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2020-09-28
Candid;
The Community Leadership Assessment Tool is an instrument whose development was informed by conversations among community foundations who desired a structured mechanism to assess their community leadership activities and communicate the impact of their work beyond financial metrics. At the foundation-level, this tool is designed to inform practice. At the field level, results from this tool will be aggregated to provide a broader perspective on how foundations are engaging in community leadership efforts.
2020-09-17
Heartland Alliance;
Poverty rates and household incomes improved in Illinois in 2019. However, this data reflects conditions from the last year before a global pandemic and related recession--meaning the picture is likely much worse today. And even before the 2020 recession, millions of Illinoisans--especially people of color--lived in poverty or on the brink.The poverty rate for the United States was 10.5% in 2019, a decline of 1.3 percentage points from 2018 and the lowest on record. There were 34 million people in poverty nationwide. In 2019, 1.4 million Illinoisans were in poverty--a rate of 11.5%. Additionally, 1.9 million Illinoisans are near poor and economically insecure with incomes between 100% and 199% of the federal poverty threshold.The data also revealed that health insurance coverage rates declined in Illinois and throughout the nation in 2019, continuing a disturbing trend of eroding the gains of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), right before a global pandemic and economic recession hit.
2020-09-10
Scientific Reports Nature Research;
Small island states receive unprecedented amounts of the world's plastic waste. In March 2019, we removed as much plastic litter as possible from Aldabra Atoll, a remote UNESCO World Heritage Site, and estimated the money and effort required to remove the remaining debris. We removed 25 tonnes at a cost of $224,537, which equates to around $10,000 per day of clean-up operations or $8,900 per tonne of litter. We estimate that 513 tonnes (95% CI 212–814) remains on Aldabra, the largest accumulation reported for any single island. We calculate that removing it will cost approximately $4.68 million and require 18,000 person-hours of labour. By weight, the composition is dominated by litter from the regional fishing industry (83%) and flip-flops from further afield (7%). Given the serious detrimental effects of plastic litter on marine ecosystems, we conclude that clean-up efforts are a vital management action for islands like Aldabra, despite the high financial cost and should be integrated alongside policies directed at 'turning off the tap'. We recommend that international funding be made available for such efforts, especially considering the transboundary nature of both the marine plastic litter problem and the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity-rich islands.
2020-09-01
S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation;
Many foundations that are guided by a long-term commitment to move the needle in a finite set of issue areas also hold "special grantmaking" funds. These program dollars can be flexibly deployed for nascent opportunities, innovative ideas, emergencies, local causes, and/or areas of high interest to their leaders.Little has been written about special grants as a vibrant resource for philanthropy. While these funds are not always advertised publicly, they are more than purely discretionary. On the contrary, special grants can be made with purpose in mind and aim to advance the holistic goals of their respective foundations.This essay is rooted in the experience and observations of Matthew La Rocque and Barbara Kibbe, members of the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation's Effectiveness team. It explores the purpose of special grants, how they are made and monitored, and their advantages and challenges.
2020-08-27
Brennan Center for Justice;
Progress in removing explicit racism from law enforcement has clearly been made since the civil rights era, when Ku Klux Klan–affiliated officers were far too common. But, as Georgetown University law professor Vida B. Johnson argues, "The system can never achieve its purported goal of fairness while white supremacists continue to hide within police departments." Trust in the police remains low among people of color, who are often victims of police violence and abuse and are disproportionately underserved as victims of crime. The failure of law enforcement to adequately respond to racist violence and hate crimes or properly police white supremacist riots in cities across the United States over the last several years has left many Americans concerned that bias in law enforcement is pervasive. This report examines the law enforcement response to racist behavior, white supremacy, and far-right militancy within the ranks and recommends policy solutions to inform a more effective response.
2020-08-26
Candid;
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has created a global health and economic crisis that is testing regions around the world. In response, foundations, corporations, and individuals have been disbursing funds to nonprofits to help communities cope with these unprecedented challenges. Candid has been closely tracking the global private philanthropic response to COVID-19 through news stories and other publicly available resources as well as from funders who have reported disbursements directly to Candid. In this report, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and Candid look at the philanthropic dollars that were distributed for COVID-19 in the first half of 2020.
