CT Philanthropy Digest - Sept 2014

Friday, September 19, 2014

SEPTEMBER 2014 HEADLINES

 

New Report Provides Portraits of Young Philanthropists

          The weekly international news and business publication, The Economist, has released Portraits of Young Philanthropists: How Generation X and Generation Y are Transforming Charitable Giving. The report explores three categories of young philanthropists: idealistic entrepreneurs, philanthropic financiers, and engaged heirs, to find out who they are and how they are leaving their mark on the world of charitable giving. The next-gen philanthropists (born after 1965: Gen X from 1966 to 1976; Gen Y from 1977 to 1994) could potentially have a huge impact, as suggested by a report quote from Dr. Michael Moody, Frey Foundation chair at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy, “As wealth becomes more concentrated, next-gen individuals will potentially be our biggest philanthropists ever.” 
          Access the Report >>
 
 

Success in Building Community Partnerships Results in $5.4 Million for New Haven

          The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has been awarded $5.4 Million for a 5-year period (2014-2019) from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to continue its New Haven Healthy Start Program, which serves vulnerable young women and their babies in New Haven.
          New Haven Healthy Start was among 87 programs across the nation to successfully compete for $65 million in total federal aid to reduce high infant mortality rates and improve maternal care in high risk communities. 
           “For three decades, meeting our maternal and child health challenges has been one of The Community Foundation’s most important priorities. This grant will enable us to continue to provide these vitally important services until 2019...,” said William W. Ginsberg, president & CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
          Black and Hispanic women in New Haven have worse health outcomes overall than the city’s white women, particularly on indicators of maternal health, according to DataHaven’s Community Wellbeing Index (2013). New Haven’s black women have the highest rates of infant mortality and babies born at low birth weight, and black and Hispanic women in the city and are less likely than white women to have adequate prenatal care. These disparities mirror state and national rates.
          Over the next five years, New Haven Healthy Start will use its new grant funds to continue 1) improving women’s health, 2) promoting quality services, 3) strengthening family resilience, 4) achieving collective impact, and 5) increasing accountability. 
          For more information: Tricia Caldwell, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, 203-777-2386, tcaldwell@cfgnh.org.
 

BeFoundation Supports Early College Academy; Students Graduate with HS Diploma and Associate Degree

          BeFoundation announced a $75,000 grant to support Norwalk Early College Academy (NECA), Connecticut’s first “Pathways in Technology” Early College High School.
          The Academy is supported by public and private resources, and is a collaboration with IBM, Norwalk Public Schools and Norwalk Community College. NECA serves grades 9 to 14 and will enable students to graduate with both a high school diploma and a no cost Associate in Applied Science degree that will put graduates on the path to a good job. The new school is located at Norwalk High School, and graduates will be first in line for jobs at IBM.
          “Strong partnerships among public schools, higher education institutions, employers and community-based organizations are needed to expand effective pathways for students to achieve college, career and life success,” said Richard J. Wenning, BeFoundation’s Executive Director.
          “This is a real game changer in Norwalk; an ongoing cohort of students will graduate with an associate’s degree, debt free,” said Gloria Tenofsky, Norwalk Education Foundation’s Executive Director. “It will be a boost to their career prospects and to the business community who hires them,” she said.
          For more information: Richard Wenning, BeFoundation, 203-938-900, rich@befoundation.org; Gloria Tenofsky, Norwalk Education Foundation, 203-854-4068, gloriatenofsky@gmail.com.
 

 

UTC Provides International Opportunities for HS Students

          The first-in-the-nation Junior Achievement (JA) international exchange program, JA Global Connection, sponsored by United Technologies, wrapped up a year-long venture in August. Twenty high school students from Wallingford traveled to Shanghai Fudan University to spend 10 days with their Shanghai counterparts.
          Students participated in workshops focused on topics including business leadership, ethics and entrepreneurship. Together, the students collaborated and presented research, strategies and proposals through out the week that reflected the success of their global enterprise over the past school year.
          “We are thrilled that the JA Global Connection program was so effective in helping students understand the opportunities of global business," said Lou Golden, President of Junior Achievement of Southwest New England. "Thanks to United Technologies, our students were able to visit world-class manufacturing and R&D facilities and have meaningful meetings with dynamic leaders in both China and the U.S.”
          For more information: Danielle Smith, United Technologies, Danielle.Smith@utc.com.

