The Kellogg Foundation and Mission-Driven Investing

May 16, 2013 By 1 Comment

By Tamara Copeland
President, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

A few years ago, W.K. Kellogg Foundation program officer Tom Reis came to CEO Sterling Speirn with a double bottom line idea.

Rather than just pursuing the foundation’s mission through traditional grantmaking, Reis proposed using foundation assets to invest in for-profit businesses that related directly to Kellogg’s mission. He wanted to make what Kellogg came to call mission-driven investments. His plea was impassioned and it was research-based. The Board agreed and committed $100 million.

The outcomes have been impressive. They’ve generated an unexpected triple bottom line. The Kellogg Foundation has received a financial return on its investment, a social return through positive change on the problems it cares about, as well as what Speirn calls a learning return.

In eight months, Kellogg received a 26% return on their investment in Wireless Generation, a technology company that creates tools for personalized learning and teaching. Through the foundation’s investment in Revolution Foods, 200,000 healthy meals are being delivered to school children in nine states and the foundation has learned that school kitchens are often designed to re-heat frozen food, not to cook fresh food. And, through their investment in Acelero Learning, a for-profit company focused on efficiency and greater impact for Head Start, Kellogg is supporting higher salaries for teachers – an intervention that works to ensure retention of teachers while also obtaining better educational outcomes for children and economic security for families.

Last month, Speirn explored this model with WRAG CEOs. He acknowledged that every foundation doesn’t have what Kellogg did when it agreed to this work – an asset base in the billions, a broad mission statement that allows for an expansive determination of which businesses might help them further that mission, and a board and staff leadership team that was open to out-of-the-box thinking.

But he continued on to advise that the approach is flexible and can work at many levels, based on the given circumstances for each foundation. As he urged the WRAG CEOS to explore mission-driven investing, he poignantly noted, “We don’t always know the cost of success. We only know the cost of failure.”

For more information on mission related investing, visit:

- W.K. Kellogg Foundation – Mission Driven Investing
- Mission Investing Glossary
- Tools to get you started
- Confluence Philanthropy
- Mission Investors Exchange

Filed Under: WRAG Voices, WRAG's "In the News" Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Book Review: Do More Than Give – The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World

May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

By Eileen M. Ellsworth
President
The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia

What does it take to effect change in the social sector? That is the overarching question of Do More Than Give: The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World by Leslie R. Crutchfield, John V. Kania, and Mark R. Kramer (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011). Three of the most prominent thought leaders on national trends in philanthropy hold up models of “catalytic” donors who truly move the needle on complex social issues.

Catalytic donors utterly commit to a cause, mobilize an array of relationships and assets to reach goals, and create an impact that is measurable and impressive.

How do such donors accomplish so much? Do More than Give analyzes just that. It provides a playbook for donors who are ready to learn from some truly amazing and ultimately inspiring stories of social impact.

Most donors, whether they are individuals, foundations, or corporations, believe that they are in the business of “giving away money.” They select a charity, give a grant, and in return get a report back from the charity in six months to a year on how the money was spent. This is an important form of community based philanthropy, especially for donors who feel connected to home and the concomitant commitment to help local nonprofits with their work.

But the authors of Do More Than Give hope to inspire action well beyond the current model of philanthropy where the benefit flows in a linear fashion from donor to grantee to ultimate service recipient. In fact, the book isn’t about how to “give away money” at all. Rather, it’s about how to become an active participant in and leader of a collective movement to address social issues.

Step one: “Commit to a Cause:” A donor must first pick a narrow focus for his or her philanthropy. Without focus, there can be no impact. Donors must get clear about what cause to choose. This is an absolute condition precedent to catalytic philanthropy, and not an easy task to accomplish. Committing to one among many compelling community causes is a challenge for any donor. This is especially true for community foundations that are accountable to a broad range of donors with many concerns. It also poses a difficulty for corporate givers that want to support the existing philanthropy of their employees in just one geographic area.