2020-08-24
Tiny Beam Fund;
*This report gives an overview and assessment of developments in large-scale cattle and pig productions in Armenia as seen in 2020, why they are happening, and where they are heading, especially with regard to these production systems' impact on the environment, animal wellbeing, and human health.*The report also highlights possible linkages and partnerships among large-scale cattle and pig production systems, small-scale cattle and pig farmers, the Armenian government, and consumer groups.*Of particular note are the following types of information: Actual on-the-ground production processes and detail data (e.g. market price of the cheese produced); overall economic status of production in three main animal production regions/marzes; a case study of the environmental impacts of large-scale cattle and pig production systems in the three regions using LCA/lifecycle assessment; current government policies and incentives that influence cattle and pig production systems (e.g. subsidized water and electricity, coronavirus-related programs).
2020-08-19
S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation;
Nonprofits that are intentional about cultivating organizational resilience are better at anticipating and adapting to the disruption, uncertainty, and significant change that are a constant in our world. There is no one recipe for resilience. Context matters – a lot. And, adapting to disruption and uncertainty will never be a linear journey. Resilience is a way of being, not an endpoint. This is a reality many nonprofits know well. However, it's less readily acknowledged by funders and, even less, a topic for open discussion among funders and their grantees. The Resiliency Guide is designed to help funders and nonprofits engage in candid dialogue about the complex, turbulent environments nonprofits operate in, and to reflect on organizational strengths as well as areas that may benefit from attention. As a tool for grantmakers, it can help deepen thinking about where, when, and how to invest in capacity building.
2020-08-18
Rockefeller Archive Center;
In April 1946, Walter W. Stewart, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation (RF), appointed a three-man commission to investigate the social and political situations of China in the immediate aftermath of the SinoJapanese War (1937-1945). The commission was asked to make recommendations for RF's policy (and for the policy of the China Medical Board) regarding post-war China. After a three-month visit to major cities along the Chinese coast and in interior China, the Rockefeller commission drew a conclusion that the support of the RF should be restricted to a single project of reestablishing the Peking Union Medical College. This marked a deviation from the Rockefeller Foundation's pre-war China policy. This research report asks about the factors that caused this dramatic change. It traces back to the unhappy wartime experience of RF-sponsored projects both in and out of China, and the increasingly active role of the Chinese state in relief efforts. Contrasting with the rapidly expanding historical literature of humanitarianism, post-war China has received limited scholarly attention. Much of the current research has still focused on the Chinese Civil War (1946-1950) and on China's foreign relations. This research report, consisting of part of my PhD research on post-war relief and rehabilitation in China from 1943-1948, underscores the process through which the Sino-Japanese War and its immediate aftermath transformed the landscape of non-state agencies in China.
2020-08-12
RAND Corporation;
Technology-facilitated personalized learning (PL) approaches have become increasingly common in K–12 schools across the United States, and as distance learning becomes more common during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, they are poised to become even more widely used. PL aims to create individual learning experiences and pathways for students. PL takes a wide variety of forms and typically involves changes to instructional materials and practices as well as school and system-level organizational conditions. These changes are often facilitated by technology. Despite the popularity of PL, little data exists on the prevalence of PL practices, and there is only limited understanding of the conditions needed to support high-quality PL implementation, particularly in high schools. This report presents findings from RAND's 2018 American Teacher Panel. As part of the survey, a nationally representative sample of high school teachers responded to questions about their use of instructional practices consistent with PL and access to necessary supports. The findings should be useful to practitioners, professional development and support providers, researchers, and policymakers who are interested in understanding how high school teachers are using PL practices and which supports and resources they need to use them effectively.
2020-08-12
Tiny Beam Fund;
HIGHLIGHTS:*By analyzing content related to meat, vegetarian, and vegan food in blogs and magazines in Kenya, this report uncovers cultural themes, attitudes, and beliefs about food in today's Kenyan popular media (e.g. lifestyle and nation are strong themes).*The report is aimed at helping those who want to support local Kenyan food systems, to stave off the "Westernized" diet and/or nutrition transition, to reduce animal-based food consumption in Kenya. In particular, it helps them to grasp the huge importance of understanding local food cultures and dietary practices, and to use culturally appropriate food messages in their outreach work.*To promote desired food habits in Kenya, the report suggests establishing annual vegetarian and/or vegan food festivals, encouraging individuals with culinary talent via awards, and supporting "restaurant weeks" in urban centers where participating restaurants provide special menus that offer discounts or new recipes.
2020-08-07
Public Profit;
Feedback is essential to improving quality, and just about everyone is tired of surveys. This guide provides step-by-stem guidance on engaging and innovative ways to solicit feedback, including visual, verbal, and kinesthetic methods. Many methods are especially effective for children, adults who speak a language other than English, and communities that prefer to communicate verbally and divually.
