FN&C Now

Volume 6, Number 33 – October 5, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Six foundations work together to advance education in Africa; Grameen Foundation USA launches microfinance fund; Joyce Foundation funds climate-friendly coal plants JUST PUBLISHED: Legal guide for economic development released; review recommends community foundations look outward; report shows rural philanthropy's growth AWARDS ROUNDUP: Partners In Health wins 2005 Hilton Humanitarian Prize; Broad Foundation names winner of 2005 Urban Education award; 2005 Lasker Awards announced AT THE COUNCIL: International Committee nominations sought; CEO Links offers education, accountability resources; sign up for Breaking News ACT NOW: Nominate an international fellow from Central or Eastern Europe ON THE MOVE: Carol Berde and Ron Kroese (McKnight); Robert C. Dickeson (Lumina); Sheila P. Burke (Kaiser Family); William H. Sorrell, Ellen Gritz and Lawrence Wasden (American Legacy); John W. (Jay) Jordan and Ramon de Oliveira (Kauffman); David Olmos (California HealthCare); Marlene A. Casini (Delaware County) NEWS COVERAGE ADVANCING EDUCATION: Six of the largest U.S. foundations will invest $200 million in a five-year initiative to advance higher education and development in Africa. The initiative is an expansion of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, launched in 2000 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford, MacArthur and Rockefeller foundations. The project has already awarded more than $150 million to universities in Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Kenya joined the initiative this year, and the William and Flora Hewlett and Andrew W. Mellon foundations joined as contributors. The expanded initiative will include more than $5 million for an eightfold increase in Internet bandwidth capacity for a consortium of African universities. Read more: http://www.fordfound.org/news/view_news_detail.cfm?news_index=155 . MICROFINANCE FUND: The Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) launched a global program to make as much as $50 million available in credit guarantees to poverty-focused microfinance institutions, which give small loans to help the poor start, maintain or expand self-sustaining businesses. The GFUSA Growth Guarantees program, developed with Citigroup and unveiled at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City in September, will offer a wide range of financing options. "Microfinance is an immediate and proven solution to reduce poverty on a global scale," said GFUSA President Alex Counts. The program, which could guarantee up to $300 million in low-interest loans to poor people around the world, will encourage more private investors to join the fight against poverty. It will also have the flexibility to respond to changing global conditions and needs of growing microfinance institutions. Read more: http://www.grameenfoundation.org/newsroom/news/~story=115 . CLIMATE CONCERN: The Joyce Foundation will provide $7 million over three years to ensure that the next generation of Midwest coal plants uses state-of-the-art technology for minimizing climate change and pollution. The funding will support efforts to persuade utility companies, regulators, investors and developers to stop building outdated coal-burning power plants and move toward coal gasification and other cleaner technologies. "We have a historic opportunity, and responsibility, to secure our region's energy future without further damaging our climate or polluting the Great Lakes," said foundation President Ellen S. Alberding. The foundation will also commit $17 million over the next three years to promote investments to restore the Great Lakes and rivers feeding into them. Read more: http://www.joycefdn.org . JUST PUBLISHED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: The Council on Foundations released Economic Development: A Legal Guide for Grantmakers, by Special Counsel Jane C. Nober. The guide provides comprehensive legal information for grantmakers committed to boosting the economic vitality of their communities. It covers fundamental issues, including determining whether an economic development project serves a charitable purpose and structuring economic development assistance in sophisticated ways. Read more or order: http://www.cof.org/Publications/Detail.cfm?ProductID=3032 . LOOK OUTWARD: On the Brink of Promise: The Future of U.S. Community Foundations reviews community philanthropy's evolution and recommends ways of coping with an increasingly crowded field of commercial vendors and community organizations. Community foundations are entering a pivotal era and the next 20 years will be a period of great promise and important challenges for the field, according to the study, which was funded by the Charles Stewart Mott and Ford foundations. The report, published by the Monitor Institute and Blueprint Research & Design, says community foundations will need to look outward for growth and partnership opportunities. Read more, listen to an interview with the study's authors and download the report (PDF): http://www.mott.org/news/detail.asp?newsid=392 . RURAL PHILANTHROPY: Faced with declining populations and dwindling government resources, rural residents have turned to grassroots philanthropy to revitalize their communities. According to The Power of Rural Philanthropy—commissioned by New Ventures in Philanthropy, an initiative of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers—community foundation affiliate funds (more than three-quarters of which serve rural areas and which have estimated endowed assets of $1.5 billion) increased by 132 percent during the past six years. The actual number of rural funds is probably much higher, as the report's figures include only rural funds associated with community foundations. Read the report: http://www.givingforum.org/rural/resources/Rural_Report.pdf . To help rural residents and foundations learn more about rural philanthropy, New Ventures in Philanthropy has created an online Rural Philanthropy Knowledge Center. The site offers resources on the nuts and bolts of creating rural funds, stories of communities that have succeeded in creating these funds and resources especially for foundations. Read more: http://www.givingforum.org/rural . AWARDS ROUNDUP HUMANITARIAN AWARD: The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation announced that Partners In Health (PIH), an innovative healthcare leader for poor societies, will receive the 2005 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. The $1 million prize is given annually to an organization that significantly alleviates human suffering. Hilton foundation Chairman and CEO Steven Hilton says PIH provides "first world" healthcare to the world's poorest societies by training local people to be the