YMCA of Greater Des Moines’ Post

Today marks a significant milestone for KIPP Baltimore as we launch our most ambitious campaign yet–Lighting the Path: A Campaign to Transform KIPP. This initiative is not just about transformational fundraising it's about making a tangible, lasting impact on the lives of students in West Baltimore, setting them on a path to success that begins in PreK and extends well beyond eighth grade: to and through college, career, and beyond. With The Baltimore Library Project’s historic investment, as well as generous investment from the France-Merrick Foundation, Middendorf Foundation, Abell Foundation Inc, and Sherman Family Foundation, we have already raised nearly 80% of our $5M goal. Huge news: KIPP's library media centers - set to open to students in August 2024 - have been invited to join the #BaltimoreLibraryProject! We're poised to transform our campus into a beacon of hope and educational excellence. But we need your help. By supporting our campaign, you're investing in innovative, accessible PreK programming, state-of-the-Art Library Media Centers, and restroom renovation to affirm the safety and dignity for all students and staff. Every contribution brings us closer to creating an environment where every child can thrive academically and personally. We invite professionals, corporations, and philanthropists to join us in this critical mission. Learn more about how you can make a difference: https://lnkd.in/eNBASE6a #KIPPBaltimore #PublicCharterSchools #LightingThePath #BaltimoreCityPublicSchools #InvestInFutureLeaders

LIIF's Amy Shea, MPA, Yarimar (Yari) Gonzalez and Andrea Del Valle are excited to be co-presenting on a panel, "What to Expect When You Are Expecting a Grant," at McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership's #LC2024 on Feb. 9 (1:15 p.m.-2:45 p.m. CT, Room Lake Michigan B) in Wheeling, Illinois. Panel info: Whether this is your first time, or you have applied for and received grants in the past, this workshop is intended to share best practices, guidelines, and the Grantors point of view to make your grant applications more effective. The content will equip child care business owners with the knowledge and tools necessary to search for and apply for grant funding. We will also talk about community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and how they can support your child care business, as well as other potential funding opportunities in your communities. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: • Effectively search and track grant opportunities • Identify and gather required documents and information to submit with the grant application • Create and track detailed budgets • Write a compelling grant narrative • Monitor grants through sound recordkeeping practices • Write reports for funders after being awarded Together, we will share our experiences as grantors and demystify the grant application process so that everyone feels confident and prepared to pursue funding for their businesses. #LeadershipConnections #childcare #earlyeducation #grants

We find ourselves on the precipice of a key milestone in our nation’s history, as we approach 250 years of democracy and 70 years after the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Public education is the cornerstone of that great promise of democracy–it’s the most powerful tool we have to build generations of engaged leaders and citizens and has ripple effects that impact the futures of families and communities. But as leaders committed to a multiracial democracy, we can’t assume its existence and power as a foregone conclusion. Redesigning our public education system into one where every child has the resources, supports, and opportunities necessary to succeed and thrive inside the classroom and outside of it has the power to make that promise from 250 years ago a reality, but each of us has to understand and commit to our role in making it possible. We believe our power to enact change lies in our communities. The compounding crises of the past four years pushed us to make quick pivots, offering time-bound, smaller grants to address immediate needs–and that approach was right for that moment. This current moment requires that we demand more of ourselves as individuals and more of philanthropy as a whole. In the immediate term, that includes:  -Partnering with the NYU Metro Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools to engage you and other partners to better understand this work, how it’s evolving, and what leaders on the ground need more of from education philanthropy;  -Launching our Capacity Building Accelerator, which will support grassroots youth, educators, and community organizations across New England, to strengthen their organizations and expand their reach; -Prioritizing $10 million in grants to support community-rooted solutions—youth and community organizing, advocacy, direct action partnerships, and coalitions of grassroots/tops focused on advancing education justice and equity—starting in July; and -An additional $5 million in grants for resources, infrastructure, and capacity, in response to what we’ve heard from you about a desire for more targeted support. What we are up against can feel like swimming upstream, but look at what can work: community trust, leveraging our convening power to strengthen relationships across lines of difference, and meaningful investments in systems change through community-rooted solutions and innovation anchored in community genius. At Nellie Mae we’re moving general operating support grants and activating reinforcing support that grantees time and again say they need to make our shared vision a reality. Prior to 2020, we were making serious gains–those successes are why we continue to face renewed pushback. But we know that when we lean in and focus on community levers that can affect change, it works and we win. Together, we can be the people to transform our education and youth-serving systems to make real the promise of our democracy. https://bit.ly/43NA5kE

I’m thrilled to share some exciting news from the Student Basic Needs Coalition! We’ve just received a $100,000 grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which will allow us to expand our peer navigator program to even more community colleges. As many of you know, community colleges serve as a critical entry point for students from diverse and often underserved backgrounds. Yet, despite their eligibility, too many students still miss out on the SNAP benefits they need to succeed. This SNAP gap has real consequences, from increased stress to higher dropout rates. This grant is a game-changer for us. It means we can train and support more peer navigators—students who have personally navigated the SNAP process—to help their peers access these essential benefits. We’re also creating a new full-time Campus Program Manager role to coordinate these efforts across multiple campuses, ensuring we reach as many students as possible. I’m incredibly grateful to the Annie E. Casey Foundation for recognizing the importance of this work. This grant represents a significant step forward in our mission to make college more accessible and equitable for all students. I look forward to sharing our progress and the impact of this initiative in the coming months. If you’re interested in learning more or getting involved, check out the blog post here: https://lnkd.in/eTCnathy #SocialJustice #StudentAdvocacy #HigherEd #SNAPGap #CommunityColleges #Grateful #SBNC #StudentAffairs #StudentSuccess

