Can the arts transform Anacostia?

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

As the revitalization of the H Street Corridor proved, the arts can drive major economic improvement. But is H Street’s rebirth replicable? The City Paper looks at the possibility that Anacostia could become the next major arts corridor in the District, though it certainly faces big challenges (CP, 5/24):

That’s part of what’s going on in Anacostia: arts for its own sake…Which might be cause for excitement within the neighborhood, and surely much anxiety. All strata may participate in the arts, but in the lexicon of modern urban life, they often signify—fairly or unfairly—more disruptive changes to come, like skyrocketing rents and amenities more likely to appeal to newcomers than longtime residents.

The paper has four features on this subject, each one worth reading:

- If You Build It, Who Will Come?
– Stage of Development
– What to Expect at LUMEN8 2013
– Anacostia’s Arts Scene Is Growing

EDUCATION
- By a gigundo margin, students in D.C. carry the highest student debt load in the country with an average of $41,230. Maryland comes in second with $26,310. That said, WAMU reports that our region has the highest proportion of graduate degrees in the country, and possibly the galaxy, though the Census doesn’t track that wide. (WAMU, 5/23) The article helps to validate this meme.

- As our  leaders on the Hill prepare to take off an entire week to celebrate Memorial Day, local school jurisdictions are getting ready to face sequestration-related budget cuts. (WAMU, 5/23)

- Chicago is a few hundred miles outside of our usual jurisdiction, but their school system experiences similar challenges to some in our region. To that end, it will be interesting to see what happens after the city executes the largest wave of school closings in the entire country. (Chicagoist, 5/23)

- Though Enrolling More Poor Students, 2-Year Colleges Get Less of Federal Pie (NYT, 5/23)

Related event for WRAG members: Positioning Community Colleges to Effectively Train our Region’s Workers for High-Demand Jobs [More info.]

VETERANS | As our military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq wind down, Rebekah writes about how local funders are preparing for returning veterans. (Daily, 5/23)

PHILANTHROPY
- Tamara and Gretchen have both written about mission-driven investing in the last week, which includes using program-related investments (PRIs) to maximize impact. A new study finds that while PRIs have increased considerably over the past two decades, they were neglected during the recession. Also, funders might not be putting their money where their mouths are, and it’s not because money doesn’t taste good (Chronicle, 5/23):

There’s a disconnect between the amount of discussion about program-related investments in the foundation world and how many are actually made.

- Operating Support Jumped 83% in 2011 (Chronicle, 5/23)

TEEN PREGNANCY | The Atlantic looks at the shifting geography of teen mothers in the United States. (Atlantic, 5/22)

The article notes that D.C. has the top rate among 15-17 year old girls, but be sure to check out our report Beyond Dollars to see how much progress has been made in the city in recent years.

BUDGETS | The DC Fiscal Policy Institute summarized the DC Council’s 2014 budget, which includes housing and children/family funding. (DCFPI, 5/22)

DAILY | In observance of Memorial Day, expected reduced readership, and lingering technology projects that require undivided attention, The Daily WRAG will return next Wednesday, May 29th.

The Cat Empire is an incredibly versatile and talented band from Down Under – easily one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen. I highly recommend checking out their new album Steal The Light on Spotify (and buying the album if you dig it). The whole thing is excellent, but my early favorite track is Wild Animals.

Since we’re going to be gone for a few days, here are TWO bonus items! First, breathtaking photographs from the first successful ascent of Mount Everest 60 years ago. Second, 15 hilarious GIFs of uncoordinated children. Give the animations a few seconds to load. Number 10 gets what he deserves.

Have a great long weekend, folks! – Christian

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Is philanthropy streamlining yet?

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Over the last few years, WRAG has worked with Project Streamline to explore ways that funders can improve their application and processes to reduce the burden on grantees. Project Streamline, which is led by the Grants Managers Network, is now five years old. Their new report, Practices That Matter, looks at how far the sector has come – and how much further it needs to go – in the streamlining process.