First, pick a cause you know well and that resonates with you on a deep and significant level. That is the internal inquiry: Is it a cause you truly, deeply care about? Then, pick a cause that also appears ripe for change, one that has already been embraced by a broad spectrum of community donors and leaders with a likelihood of success. That is the external inquiry: Does this cause already have momentum in the external environment? Finally, ask yourself “Where do I personally have the most leverage?” The answer to that question will help point the way.

Take a hard look at the facts and use available data to make this important first decision. Once you have committed to a cause, the “six practices” then come into play.

Practice # 1: Advocate for Change: Most donors run from advocacy, not embrace it. There are many rational reasons for this. Advocacy can be risky. You can make enemies that you would rather not make in the process of advocating for a cause. Advocacy is time consuming. It takes communications skills that many donors do not think they have. And it takes focus, practice and (above all) persistence. But Crutchfield and her co-authors make a very compelling case that without advocacy, systemic change rarely happens. It takes a lot more than writing a check to a nonprofit to effect change in the social sector. Advocacy can make the difference.

Practice # 2 - Blend Profit with Purpose: This practice is particularly though not exclusively aimed at the capabilities of corporate donors. Sometimes, the core business practices of a company, as opposed to the philanthropic donations they make, can be the greatest trick in their bag to effect social change. Social entrepreneurship that inures to the benefit of a previously disadvantaged group can end up developing markets and industries that complement a company’s business and add to its bottom line profits.

Practice # 3 - Forge Nonprofit Peer Networks: Nonprofits are a piece of the puzzle in the catalytic philanthropy model. In essence, they are service providers with their finger on the pulse of key community issues. By nature, they compete for resources with other similar (and even disparate) nonprofits. Together, however, they are a force that any donor who hopes to accomplish real, systemic change must engage. Catalytic donors not only convene nonprofits, they actually get them to become mutually accountable to each other and to the larger network. If anything good happens, it happens because of the larger network.

Practice # 4 - Empower the People: Here, the authors encourage every donor to find a way to listen to the people who the donor intends to benefit, that is, to the ultimate service recipients of the nonprofit grantees. To the extent there is a feedback loop on philanthropy, it usually comes from the nonprofit service provider back to the donor by way of an evaluation or a report six months to one year after the grant has been made. But before any donor can truly understand the impact of its philanthropy, a dialogue that includes the ultimate service recipients is absolutely necessary.

Practice # 5 - Lead Adaptively: Catalytic donors must be adaptive leaders who possess certain hallmark capabilities. They must be able to sense opportunities and changes in the dialogue, motivate key players, and avoid driving their own agenda to the detriment of others. They must be able to lead, motivate, negotiate, listen, and most of all adapt to the shifting landscape. The authors believe that examples of adaptive leadership are rare but they do exist, and stories of brilliant adaptive leadership on the part of individual donors are provided throughout the book.

Practice # 6 - Learn in Order to Change: Continuous learning is critical to catalytic philanthropy. Catalytic donors do not focus on classic evaluation tools such as grantee reports on service outputs. Rather, they are more interested in building a system that teaches the donor, their grantees, and the service recipients what is working and what is not working in real time. When this system emerges, catalytic donors begin to get critical feedback, continuously learning and adapting to what they learn, and ultimately inculcating a culture of learning in their organization. If you want to participate in social change, you must continuously learn.

Conclusion: Do More Than Give walks a donor through the stages of donor development, from (1) writing checks supporting many disparate causes, to (2) developing a strategic focus, to (3) becoming a catalyst for true change on a complex social issue. It is a useful and thought provoking work for every kind of donor, in any kind of community. If you are looking for a practical, step by step manual for how to become a more effective donor, this book has a very great deal to offer.

WRAG member Eileen M. Ellsworth has been the president of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia since 2005. With $33 million in managed assets, the Community Foundation engages donors to help grow philanthropy in the region. She also serves on the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Board and on the Loudoun County CEO Cabinet.

