The Kresge Foundation

Climate change is affecting people in real ways every day, but progress is possible, and the most effective solutions are designed and implemented by those who know their communities best. In 2019, Kresge launched the Climate Change, Health & Equity initiative to help cities build climate resilient, healthy and equitable communities and advance policies and practices to proactively tackle this public health threat. In a final evaluation report, Ross Strategic highlights key findings and recommendations for nonprofits and funders who play a pivotal role in driving systemic change: https://lnkd.in/enXi9iA2. Thank you to the all the dedicated participants and organizations: Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Public Health Association, BARHII, Catalyst Miami, Coalition of Communities of Color, Coalition for Environment, Equity and Resilience, Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, Eastside Community Network, Environmental Health Coalition , America's Essential Hospitals' Essential Hospitals Institute, Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative, Go Austin/Vamos Austin, Health Care Without Harm, Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN), Homewood Children's Village, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, (MiCHWA) Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance, Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Partnership for Southern Equity, Physicians for Social Responsibility, UPROSE, WE ACT for Environmental Justice. #ClimateAction

The nonpartisan nonprofit EdTrust-Midwest makes the important case that it’s essential for all of us working to advance educational opportunity – pre-K, K-12, or postsecondary – to understand the role that the Department of Education plays. They accordingly offer several resources that can help folks to become better informed:   A recent Trust blog post on "Assessing Impact on Michigan Students:" https://lnkd.in/g2rt64vS   The Detroit News op-ed by Amber Arellano, executive director of EdTrust-Midwest, and Colleen Allen, president & CEO of Autism Alliance of Michigan: https://lnkd.in/gVRMkTMw   A statement from the Trust and the Michigan Partnership for Equity and Opportunity, a non-partisan, statewide coalition made of business, non-profit, philanthropic and civic leaders from across the state of Michigan who champion making Michigan a top-ten education state for all groups of students: https://lnkd.in/gT8wtzYi   #SpeakUpforEd 

Today I am celebrating with the village who helped steward Three Frame Media's new docuseries The Class to the screen, premiering today on PBS! When the world was shutting down in the spring of 2020, Adam and I were planting the seed of this project with our dear friend Nicole Hurd, PhD. If you had told me back then that it would take 5 years before this story would be finished and out into the world, I’m not sure I would have signed up for that! Thank goodness I didn’t know then how long and difficult the journey would be. We weathered many long winters with this project (which is a story for another time), but now that The Class is coming out in the spring marking the 5 year anniversary of the pandemic and in a moment when higher education is facing perhaps its most critical test, it feels like this was when it was meant to be shared all along. We are so grateful for the students Ahmad, Ebei, Emily, Javonte, Kadynce, Raven and Cameron Schmidt-Temple who shared their lives and stories with us and for our amazing crew who worked through a pandemic and put their talent, creativity, and hearts into every moment of this show. Thank you to KQED and PBS for uplifting independent filmmaking and for the many supporters who helped us get this story out to the public: Gates Foundation Lumina Foundation Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund Ascendium's Education Philanthropy Ballmer Group ECMC Foundation The Kresge Foundation Ellucian Uplifting Capital and John M. Belk Endowment. Our hope is that this story serves as an opportunity to reflect on what we collectively endured in 2020 - 2021 and remember with gratitude those who got us through. The Class debuts on PBS on March 18, 2025 (check local listings), with new episodes airing weekly and streaming on the PBS app. Thank you for tuning in and supporting public television and independent filmmaking! #TheClassPBS #ThankYourCAM #impactstorytelling #documentary https://lnkd.in/gbyG6nxS

Local filmmakers. Local artists. New unique short films. 🎥✨ Spotlight Detroit returns with 25 stunning short films featuring 2025 Kresge Eminent Artist Marion Hayden and the 2024 Kresge Artist Fellows in Live Arts, Film, and Music! These award-winning artists collaborated with local filmmakers to present their art and stories in this series produced by Kresge Arts In Detroit and 7 Cylinders Studio. Watch the world premiere on Monday, March 31 at 9pm on Detroit PBS. 2024 Film & Music Fellows Juanita Anderson, Beats Rhymes Everything Detroit (Alesyn McCall Rich McCall), Steffanie Christi’an, Damien Crutcher, Maurice Draughn, Katy Dresner, Aisha Ellis, Ian Finkelstein, Tamara Finlay, Na Forest Lim, Gabriel Hall, HiTech (CHOPS, Melly, Milo), INK, ishKode, Razi Jafri, Weam Namou, Lara Sfire, Ursula Walker. 2024 Live Arts Fellows Imani Ma’at AnkhmenRa Amen Taylor, ava ansari, Flying Cardboard Theater (Jason Hicks, Lindsay McCaw), Jit Master Mike, Sowande Keita, Chaula Thacker, The TETRA – Digital Underground Railroad (Chace Morris, Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe)