Related in the Daily:
- WRAG members continue to streamline (April, 2013)
- Project Streamline: The Moriah Fund (June, 2011)
- Paperwork vs. progress: the case for streamlining (Sept, 2010)
- Scaling up vs. scaling back (Feb, 2010)

CHANGE | Most of you know Margaret O’Bryon, former CEO of the Consumer Health Foundation, for her commitment to social equity and her expansive thinking. In today’s Daily, she writes about one of the theories of social change that has greatly influenced her thinking. It is called Presencing (or Theory U). Look to hear more from Margaret as she takes on her latest role as the Nielsen Chair of Philanthropy at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and the Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University. (Daily, 5/22)

COMMUNITY | As part of its documentary festival this year, the AFI will screen Herblock: The Black & the White. It showcases the life and work of former Washington Post cartoonist Herb Block, whose successful career lead to the creation of The Herb Block Foundation. (CP, 5/22)

DEVELOPMENT | The Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Cheryl Cort writes about a report from the Prince George’s County Planning Board that says the county is at a crossroads. It can either “push for more transit-oriented development and walkable communities, or ‘be resigned to business as usual.’” (GGW, 5/22)

Related: Here’s a step in the right direction! The county’s Gateway Arts District received a big grant from ArtPlace America, which funds projects that generate economic development through the arts. (WBJ, 5/22)

EDUCATION | Here’s a look at per pupil school spending in our region. At a state level, the District is second to only New York. On a local level, the data show that Alexandria was the only school district in our region to increase spending from the previous year. (Examiner, 5/22)

PHILANTHROPY | Local philanthropist David Rubenstein talks about using more than just his money to achieve the social impact that he seeks. (GiveSmart, 5/22)

LOCAL | A sinkhole opened up just two blocks east of the White House yesterday. Fortunately, the only victim that it claimed was our sense of pedestrian safety. (WaPo, 5/22)

We’ll be much safer when we can get around like this. In the meantime, we have to live with the fact that, at any moment, we might just be swallowed into the swampy depths of D.C.

Finally, the list you’ve all been waiting for! The Eight Largest Zoos in the world (excluding Times Square)! Now I finally have an excuse to visit Nebraska.

Also, for some reason, today feels like a day for The Clash. How about Train in Vain or Police and Thieves?

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The nuts and bolts of mission investing

May 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

PHILANTHROPY | Last week, Tamara wrote about how the Kellogg Foundation has used mission investing to maximize its impact. Today, Gretchen follows up with a closer look at the mechanics of mission investing – specifically, she writes about MRIs (not that kind) and PRIs. She also explores how the Consumer Health Foundation is using mission investing to improve our region. (Daily, 5/21)

Related:
- The Kellogg Foundation and Mission-Driven Investing (Daily, 5/16)

- How Philanthropists Can Help Companies Achieve Profit with a Purpose (Arabella, 5/14)

- Leveraging the Power of Foundations-An Analysis of Program-Related Investing (LFSP, 5/21)

OKLAHOMA | Our thoughts go out to Moore, Oklahoma, after yesterday’s monster tornado flattened huge parts of the city. Moore has been hit by similarly-destructive tornadoes three times in the last fifteen years. While the damage from the latest is devastating and the loss of life is significant, there is some relatively good news. Medical examiners have cut their death toll estimate in half, as of this morning. (Atlantic & WTOP, 5/12)

Our colleagues in Baltimore have pulled together a list of ways that you can help the victims. The Tulsa Community Foundation has also set up relief funds. And here are some options for local Oklahoma nonprofits.

Finally, here’s a heartwarming story amid the many sad ones. (Sky, 5/21)

POVERTY | Following up on yesterday’s news about the rise in suburban poverty, The Atlantic looks at some of the implications of suburban versus urban poverty (Atlantic, 5/21):

Poor people who live in high-rise apartments and dense urban blocks have neighbors who can pool childcare, or point each other to social services, or share rides to work. They have access to public transit, because transit follows density, too.
…
“That isolated poverty is a kind of hopeless poverty,” [Ford Foundation President Luis] Ubiñas said. It is also considerably less visible to the rest of us. “We won’t run into it on the subway or in the park,” he says. “We’ll drive past it on the highway.”

