I attended the preview screening for “Black in America 2, Soledad O’Brien Reports”, a CNN four-hour documentary that premieres on July 22 with “Tomorrow’s Leaders” and July 23 with “Today’s Pioneers.” I encourage you to watch this two-part series as it features extraordinary programs that serve as highly successful and replicable models. While I was inspired by all six, I was particularly touched by an initiative Malaak Compton-Rock started at the Bushwick Brooklyn Salvation Army Community Center called Journey for Change. Thirty children were chosen to participate. First they served their own community and then had a two-week service trip to a South African township. Read the Journey for Change blog to see what these kids have learned and what they... more
social justice
I am not surprised by today’s story in The New York Times about Russians not clamoring to see President Obama as people have in other countries. While even the U.S. still has to grapple with zenophobia, closed nations with state-controlled media are even more distrustful of “the other.” My Bubby and Zayde (grandmother and grandfather in Yiddish) escaped the Tsarist pogroms with my then-young uncle Mersh. More recently, we’ve seen how Chenchens, and Ossetians and Abkhazians have been treated by Russia. We have a long way to go in our own country, but at least we have the advantages of an open society where we freely can voice dissent. But I believe whether here or in other nations, ethnic violence is based... more
We will assess how various types of potential grantors from different sectors look at potential grantees and analyze critical determinants. We explore these perspectives with guest panelists Westina Matthews-Shatteen, Managing Director Merrill Lynch; Jacob Lief, President & co-Founder Ubuntu Education Fund; Elizabeth Sackler, President & CEO Arthur M. Sackler Foundation in the NYU graduate course I created and teach annually. Watch two- to three-minute video clips of each and if you have interest in seeing more of the discussion contact us. Also, post your comments on the philanthropic perspectives of corporations, foundations, individuals or others.
We explore how, regardless of your organization’s size, length of time in existence or level of expertise, you can begin to utilize or expand upon your current use of the myriad web-based options that can increase the effectiveness of your organizational initiatives and help you sustain them. Guest panelists Danny Moldovan, Change.org; Sarah Durham, Big Duck ; and Frankie Cheung, DonorsChoose.org describe various strategies and tools for different needs, depending upon capacity. Watch two- to three-minute video clips of each and if you have interest in seeing more of the discussion contact us. Also post your comments on how you use the internet to advance your cause-related strategies and initiatives, whether you are with a corporation, a foundation, a government or any other public or private... more
The first two days were focused on international issues; the third day, with support from the women of the world, was focused on Liberia’s National Plan of Action. Today continues drawing the relationship among national, regional and international efforts to advance women’s rights in all arenas. This morning we had exactly the powerful start needed to make that connection. We saw a production of Speak Truth to Power. Right after the performance, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and presented awards to representatives of the Liberian women’s organizations that had made peace possible and now continue to press for gender equity in every sector of society. I was deeply moved by the gorgeous symmetry of global and national commitment to basic human... more