community-based healthcare delivery system. PIH's model is being adopted by governments and health organizations around the world. Read more: http://www.pih.org/hilton-pih.html . EDUCATION AWARD: The Broad Education Foundation named the Norfolk Public Schools system in Virginia as winner of the 2005 Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes school systems that have made great strides in narrowing educational achievement gaps across ethnic groups and between high- and low-income students. As the winner of The Broad Prize, Norfolk Public Schools will receive $500,000; four finalists will receive $125,000 each. The money goes directly to graduating high school seniors for college scholarships. Read more: http://broadfoundation.org/flagship/prize.shtml . LASKER AWARDS: The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation named recipients of its 2005 Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards, now in their 60th year. Ernest McCulloch and James Till, who first identified the stem cell, share the Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. Edwin Southern and Alec Jeffreys, who revolutionized human genetics and forensic diagnostics, share the Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research. The Mary Woodward Lasker Award for Public Service went to Nancy G. Brinker, the founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Often called "America's Nobels," the Lasker awards honor outstanding contributions to basic and clinical medical research, as well as public service on behalf of medical research. The awards have honored 70 scientists who subsequently went on to receive the Nobel Prize, including 19 in the last 15 years. Read more: http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/press/2005_full.pdf . AT THE COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE: The Council on Foundations is seeking nominations to fill upcoming vacancies on its International Committee. The committee seeks members who are committed to its goals of assisting the Council in building and extending the field of international philanthropy and increasing its awareness. Selections are made with a view toward ensuring the committee is broadly representative of the Council's membership. Nominations deadline is December 31, 2005. Questions? E-mail Isabelle Mack at macki@cof.org. Download a nomination form: http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/ International_Programs/2005Publications/Nomination_Form_(2006).pdf . CEOLINKS: The new issue of CEO Links provides resources, news and research on foundation finance and investment management, disaster relief, accountability and other topics for foundation executives. The issue includes a link to "CEO Competencies for Private Foundation Chief Officers," which has sparked increased interest in continuing education among foundation chief and deputy chief officers. CEO Links is a project of the Council's Executive Education department and the Advisory Committee for Executive Programs (ACEP), a committee of private foundation executives championing leadership development for private foundation executives. Read the issue: http://www.cof.org/Content/General/Display.cfm?contentID=2974 . FREE NEWS SERVICE: Breaking News is a free, daily e-mail newsletter summarizing the top articles—mostly from national and regional newspapers—about philanthropy. Breaking News is available to Council members only. Subscribe by e-mailing your name, title and foundation name to media@cof.org. ACT NOW INTERNATIONAL FELLOWS: The Robert Bosch Foundation, in partnership with the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe, the German Federal Foundation for the Environment, and the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary, Bernard van Leer and Charles Stewart Mott foundations announced a call for applications for the International Fellowship Programme for foundations and NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The fellowship, whose goal is to strengthen civil society, will allow CEE foundations and NGO staff to develop their professional skills with an international and practical orientation. The program will also improve organizational management and increase contact and cooperation between nonprofits in CEE and Western Europe. Application deadline is November 7, 2005. Find out more: http://www.bosch-stiftung.de/foerderung/voelker2/fr_02040000.html?/foerderung/voelker2/02040421.html . ON THE MOVE CAROL BERDE, executive vice president of The McKnight Foundation, will step down at the end of this year after 25 years with the foundation. Read more: http://www.mcknight.org/newsandviews/news_detail.aspx?itemID=3146&catID=2440&typeID=2 . RON KROESE joined as program officer for environmental issues. Read more: http://www.mcknight.org/newsandviews/news_detail.aspx?itemID=3137&catID=2440&typeID=2 . The Lumina Foundation for Education announced that ROBERT C. DICKESON, senior vice president for policy and organizational learning, will retire December 31, 2005. Read more: http://www.luminafoundation.org/newsroom/news_releases/092705.html . The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation elected SHEILA P. BURKE chair of its board of trustees. Read more: http://www.kff.org/newsroom/092105nr.cfm . WILLIAM H. SORRELL was named chair of the American Legacy Foundation board. ELLEN GRITZ was appointed vice chair and LAWRENCE WASDEN treasurer. Read more: http://www.americanlegacy.org . The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation appointed JOHN W. (JAY) JORDAN and RAMON DE OLIVEIRA as board members. Read more: http://www.kauffman.org/items.cfm?itemID=639 . On October 24, DAVID OLMOS will become director of publishing and communications at The California HealthCare Foundation. MARLENE A. CASINI is now president of the Community Foundation of Delaware County. SUBSCRIBE FN&C Now is published by the Council on Foundations to keep you in the loop by sharing news between bimonthly editions of Foundation News & Commentary magazine (FN&C Now Web archive: http://www.foundationnews.org/now/index.htm ). Please feel free to forward this message to your friends and colleagues who might enjoy it. To subscribe (it's free) to FN&C Now, send an e-mail to fncnow@cof.org . Questions or comments about FN&C Now? Contact Paula J. Kelly at 202/467-0261. To contribute a news item for consideration, please e-mail fncnow@cof.org . To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to leave-fncnow-4832R@int1.cof.org . To subscribe to Foundation News & Commentary, an award-winning magazine, please send an e-mail to fncsubs@cof.org , or visit our website at http://www.icnfull.com/cgi-bin/cobolscript.exe?cof/cofmain.cbl . Council on Foundations 1828 L Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 202/466-6512 webmaster@cof.org last update: 10.14.05