congress should allocate at least $303 million over the administration’s irresponsibly inadequate request.

There will be no second chance to get the 2020 Census right, and the nation must live with the results for the next 10 years.

Vanita Gupta was appointed by President Obama in 2014 to lead the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department. Earlier this year she became president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy’s newsletter on importance of Census 2020 for funders

Census 2020 Milestone Webinar

The Forum and a number of our partner organizations have teamed up for a webinar on November 16, “Key 2020 Census Milestones:  Preparing to Invest in a Fair and Accurate Count.”  The session will look at important decision-making points as the Census Bureau finalizes the 2020 census operational plan; key milestones in census preparations and implementation, including when the standards of collection of race and ethnicity data will be released, when local offices will open, and when address canvassing will begin; what is already happening on the ground to ensure a fair and accurate census and how that informs your grantmaking timeline; how philanthropy can play a key role as a census partner and catalyst of statewide get-out-the-count activities; and effective ways philanthropy can influence the formation of effective and representative complete count committees at the state and local levels.  More information

Tax Reform Implications for Nonprofits

Proposed tax reform changes could have drastic effects on charitable giving.  Be sure to read the National Council of Nonprofits’ analysis of the implications of the proposals, as well as Nonprofit Quarterly‘s analysis.  Marts & Lundy analysis

2018 Meet the Funders

by Posted in Events, Philanthropy, Resources for Community Organizations

2018 Meet the Funders

Each year, GCRI presents a Meet the Funders session for 50+ nonprofits to “speed network” with GCRI funders.  This year, we have tentatively scheduled the session for Thursday, February 15.   We usually have about 10 GCRI funders participate and try to have a variety of funders — geographic distribution across the state, different issue area funders, and while we usually have some funders from the previous year, we like to have a number of new funders as well.

If you are interested in participating in the 2018 Meet the Funders, please let Nancy know before December 15.

Last year, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island generously hosted the session, and we are looking for a location for 2018.  If any of you are interested in hosting, we need a space for about 75 people, with break out areas for smaller groups.

Investing in Nonprofit Staff: Fund the People’s Field Story Webinars

by Posted in Events, Nonprofit Capacity Building, Uncategorized

Investing in Nonprofit Staff:  Fund the People’s Field Story Webinars

GCRI’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Catalyst Group seeks to build nonprofit sustainability, including nonprofit leadership development and staff capacity building.  Our Forum partner, Fund the People, is presenting two “field story” webinar opportunities to learn from funders who have implemented different models of investing in nonprofit staff.

On November 17, New York Community Trust will present its Leadership Fellows Program, and other talent investing practices, and on December 12, Community Memorial Foundation in Illinois will be sharing how it holistically invests in strengthening nonprofit professionals and organizations, as well as the impact the foundation’s talent investments have on the effectiveness of Aging Care Connections.

These are two valuable opportunities to learn from peers in other regions, and will help inform our Catalyst Group work here in Rhode Island.