Filed Under: WRAG Voices Tagged With: , , , ,

A Voice from Philanthropy: Uniting to address challenges facing boys and men of color

April 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

By Tamara Copeland
President, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

At the Council on Foundations conference earlier this month, 26 foundations pledged to address issues facing boys and men of color in the United States. To my knowledge, this is an unprecedented recognition of the disparities facing this community, and of the need for a visible, coordinated, and focused plan of action.

When I heard of it, I immediately wondered how this might affect our local community and what local leaders might think. Two in particular came to mind.

Nat Williams, executive director of the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, has been emphasizing a social justice lens for some time. I also wondered what his thoughts might be as an African-American man leading a national foundation with local roots. He writes:

It is both encouraging and significant that 26 major foundations have joined forces on behalf of African American men and boys. In the public discourse, working class and low income African American men and boys are all too often vilified, objectified or ignored. They are hardly ever viewed as critical assets for the civic, economic and political future of this country, as the statement from the foundation leaders suggests. The idea and reality of working class youth of color serving as key civic and community leaders is what energizes the Hill-Snowdon Foundation’s commitment to supporting youth organizing with low income youth of color, including African American youth.

We see the amazing transformation for individuals and communities that is borne from African American youth being given the skills and opportunities to lead and organize for positive change in their communities. So while we applaud this important effort by philanthropic leaders to improve the life chances and opportunities for African American men and boys, we challenge these leaders to support efforts that do more than advocate on behalf of African American men and youth – but that nurtures their leadership and civic participation and enlists them as leaders and partners in improving conditions for themselves, their communities and the nation as a whole.

And Nicky Goren, head of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, knows what a difference a gender focused lens can make. In her words:

I’m gratified to see so many national funders pledging to tackle these very critical issues. Their willingness to view problems and solutions through a gender lens is exemplary and recognizes the unique circumstances and barriers that boys and men of color face. As president of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, I’ve seen first-hand the effectiveness of targeted, gender-focused investments in our community.

For 15 years, The Women’s Foundation has supported efforts that give women the resources they need to overcome gender-specific barriers to success. We’ve seen their accomplishments have a ripple effect on our community, transforming lives, families and neighborhoods. The pledge to support boys and men of color and engage them as community assets is another step forward in creating communities where everyone has a stake and the opportunity to succeed. We need more funders to recognize that gender-specific approaches are needed to create lasting change.

There is no need to repeat the statistics about school dropouts, incarceration, and under/unemployment. You know what they are. You also know the difference that philanthropy can make when you raise your voice, leverage your resources and bring together leaders to focus on a problem.

I know what Nicky and Nat think about this pledge to act. What about others in our region? Please share your thoughts.

Filed Under: A Voice from Philanthropy, WRAG Voices

Strive’s Jeff Edmondson explains the power and the pitfalls of collective impact

April 23, 2013 By 1 Comment

By Rebekah Seder, Program Manager

All of us working in the social sector are concerned about the impact of our work. But, too often we work in isolation from others focused on the same problems or serving the same populations, stuck in our own silos. An enormous amount of public and private resources get thrown at issues without any real change — the so-called “spray and pray” approach. What if funders, nonprofits, government, and others concerned about a particular problem in their community came together around a common agenda, understood how their work aligned, adopted the same goals, and committed to doing their own work in the most effective ways possible?

This is the basic spirit of the “collective impact” approach. Jeff Edmondson, who spoke to local philanthropic and nonprofit leaders last week at our second Brightest Minds event, knows the ins and outs of collective impact better than anybody. As head of the Strive Partnership in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, he led a cradle-to-career initiative that has seen remarkable gains in student achievement, and now, as head of the Strive Network, he advises partnerships around the country on how to start and sustain effective collective impact initiatives.