"What do you hope the future holds for children, families and communities?"   For the past 18 months, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has been working to answer that question. Partnering with the Institute for the Future, we designated 2023 as a year of listening. We learned from more than 2,000 grantees, vendors, subject-matter experts, families, and community leaders who engaged with us in listening sessions, coffee chats, interviews, and surveys. Today we release the results of those conversations in “Lighting Up the Future for Children: Balancing urgent needs and future opportunities.” We consider it a shared community approach for the next decade. Often, in philanthropy, we think of addressing issues in the urgency of now. It feels like we have to operate that way because of pressing needs in the communities we serve. And of course, we do have to keep some of our attention there. But through this work we’ve been able to “zoom out” and consider other areas of importance. Instead of primarily looking at current community needs, we are also focusing on how we empower community actions, support community-led futures, and advocate for investments in community infrastructure. As I think about my hopes for children, families, and communities over the next ten years, we need a ground-up “re-do” of how we invest in people. This provides the biggest opportunities for transformation for current and future generations.   What does that look like? It’s going to look like radical rebuilding for all our systems: to build up the infrastructure of our healthcare system, build up the infrastructure of our education system, recognize that we need to take care of our people and our communities because in doing that, we allow them to care for the world. We will work to create equitable systems and structures in which everyone has their basic needs met and is safe, is secure, is valued, and belongs. That include: Celebrating Excellence: Amplifying those narratives of hope where people are leading and flourishing. Unlearning Norms and Reimagining the Future. We are looking to break free from the cultural norms that reinforce ingrained class, race and gender-based roles.    Rest as resistance: Creating well-being that extends beyond basic provisions to include joy, renewal, and belonging. For those seeking systemic overhaul, self-care through rest is more than leisure—it becomes an act of resistance. In an economy optimized for endless productivity and consumption, intentionally resting reclaims time for reflection, connection and envisioning a more just world. All of this is going to require significant dismantling and starting over, but it is the future I’m invested in helping to building. It is what is necessary to truly center children, families and communities. What do you envision? https://lnkd.in/d5pq2GqU #EveryChildThrives #FutureReadyPhilanthropy #LightUptheFuture

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HOW IS CAMDEN’S INNOVATIVE SCHOOL SYSTEM MOVING THE NEEDLE FOR NEW JERSEY STUDENTS? “Amid all the bad news in the post-pandemic public education sphere, there is a bright spot in a surprising city, Camden, New Jersey. There, students, while suffering steep learning losses so common in low-income districts, are finding their way forward through the collaboration of three different public school sectors: district, charter, and an unusual hybrid called “renaissance schools.” These renaissance schools, authorized by a law that let Camden approve partnerships with high-performing, nonprofit charter school networks willing to take on the lowest-performing schools, are driving the city’s learning gains. As such, the story of Camden’s “comeback,” described in a new report by Camden Education Fund, provides a blueprint for an innovative model of public education, not just in New Jersey but throughout the country.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gNxe-PTB #schooldistricts #education #renaissanceschools

Applications just opened for the next cohort of the Early Career Piton Fellows! If you know an early career leader consider nominating them or if you are an early career leader consider applying! #changingthefaceofDenverleadership

Over the weekend, I was finally able to sit down to peruse The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Interesting story - a virtual feast of pearl clutching - FLORIDA A&M PAUSES PURPORTED 237.75 MILLION AFTER QUESTIONS ABOUT VALIDITY - the story went on to obliquely pillory the advancement team and senior administration of Florida A&M for not conducting due diligence. Here is what the keen authors at The Chronicle of Generating Readers Through Histrionics failed to mention: -the average endowments for public HBCUs are $7,265 per student, while public colleges that are not HBCUs have an average endowment of $25,000 per student -public HBCUs rely on federal, state, and local funding more heavily than their non-HBCU counterparts (54 percent of overall revenue vs. 38 percent) -public and private HBCUs experienced the steepest declines in federal funding per full-time equivalent student between 2003 and 2015, with private HBCUs seeing a 42 percent reduction—the most substantial of all sectors -underfunding of HBCUs has placed HBCU students and parents, particularly Black families, in financial turmoil due to high borrowing and loan debt What I don't need the Chronicle to teach me is that 'the choices we make in the present' are directly correlated to "the conditions in which we make those choices". When you radically and systemically underfund an enterprise, the enterprise will move swiftly to redress the deficiencies that such underfunding generates. Come on Chronicle - place your text in context.

As an organization we create a Diversity Calendar each year in accordance with a selected theme. This year’s theme focuses on highlighting nonprofits in the area that align with our Triple Bottom Line— People, Planet, and Profit. In February, we highlight the Tipping Point Initiative. The Tipping Point Initiative (TPI) aims to make the world a better place through positive impacts on people and the planet and by increasing prosperity in our communities for present and future generations. The Initiative identifies, studies, seeks to understand, and attempts to eliminate barriers to success in employment and education through programming, training, and mentoring, focusing on youth, communities of color, impoverished communities, and other disenfranchised groups. Such barriers include income level, generational poverty, educational attainment, institutional racism, health status, and discrimination based on race, sex, age, disability, orientation, or criminal record. The Tipping Point Initiative also works with partner organizations with the belief that when similarly minded groups work together, there is a multiplier effect on the positive impacts the groups can have on the community. TPI sponsors many programs such as the Omega Scouts, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos in Honduras, the Chinook Mentoring Program, and also grants various scholarships. Omega Scouts, BSA Troops 258 & 8258, and Pack 3206 were formed to allow youth of color to participate in Scouting. The Omega Scouts are the only predominantly African-American troop in Western Michigan. Scouting is a valuable leadership program that exposes youth to nature through camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, and canoeing and also allows them to work on leadership skills and rank advancement. Omega Scouts have a record of achieving the highest rank of Eagle Scout and making contributions to their community.