The Education Data Initiative reports that 42.7 million student borrowers have federal loan debt and the total outstanding federal student loan balance is $1.7 trillion. Join Public Service Promise on Thursday, March 27 for a webinar on Understanding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).

I am looking forward to joining Cleveland Foundation CEO Lillian Kuri and Mark Joseph, Ph.D., the Leona Bevis/Marguerite Haynam Professor in Community Development at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, on Friday, March 27, for a conversation on The Purpose and Power of Place-based Philanthropy in Cleveland and Detroit. Join us at The City Club of Cleveland: https://lnkd.in/g2wSM2mM #philanthropy #cities #cleveland #detroit

Philanthropy can ensure that climate-responsive solutions are inclusive and affordable through grants, investments and other actions that prioritize those most impacted by disinvestment. A new report from Asset Funders Network (AFN) outlines a range of intersectional opportunities for funders to advance economic security and climate resilience equitably for people everywhere across the country. Download the report: https://lnkd.in/ejDafBu7 Watch the Climate Action & Economic Security webinar with AFN CEO Joseph Antolin, Wells Fargo's Lawrence Bowdish, Marin Community Foundation's Patti D'Angelo Juachon and Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation's Gail Latimore: https://lnkd.in/epHJzXa8 #ClimateAction

I am increasingly hearing – in the media and from friends and colleagues – faint undertones suggesting that rather than permitting despair to consume us, we need to see in the swirl of confusion and chaos an opportunity for renewal.   It’s so very hard to carry that kind of optimism as our public systems are subjected to pressures they simply aren’t equipped to withstand. Those pressures will either drive those systems to collapse or – if their residual strength is sufficient– to fundamental regeneration. We can only hope that it is the latter. The author Maria Popova, from whom I’ve borrowed before, draws an analogy to chemistry:   "This chaos of particles that liquefies solids and vaporizes liquids is just the creative force by which the new order of a more stable structure finds itself. The world would not exist without these discomposing transitions, during which everything seems to be falling apart and entropy seems to have the last word. And yet here it is, solid beneath our living feet — feet that carry value systems, systems of sanity, just as vulnerable to the upheavals of phase transition yet just as resilient, saved too by the irrepressible creative force that makes order, makes beauty, makes a new and stronger structure of possibility out of the chaos of such times."

Imagine this: It’s 2074. Another pandemic has come and gone—but this time, the response was effective and coordinated. What changed? Trust. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep fractures between communities and public health institutions. Without support, even the best interventions fail to make a lasting impact. To rebuild, we must focus on four key factors: 🤝 Humanity – Show genuine care & engage communities consistently. 🔍 Transparency – Communicate openly, admit mistakes, and share knowledge. ✅ Reliability – Deliver on promises with consistent, science-backed actions. 🎯 Capability – Invest in skilled professionals & modernized systems. Public health isn’t just about science—it’s about relationships, and it's time to start rebuilding them.💙 A special shoutout to Monica Valdes Lupi, Managing Director at The Kresge Foundation and Vice Chair of the HRiA Board of Directors, for leading this forward-thinking discussion. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/efeD9hM6

Thank you to our partners, the Gilbert Family Foundation and United States Artists, for the incredibly successful first year of the Seed and Bloom: Detroit initiative, supporting under-resourced artists in their neighborhoods. Learn more about the artists' impact and the program's future goals. The Seed and Bloom cohort: Jessica Allie, BULK Space Juanita Anderson, Indija Productions Halima Afi Cassells, The Free Market of Detroit Amelia E. Duran, Garage Cultural Asia Hamilton, Norwest Gallery of Art / Norwest Community Collaborative Danielle E. Lyle, Neighborhood Bodega Michael Manson, House of Jit Tiff Massey, Tiff Massey Studios Ryan Myers-Johnson, Sidewalk Detroit Yvette Rock, Live Coal Gallery