The collective impact approach can be adopted for diverse issues in diverse places. There is no specific model to be followed. Rather, it is a framework with four key elements:

A shared community vision: All involved must agree on the specific goals that the initiative is working toward, and how they are going to move the dial on them. Choosing four or five outcomes that everyone can align around, assessing where you stand now in relation to those outcomes, and figuring out how to most effectively achieve them is difficult, but necessary to effect change. As Edmondson said, paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, you can’t find true north without a compass.

Evidence-based decision making: Decisions have to be guided by data. Data ensures transparency and accountability, and allows initiatives to report to the larger community where they are relative to their goals. Even more importantly, using data effectively allows stakeholders to see what approaches and interventions are working, and what needs to improve.

Collaborative action: Stakeholder engagement is key, and this is where collective impact can be especially hard and messy. Convincing funders, practitioners, and government to be transparent with their data – particularly when the data shows that things aren’t going right – requires a high level of trust among everyone involved.

Investment and sustainability: Moving a cross-sector agenda forward requires committed staff to serve as the, in Edmondson’s words, “chief cat herder.” A backbone organization is necessary to keep everyone on track, provide data analysis, and to serve as facilitator.

The widely read Stanford Social Innovation Review articles  about collective impact that highlight the work of the Strive Partnership, he says, are a “sanitized version of reality.” Creating the civic infrastructure to take on entrenched issues requires a high level of trust, a willingness to acknowledge and learn from past failures, and deep engagement and support from respected leaders. Collective impact isn’t simple or easy, but it does hold incredible potential to change our communities for the better.

You can check out Jeff Edmondson’s slides here.

Filed Under: WRAG events, WRAG Voices Tagged With: , , , ,

Philanthropy Fellows in the Field: The Community Foundation for Prince George’s County

April 17, 2013 By 2 Comments

We recently spoke with Amina Anderson, Senior Program Officer at the Community Foundation for Prince George’s County (CFPGC), about the work that their Philanthropy Fellow has undertaken this year, as well as the impact the program has had on the foundation.

WRAG Members: Don’t forget, applications for fellows are due by May 10. More information here.

What kind of work did your fellow do?

The Community Foundation for Prince George’s County seeks to expose student interns to a broad range of program areas and increasing responsibility. Our goal, in part, is to facilitate an understanding of the field of philanthropy and the Foundation’s community leadership work. This year’s Fellow was a key part of the Foundation’s team assisting staff with research, report writing, grants review, online communications and program planning and development.

How has the Community Foundation for Prince George’s County benefited from participating in the program?

Participation in the Philanthropy Fellows program has not only allowed the Foundation to obtain much needed program support, but also enabled us to benefit from the unique and fresh perspective that a college student brings to the experience. One question we could always count on our Fellow to ask was, “Please explain exactly what that means,” thereby helping us boil down oftentimes complex information for the reader and improve our overall messaging.

How would you describe your experience working with your fellow?

She was highly motivated and once prepped on a project she required little supervision. She had great interpersonal skills and her knowledge of computer applications and social media was really beneficial. She was both creative and timely all while managing a rigorous academic schedule. Needless to say we were pleased. We thoroughly enjoyed working with our Fellow and can’t wait for the opportunity to do it all again.

Do you have any advice for other WRAG members who are considering joining the program?

Go for it!

Filed Under: WRAG Voices

Mary McClymont on how funders can help the low-income population fight injustice

April 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment

In an op-ed for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, WRAG Board member and Public Welfare Foundation president Mary McClymont makes a compelling case for why funders should support civil legal aid. As she points out, it’s an issue that philanthropy is overlooking. It is equally one through which the lives of low-income individuals and families can be dramatically improved.

Here’s an excerpt. You can read the full piece on at the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s website (Chronicle, 3/24):

Imagine that your spouse abuses you and your children. Or that a bank is about to foreclose on your home, even though you are up-to-date in making your payments. Or that you are a wounded veteran struggling to obtain government disability benefits.

You have suffered an injustice, and you want an opportunity to go to court to make things right. You need a lawyer, but you are poor. You think that someone will say, as you’ve seen on countless television shows, “If you can’t afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you.”