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION NEWS

The Beginnings of Place-Based Giving -- #CF100 Years of Community Foundations

          Next month in Cleveland, Ohio, the Council on Foundations will be convening their fall conference of community foundations and celebrating the first one hundred years of community foundations with the Cleveland Foundation. Connecticut also has a long history of place-based giving -- The Connecticut Community Foundation was established in 1923, and the state boasts 18 community foundations serving every town in the state.
          The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy has been celebrating this place-based giving by featuring stories from our community foundations -- stories that demonstrate the work of community foundations and help elevate the public understanding of their unique role in improving communities. New stories are being featured every month on the Council's Connecticut Network of Community Foundations web page and include:          For more information: Maggie Osborn, Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, 860-525-5585, mosborn@CTphilanthropy.org.
 


Hartford Foundation Helps to Keep Kids Safe

          Rockville/Vernon area youth will have access to KIDSAFE CT youth development workshops and services with the approval of Hartford Foundation for Public Giving's three-year, $200,000 grant. 
          “These funds will allow us to provide many new and exciting educational seminars over the next three years for our youth,” said Judy Clarke, KIDSAFE CT’s executive director. “It is amazing to watch our youth grow and mature...our reward is getting to witness the successful transformations our youth go through, the leadership roles they take on at the drop-in center, the improvements they make in school and the more positive peer relationships they develop.”
          The plan for new services and workshops was based on information collected from the Rockville/Vernon youth drop-in center and the findings of the Vernon Community Plan for Children and Youth. Among the emerging areas of need were: additional workshops on dating violence prevention geared towards middle school students; suicide prevention workshops and services; independent living training with financial literacy and job-seeking skills.
          The funding will include partial support for two full-time staff people and other program costs. Up to 500 youth are expected to participate in one or more KIDSAFE CT programs over the course of the grant period.
          For more information: Chris Senecal, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, 860-548-1888, csenecal@hfpg.org.
 


Links to More Community Foundation News

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Tabor Foundation Fund Awards $29,700 for Careers in Health Care

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
Students Recognized for Creativity and Innovation

LINKS TO MORE FOUNDATION NEWS

Member News

Aurora Women and Girls Foundation
Foundation Grants Support and Empower Women and Girls of All Ages in Greater Hartford

Be Foundation
National Partnership to Launch Modern Band Music Program in the Hartford Public Schools

Cigna Foundation
Cigna Foundation and Nonprofit Aim to Revitalize Distressed Neighborhood: Community Development at Work

Dominion
Dominion Resources, Dominion Foundation Select Recipients To Share $1.3 Million In Education Grants

Perrin Family Foundation
Perrin Foundation Supports Youth-led Social Change Through Human Services Council

UIL Holdings Corporation
UIL’s Kim Norris Scholarship Awarded to University of Bridgeport Freshman

Non-Member News

EVENTS and OPPORTUNITIES

CIVIL RIGHTS: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW
Monday, September 22, 7:00 - 8:30 pm, Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, West Hartford.

          “Civil Rights: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” an evening of music, dialogue and inspiration, will conclude the week-long initiative, Empowering Change, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the signing into law of the Civil Rights Act. A panel discussion, moderated by Bill Moyers, former Special Assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson for domestic affairs and White House Press Secretary, will address how the Civil Rights Act has impacted the past 50 years, how is it working today, and the promise for our future. The initiative is supported by Newman's Own Foundation in collaboration with the Library of Congress. For More Information and to Register >>
 