LOCAL | Here’s part two of WAMU’s investigation of local developers and their relationships with elected officials – Million-Dollar Properties, $1 Deals. (WAMU, 5/21)

TRANSIT | If you’ve been wondering how the Silver Spring transit center ended up as a $120 million-plus, useless mess, you’re in luck. The Post looks at the history of the project. (WaPo, 5/12)

JUVENILE JUSTICE | A new report from the National Youth Employment Center reviews the work of the organization’s Postsecondary Success Initiative, which works with disconnected and court-involved youth to help them achieve postsecondary credentials. The initiative is supported in part by the Open Society Foundations. (NYEC, 5/21)

EDUCATION | Process for Charters to Inherit Vacant DCPS Buildings Gets a Wee Bit Easier (CP, 5/21)

Ray Manzarek, a founding member of The Doors, passed away from cancer yesterday. It was a real tragedy that Doors lead singer Jim Morrison wasted his life on drugs, but the band’s impact on modern music was incredibly deep considering its short tenure. Here’s my favorite Doors song, which I think represents some of Manzarek’s best work - Riders on the Storm. It feels especially appropriate for today.

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Huge changes in suburban poverty

May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

As The Atlantic points out, the word “suburb” brings to mind a stereotype of cheery prosperity. Whatever truth might have once inspired that image is now colliding with major demographic shifts. New research from the Brookings Institution finds that over the last decade, poverty in American suburbs has overtaken cities (Atlantic, 5/20):

Between 2000 and 2011, the population living in American cities below the poverty line increased by 29 percent. During that same time, across the country in the suburbs of metropolitan areas as diverse as Atlanta and Detroit and Salt Lake City, the ranks of the poor grew by 64 percent. Today, more poor people live in the suburbs (16.4 million of them) than in U.S. cities (13.4 million), despite the perception that poverty remains a uniquely urban problem.

The research includes profiles of metropolitan areas across the country. The Greater Washington region’s profile finds the poverty rate still lower in suburbs, but the number of suburban poor has increased 55 percent. Read more about what is driving our local changes – and what the implications are for our region.

Related: Here’s a look at how nonprofits in Montgomery County are struggling to address the increase in suburban poverty. (WAMU, 5/20)

EDUCATION
- Studies have shown that the achievement gap between high and low-income children can begin forming as early as nine months old. Home visits from family support workers might be one way of preventing the gap from forming. (WaPo, 5/20)

- Montgomery County has an increasing trend of students failing math tests. What is causing the trend? Theories abound. (WaPo, 5/20)

Maybe students are stuck in a vortex of chaos and confusion due to the fact that the school system imposes a failing grade of “E” rather than the traditional “F.” E is for “Excellent!” F is for “Fail!”

NONPROFITS | NPR ran an interesting news segment on the work of Dan Pallotta, who argues in favor of a paradigm shift that would financially incentivize working in the nonprofit sector. Click the “Listen to the Story” box to hear it. (NPR, 5/17) Thanks very much to Nick Geisinger – founder of the Daily! – for passing this along.

HOUSING
- Opinion: To Curb Domestic Violence, Start With Housing by Terri Ludwig, President and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners (HuffPo, 5/9)

- Major Campaign Donors Score Hefty City Subsidies (WAMU, 5/20) For the second time in a week…Steve Urkel!

TRANSIT | Maryland has announced plans to run MARC train service between D.C. and Baltimore on the weekends! At the moment, the only easy option for getting between the two is Amtrak, which is unreasonably expensive. (WAMU, 5/17)

Related: Columbia, Maryland, was originally designed to be a connection point that would bridge the geographic gap between Baltimore and D.C. It didn’t quite work, but its story is fascinating.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend, even though none of us won Powerball…unless the winner from Florida is a Daily reader?! Anyhow, my weekend was glorious, mostly because my girlfriend and I ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger at Georgetown’s graduation ceremony. We didn’t talk to him, but I assume that when he saw us, he thought, “Who is dis lovely couple dat I get to share da sidewalk with?” Life changing moment.

On a completely unrelated note, I’ve had Dusty Springfield’s Son of a Preacher Man stuck in my head. Great tune!

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The Kellogg Foundation and Mission-Driven Investing

May 16, 2013 By 4 Comments

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

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A Voice from Philanthropy: The Invisible

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

By Tamara Copeland
President
Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

We charge into every day ready to tackle the next challenge. We are virtually on auto-pilot as our cars almost drive us to work or as we automatically walk down the same streets. We never stop for a conversation with the homeless man who is always beside the escalator at the Metro nor do we really notice the message handsomely engraved on the plaque at the corner as we turn toward our offices.