But that constitutional guarantee of a lawyer does not apply to people fighting civil injustices, such as unlawful evictions, denial of benefits, or access to health services—essential matters of personal safety, economic security, and family support that can threaten basic survival.

Not surprisingly, these dilemmas become even more common and acute during challenging economic times.

Related: Last September, Mary spoke with Tamara about this issue from a framing standpoint. Frequently and unfortunately, the idea of legal aid is conflated with criminal behavior.

Filed Under: WRAG Voices Tagged With: , ,

Philanthropy Fellows in the Field: The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation

April 1, 2013 By 4 Comments

For the past two years, WRAG has connected our members with interns through the Philanthropy Fellows program, an exclusive partnership with the University of Maryland’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership. This professional development program gives the next generation of philanthropic and nonprofit leaders the opportunity to gain practical experience in grantmaking, build a professional network, and learn about community needs.

WRAG members have valued the skills their fellows have brought to their positions. Tobi Printz-Platnick, program officer at the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, recently reflected on her experience participating in the Philanthropy Fellows program.

What kind of work did your fellow do?
Charlie Cummings, our WRAG Philanthropy Fellow, conducted a quantitative analysis of the Foundation’s giving for each of our program areas, comparing FY 2007 to FY 2012. Charlie worked with our grants management team to pull the data from GIFTS, and then with each individual program officer to code and sort the data, determined the research questions to be asked and prepared charts and analysis to portray the results.

How has the Cafritz Foundation benefited from participating in the program?
The Foundation really wanted to create a template, with some common questions and charts, so that we could compare grantmaking across program areas with both pre- and post-recession data. While we had examined individual program areas, we wanted to look at the “big picture.” The challenge has been, as with so many people and organizations, having the time and staff to do the work. With Charlie’s extensive knowledge of both GIFTS and Excel, he was able to dive right into this challenge. We were thrilled to have someone so enthusiastic taking on a somewhat daunting task, in terms of the data, the hundreds of organizations and the different work styles and interests of all seven program officers!

How would you describe your experience working with your fellow?
Charlie has been a pleasure to work with and to supervise. We did not have a sense of how long this initiative would take to complete, nor did we know if we would have a story to tell across all of the dockets. Charlie has worked part-time during the school year, and nearly full-time during the break between semesters. With Charlie’s ability to manipulate the data and portray the findings of his research in easy-to-understand tables and charts, we have been thrilled at how this project is turning out.

Do you have any advice for other WRAG members who are considering joining the program?
What has really made this a great experience, from our perspective, was having a clear sense of what we wanted Charlie to do. He has been able to work alongside much of the staff, and been exposed to each of our program areas. Having him work on multiple dockets at the same time kept things interesting for him, and let each program officer spend the time they needed to based on their workload. We have also tried to be responsive to Charlie’s needs as he completes his graduate studies, with his schedule changing during midterms and finals, and allowing for conference calls and interviews as he searches for a full-time job.

WRAG Members: We are currently accepting applications for the Philanthropy Fellows program. For more information, please visit www.washingtongrantmakers.org/philanthropyfellows. 

Filed Under: WG members, WRAG Voices Tagged With: , , , , ,

Former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros’s top 10 ways funders can support housing affordability

March 26, 2013 By 1 Comment

Yesterday, we wrote about former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros’ talk that kicked off WRAG’s Brightest Minds series last week. Cisneros laid out a clear case for affordable and transit-accessible housing, highlighting its impact on both an individual level and a regional level.

To spur the thinking of grantmakers in the room, Cisneros laid out the following recommendations for how funders can effectively create a more equitable housing market in our region:

1. Grantmaking: The most obvious way that philanthropy can support the development of affordable housing is through good old-fashioned grantmaking to nonprofit organizations, including housing developers and intermediaries, that are working on affordable projects. In very high cost markets like ours, it is difficult to complete affordable projects without supplementing traditional financial resources with philanthropic support.

2. Program-related investments (PRIs): Beyond traditional grantmaking, foundations can use their endowments to make return-seeking investments in projects and organizations. Besides providing much needed capital for housing developers, Cisneros noted that PRIs often can provide a considerable return on investment for foundations as well.

3. Public–private collaboration: Philanthropy can collaborate with local government, particularly around acquiring land in key areas. Providing matching funds to purchase land around transit stations, in particular, is a potential way for funders to support affordable housing where it is needed most.

4. Support financial counseling: Funders can support related services, such as financial counseling for potential home buyers. As Cisneros noted, the importance of financial counseling is especially important in light of the subprime mortgage crisis and the often abusive lending practices that precipitated it.

5. Support for the overall concept of sustainability: This means supporting the creation of energy efficient homes, so that energy costs are manageable, as well as supporting transit-oriented development, so that the cost of transportation isn’t burdensome.

6. Advance senior housing: As our region is hit by the “Silver Tsunami,” funders can support the creation of homes that are safe, accessible, and affordable for older adults. In the same way that houses have been retrofitted to make them more energy efficient, much of the existing affordable housing stock needs to be retrofitted to better accommodate aging residents.

7. Leverage the home-building industry as a source of job training for youth: Philanthropy can support programs, models of which can be found around the country, that help young people get into construction and related fields. These are good, career-oriented jobs that can’t be outsourced, and, as the housing market recovers, these skills will be in high demand.

8. Research into the interface between housing and other forms of social services: It’s hard – if not impossible – to pursue job training opportunities or ensure that your children are getting a good education if you don’t have a safe and secure place to live. Philanthropy can support research into how access to affordable housing relates to other critical outcomes, and advance initiatives that take a “housing first” approach to addressing other issues. For instance, Cisneros mentioned creative programs that highlight the connection between access to housing and success in life, such as public housing in Denver that was built next to a community college, in order to facilitate residents’ pursuing education and job training opportunities.

9. Support international housing needs: Access to affordable housing is not just a domestic issue. Cisneros noted that, for the first time in history, there are more people living in urban areas worldwide than in rural areas. For funders who support projects internationally, housing is an area where you can have a significant impact.

10. Public policy advocacy: Finally, funders can maximize their impact by supporting advocacy. Policies at the federal, state, and local levels can be improved to increase rental stock, shore up low income housing tax credits, and change local zoning restrictions to allow for infill housing development, “granny flats,” and other innovations that are often met with resistance.

Clearly, there are a variety of avenues that local funders can take to support housing affordability in our region. And, you don’t need to consider yourself a “housing funder” per se to have a positive impact on efforts to increase the supply of safe, accessible, and affordable housing for everyone who lives here.

What do you think of Cisneros’s suggestions?

Filed Under: WRAG events, WRAG Voices, WRAG's "In the News" Tagged With: , , , ,

Former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros: Shift housing focus to geography and demographics

March 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

“A great city needs a mix of housing types because,
by definition, a city is a mix of people.”
- Henry Cisneros, former secretary of housing and urban development

Over the last few weeks, we’ve tried to shine some extra light on housing. We covered Mayor Gray’s $100 million commitment to affordable housing. Gretchen wrote about how housing intersects with so many different issues and why everyone should care about it. Tamara reached out to youth advocates with a message about why having a stable home is essential to the healthy development of a child. And just last week, we posted about research showing that a person making minimum wage would need to hold three full-time jobs to afford a two-bedroom apartment in our region. That person would have to work 24 hours a day.

Last Thursday, WRAG kicked of its 2013 Brightest Minds series with former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros, whose expertise not only leant itself to an examination of larger trends in housing, but to firm solutions for fixing our inequitable housing market.

His conversation with a room full of local funders, nonprofits, local government officials, and housing advocates was wide ranging and deep, but two terms continually resurfaced: geography and demographics.