Earlier this week, I suddenly noticed something that I have walked by literally thousands of times. On the wall in the WRAG office is a quilt commemorating the life of Reggie Blaxton, who lived from 1953 until 2001. It is probably about 7’ X 5’. It is colorful, decorated with poignant quotes, a photograph of a stylish man, and assorted memorabilia recognizing his African roots. It is majestic and not easy to overlook, but somehow I had. After more than six years at WRAG, I finally asked, “Who was Reggie Blaxton?”

I assumed that he had died from AIDS because of the vehicle of a quilt to commemorate his life and because of our work with the Washington AIDS Partnership, but I hadn’t taken the time to learn anything about the man. This week I did.

Reggie Blaxton was a founding member of the Washington AIDS Partnership. He was a native Washingtonian who had graduated from DC public schools before going on to college in Maine, then to Oxford, and then to divinity school to become an Episcopal priest. He was the religious affairs advisor to then-Mayor Marion Barry and author of HIV: Dis-ease of the Church, an essay published in the anthology Dangerous Liaisons: Blacks, Gays, & the Struggle for Equality. Reggie Blaxton was one of the people who pushed us to address the problem that took his life.

Every day we walk a little too quickly by important testaments – living and symbolic – to the issues that we are rushing to address. Behind the issue of homelessness is that homeless man at the top of the escalator. I haven’t taken the time to learn his name, share mine, or begin to know his story. I should. I know that the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS became even more moving to me once they were within the context of Reggie Blaxton’s life. Let’s remember to take a moment to read the plaque, to talk with the homeless man, and to ground ourselves in the real people who populate the challenges that we work to address.

Just a thought.

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Using technology to combat senior isolation

May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

People often lament the fact that technology is deteriorating human relationships. But for seniors, the opposite might be true. A new pilot program funded by the AARP Foundation is building technological connections for seniors as a way of combating isolation. The program provides iPads to seniors, as well as classes on how to use the Internet, social media, Skype, and more (WaPo, 5/9):

In the District, the program selected low-income seniors at high risk of being disconnected from friends and family, said Najeeb Uddin, the AARP Foundation’s vice president of technology.

“We’re targeting people on the verge of being isolated and depressed. Their spouse might have passed away,” he said. “It’s about connecting to the community. It just happens to be that we’re using technology to do it.”

YOUTH | The Children’s Law Center has released its 2013 Children’s Mental Health Report Card. This year’s marks for the District are mixed, but hopeful (WAMU, 5/9):

Judith Sandalow is the executive director of Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit in D.C. She says there are “promising beginnings” when it comes to how the District serves children with mental health needs.
…
But Sandalow says there is still a long way to go. She says there are too many agencies involved leading to what she calls “bureaucratic fragmentation.” And Sandalow says how soon a child gets treatment is also a problem.

Read the report here.

Related: Pushing for More Progress in the District’s Children’s Mental Health System (HuffPo, 5/9)

HEALTH | Jacqueline Bowens has been named to succeed Sharon Baskerville as the CEO of the D.C. Primary Care Coalition. (WBJ, 5/9)

Related: The D.C. Primary Care Coalition is one of the key players in our Beyond Dollars story on expanding the health care safety net. You can check out the report here.

EDUCATION
- The District is set to open a “hybrid traditional-charter” school in Southeast. Chancellor Kaya Henderson says, “It’s an animal that we’ve never seen before.” (WaPo, 5/9) Is it a unicorn? I bet it’s a unicorn. I knew they existed!

- Putting Inner City Students on a Path to High-Paying Jobs, For Real (Atlantic, 5/9)

HOUSING
- In case the economic collapse didn’t do it already, Richard Florida has deflated the American dream of homeownership. He digs into a report about the relationship between unemployment and homeownership and says, “Higher rates of homeownership lead to higher rates of unemployment.” (Atlantic, 5/9)

Related: Florida discusses the relationship between housing and commuting. We looked at the same issue in our recent report on housing affordability.

- Greater Greater Washington’s Dave Aplert explains how the increased production of high-end rental units in our region could trigger drops in rent through a process called “filtering.” (GGW, 5/9) Contrary to my initial expectation, this does not mean refraining from swearing at leasing agents to get better rates.