Geography

In our region, the bulk of affordable housing is being created at the edges while the prime real estate hovers more closely around conveniences like public transit and shopping. The same is not true of jobs. A high paid CEO works in the same office as a low-wage custodian, for example. But whereas the CEO likely lives close by, the custodian probably has to travel a considerable amount of time to and from the job. Cisneros pointed out a few of the negative effects of long commutes:

  • Associated high transportation costs cut into savings.
  • They are bad for employees since they take so much time and bad for employers because they decrease productivity.
  • They create a severe imbalance in work and personal/family time.
  • They can have dire consequences in extreme cases. During “Snowpocalypse,” for example, many health workers were unable to get to their jobs.

The bottom line? People need to live closer to their jobs and housing needs to be transit-oriented.

Demographics

Cisneros also echoed what Dr. Jim Johnson pointed out last year – our demographics are shifting rapidly. Specifically, he cited two trends:

  • The Silver Tsunami is underway and picking up speed, but the housing market isn’t ready. Baby Boomers need more housing options that can accommodate their health and wealth. Cisneros discussed the concept of “lifespan” housing, which can be smaller, more affordable, and equipped to allow Boomers to age in place.
  • In recent generations, the country’s housing stock has been supported by identifiable groups – the post-war generation in the ’50s and ‘60s, the Baby Boomers in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The next big wave will be immigrants. Currently, they represent 39% of all housing transactions in the country.

What does it mean? As the housing market shifts into its post-recession phase, both construction and policy will need to be molded around these major shifts in demographics.

Looking forward

After discussing these housing trends and the challenges they pose, Cisneros discussed specific ways that philanthropy can help create a more equitable housing market in our region. Tomorrow, Rebekah will write about his suggestions for local funders.

What is a ‘home’? Over the course of his career in both the public and private sectors, Henry Cisneros has developed a comprehensive and meaningful definition. Listen to it above. If you can’t see the flash player, click here to listen.

Filed Under: WRAG Voices, WRAG's "In the News" Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Why housing is everyone’s issue

March 7, 2013 By 2 Comments

By Gretchen Greiner-Lott
Vice President
Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

Why should you care about housing? Well, during yesterday’s snow event, I had some time to think about that a bit. Although we were all stuck at home together, my family and I still had light, heat, and shelter from the elements, as well as access to stores. But some people I know were not that lucky. It made me think about all the things that many of us take for granted that are essential to a strong, healthy, and connected community.

Because I have lived in my neighborhood for some years, I know my neighbors. I know who is sick or elderly and might need some help during the snow. I also know who might be able to assist me, if the need should arise. For those folks in our region whose housing situation is different – they move from place to place in search of a more affordable housing situation or the affordable situation they find lands them in a not so safe neighborhood – their community experiences are very different. They are not connected or supported.

“What does this have to do with me?” you might ask. Everything.

Whether you are a funder of health clinics, a nonprofit provider of educational programs, a growing business trying to attract new employees, or a local government working to spur economic growth and vitality, housing impacts everything you do to support your community. Without the basic starting point of having a safe and stable place to call home, many individuals will have a harder time achieving other life goals.

According to research from the National Housing Conference, low- and moderate-income people without decent, affordable housing are more likely to have negative health consequences and poor education outcomes for their children.  It is also harder for people to get to work and be reliable employees when their housing situation changes again and again – or for children to keep up with much less meet academic standards when they move from school to school.

Everything that this region wants to achieve – improvements in health status and educational outcomes, job growth, a strong economy, transportation and smart growth advancements, and more – depends on having a healthy continuum of housing that serves everyone from extremely low-income renters to moderate-income first-time home buyers so that folks can live in stable and supportive environments.

 On March 21st, we hope you’ll join us for WRAG’s first installment of this year’s Brightest Minds series. Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros will talk about how local funders, nonprofits, businesses, and governments can engage in a collective, multi-sector way to meet the housing needs of our region’s residents. For all the reasons list above, you can’t afford to miss it. [Registration.]
Filed Under: WRAG Voices, WRAG's "In the News" Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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