LOCAL
- Arlington’s population is expected to continue booming, thanks especially to the Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Plan. (WTOP, 5/9)

- Robert McCartney writes about how impressed he is about regional collaboration to clean sewage. (WaPo, 5/9)

- Lots of great stuff from The Atlantic today. Here’s a look at how highway construction ruined Southwest D.C. – and how new development could resurrect it. (Atlantic, 5/9)

I forgot to post this yesterday, but Jimmy Fallon and John Krasinski (from The Office) had a hilarious lip syncing competition. It’s pretty funny. (Note: I downgraded my sentiment and didn’t even notice when I published.)

And, here’s an amusing connection between autocomplete and the platypus.

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Freddie Mac Foundation announces wind-down plan

May 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Today, the Freddie Mac Foundation announced its plan to complete the spend-down of its assets and to complete its activities. The plan focuses on continuing to serve current grantees as it gradually reduces funding. Starting next year, the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region will administer the remaining grants.

When the financial crisis hit, it was unclear how the Freddie Mac Foundation’s giving might be affected. The 8 Neighbors group, of which WRAG is a part, worked with the foundation to identify ways to maximize the impact of their changing funding strategies. In the Daily today, Tamara looks back on how the uncertainty was reshaped and how continued giving by the foundation since 2008 has been a major success story. (Daily, 5/8)

COMMUNITY
- It is with very mixed emotions that we share the news that Rachel Wick, director of policy, planning, and special projects at the Consumer Health Foundation, will be heading to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for the Blue Shield of California Foundation.

As most of you already know, Rachel is a rock star in our community. She’s been a key leader around health advocacy and health justice in our region, and she’s helped lead WRAG’s Health Working Group and Working Group on Aging to a great many successes. Plus, she’s been WRAG’s neighbor down the hall for the past eight years.

So, while we’re quite sad that she’s leaving, we’re also very excited for her new opportunity. California is incredibly lucky! We wish Rachel all the best on her new adventure.

- The board of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation has elected Joshua Bernstein as its new chair. In addition to serving as CEO of the Bernstein Management Corporation, Joshua is the vice president of the Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation. The board also elected Deborah Ratner Salzberg, President of Forest City Washington, as its vice chair and Barbara Lang, CEO of the DC Chamber of Commerce, as secretary-treasurer. [Read more.]

YOUTH | Mayor Gray has released an FY 2014 Children’s Budget Report, detailing his plans for spending $2.1 billion on children, youth, and families. (DC.gov, 5/3)

Related: D.C. summer school expanded in passage of $241m supplemental budget (Examiner, 5/8)

ARTS | The Kennedy Center’s Michael Kaiser shares an article from across the pond about the effect that arts and culture events have on tourism. He uses the example as further proof that our government should be spending a lot more on the arts. (HuffPo, 5/6)

LOCAL
- D.C. sets tourism record with 19m visitors in 2012 (Examiner, 5/8)

- But nobody is going to come back once they find out that our ground tries to devour things. (WaPo, 5/8)

GIVING | Eleven more people have signed the Giving Pledge. (Chronicle, 5/8)

PHILANTHROPY/NONPROFITS | Wondering what it’s like on the “other side?” Well go to a seance then. We don’t do that here! Just kidding, check out this National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy piece written by someone who has worked both as a grantseeker and a grantmaker. (NCRP, 5/6)

CNN has become the laughing stock of the news industry, which is especially impressive considering that it occupies the same industry as MSNBC and Fox News. Sure, you could point to reporting 100% false news about tiny things like the Supreme Court’s healthcare decision or the Boston bombings. But the real reason that CNN is at the bottom because they do absurd things like this.

I probably write a little too much about nerdy things, but big whoop, here’s something else – a hilarious Audi commercial feature two Spocks, Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto.

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Celebrating the successful transition of the Freddie Mac Foundation

May 8, 2013 By 1 Comment

By Tamara Copeland
President, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

Today, the Freddie Mac Foundation announced its plan to continue giving in our region through 2016. Is this a success? Yes, it sure is!

In September 2008, we didn’t know what the future might hold for the Freddie Mac Foundation. An announcement had been made by the federal government that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (the “conservator”) would control how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operated and how they spent their resources. At risk was $47M that was invested by these two entities in about 400 nonprofit organizations across our region. If those investments were discontinued, people were going to suffer.

The announcement about the conservator was made on a Sunday. By Friday of that same week, the 8 Neighbors group was born. 8 Neighbors was, and is, a partnership of eight regional organizations: the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Leadership Greater Washington, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the Nonprofit Roundtable, the United Way of the National Capital Area and the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, all committed to improving the lives of people who live in our region.

This group developed a media strategy, a legislative strategy, and a community engagement strategy. Over the next couple of months, our advocacy contributed to an announcement in December 2008 that both Freddie and Fannie would continue their philanthropic investments in the region. We celebrated, though we also knew that impending structural changes to both organizations would permanently impact their giving in the future.

In 2011, the Freddie Mac Foundation announced that like its sister organization, the Fannie Mae Foundation, it would be closing its doors. They slated 2014 as an endpoint. Following the announcement, 8 Neighbors continued behind the scenes outreach to the leaders of the Freddie Mac Foundation to offer perspectives on how the foundation’s plans to spend down would impact our region.

Today, the foundation announced how it will manage its closure – with a plan that carefully winds down giving to soften the impact on its grantees. Beginning next year and lasting through 2016, the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region will administer remaining grants. Would we have wanted the foundation to continue in perpetuity? Of course. But given the current reality, this is a successful outcome.

Our hats are off to the leaders of the Freddie Mac Foundation for all that they have done for the region over their decades-long existence and for their strategy for the near future.

Related information:
- Mortgage Giants’ Fall May Hurt Nonprofits (WaPo, Sept. 2008)

- Who will step up to fill Freddie’s and Fannie’s pullback on giving? by Tamara Copeland and Chuck Bean (WaPo, Sept. 2011)

- New report from 8 Neighbors on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s giving in the Greater Washington region (Daily, Oct. 2011)

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A progress report on philanthropy and big change

May 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A lot can change in a few years. That’s why WRAG is excited to release Beyond Dollars: Philanthropy and BIG Change in the Greater Washington Region. The new release is a 2013 progress report on our earlier publication, Beyond Dollars: Investing in BIG Change from 2009.

The earlier report chronicled and celebrated the unrecognized benefits of philanthropy in our region while also elevating what we saw as the common elements that led to change of great magnitude. Now, almost five years later, we want to check in on this work. Is the change lasting? If so, what factors have been critical? If not, what lessons have been learned?

The impact of philanthropy is especially important to consider in light of potential changes to the charitable deduction. As Beyond Dollars shows, philanthropic investments continue to make an important difference in our region.

HOMELESSNESS | The Senate has approved legislation for an Internet sales tax. It might not make it through the House, but if it does, D.C. Councilmembers Jim Graham and Mary Cheh think that the new revenue could end homelessness. As Aaron Wiener points out, this idealism is rooted in the belief that we could beat homelessness if we just had the money. (CP, 5/7)

If they really believe this, then it’s unsettling that better attempts haven’t been made to secure the necessary funds in the past.

HOUSING | ElevationDC interviews Michael Diamond, director of the Harrison Institute for Housing and Community Development, about affordable housing, gentrification, and policy solutions in our region. (Elevation, 5/7)

WORKFORCE | Over the weekend, New York Times bureau chief Dave Leonhardt wrote about the very high nonemployment rates of 25 to 34 year old Americans and the “grim shift” that has landed our country in a much worse position than most of Europe.

In a follow up, Leonhardt looks at the geography of the problem. Fortunately, our region is one of three spots in the country bucking the trend. (NYT, 5/7) Leonhardt is a great writer – very literary. The opening paragraph of the first article is fantastic.

HEALTH | Slowdown in Health Costs’ Rise May Last as Economy Revives (NYT, 5/6) Well, that’s a confusing headline.

Have you ever wondered what the subjects of abstract paintings might look like if they were real people? Me neither – but I found out the answer anyway. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Internet, somebody updated famous portraits for modern times.

And since there’s so much rain, how about the Belle Stars’ version of Iko Iko from Rain Man? If ever there was a movie that needed a music video…this was definitely not it. Good song though!

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