CAST YOUR VOTE: O'Toole Award
         The Larry O'Toole Award is an annual leadership award given out by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation to an individual or organization that has exhibited great leadership through innovation or courage in moving student-centered approaches to learning forward. The award is structured as a public voting contest. The nominee with the most votes will receive a grant of $100,000 for their organization or school. Voting will be live until September 30, 2014 at 12:00 pm EST. Nominees are:
  • Connecticut: Bob Rath, President & CEO, Our Piece of the Pie
  • Maine: Derek Pierce, Principal, Casco Bay High School
  • Massachusetts: Success Boston College Completion Initiative
  • New Hampshire: Pittsfield School Board
  • Rhode Island: Providence Student Union Youth Organizing Group
  • Vermont: Kristine Kirkaldy, Spanish Teacher, Vergennes Union High School
          Cast Your Vote >>
 
MANUFACTURING DAY CAREERS FORUM
Thursday, October 2, 9:00 - 11:30 am (students) and 6:30 - 9:00 pm (general public), Bristol Central High School, Bristol.
          The Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, New England Spring and Metalstamping Association (NESMA), Main Street Community Foundation and the Bristol Board of Education are hosting a manufacturing careers forum for high school students and the general public from Bristol, Wolcott, Burlington, Harwinton, Southington, Plainville, Farmington and Terryville.
          An initiative of the newly formed Bristol Technical Advisory Board, the event will feature a viewing of “Made in America”; a film documenting the rebirth of American manufacturing and its effect on the US economy. Following the film, the audience may direct questions to a panel of local business leaders representing different manufacturing and industrial sectors. The forum will also provide information on local training programs.
          For More Information and to Register >> 
 
FAIRFIELD COUNTY'S WHAT WORKS CHALLENGE
Friday October 3 - Deadlne to submit your idea
          "What barriers prevent or challenge Fairfield County, CT young people from achieving independence and success by age 24? What opportunities and support can we provide to improve the results?"
          The Fairfield County’s Community Foundation challenge invites the community to share ideas about how young people, ages 16 – 24, can realize their potential to become fully independent and contributing citizens of Fairfield County, Connecticut. The challenge winner will have the opportunity to be considered for a grant to bring their idea to life!
          Nonprofits or educators serving youth can register to host a Challenge Party to help their students create and submit ideas to the Challenge.
 
SIGNATURE BREAKFAST
Wednesday, October 15, 7:30 - 9:30 am, Hartford Marriot Downtown, Hartford.
          Annually, at its Signature Breakfast, the Aurora Women and Girls Foundation honors a woman and a young woman in the Greater Hartford region who contribute to the community through their philanthropic activities. The agenda includes guest speaker Victoria A. Budson, the founding Executive Director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School, and advisor to the Obama White House on policies to close gender gaps and serves on the Planning Committee for the Women in Public Service Initiative.
          For More Information and to Register >> 
 
GIRLS SYMPOSIUM
Friday, October 17, 8:00 am - 3:00 pm, Marriott Merritt Parkway, Trumbull.

          The Fund for Women and Girls' of Fairfield County's Community Foundation presents their 3rd Annual Girls Symposium. Expert-led presentations and interactive workshops, will include youth voice, specially designed to help today's girls and young women. The symposium is ideal for educators, social service professionals, healthcare practitioners, therapists, school resource officers, parents and guardians or anyone who works with girls.
          For More Information and to Register >>
 
EMPOWERING CONSUMERS
Tuesday, October 21, 8:00 am - 12:30 pm, Quinnipiac University, North Haven.

          The health care landscape is changing rapidly. As many stakeholders are working to "fix" the broken health care system, the question is: "Where is the consumer voice?" Join Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut for a workshop to explore developing more informed, effective consumer advocates to use their collective power to transform health care for the better. For More Information >>
 
EXPANDING LOW-INCOME SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
Thursday, October 30, 9:45 - 11:45 am, Graustein Memorial Fund, Hamden.

          Fairfield County's Community Foundation and Liberty Bank Foundation are sponsoring a program about the significant value of supporting summer youth employment. Foundation colleagues will hear about the importance, power, and impact of public-private partnerships to supplement state and municipal funds; and discover how foundations can play an active role in supporting positive employment outcomes for youth throughout the state. For More Information and to Register >>

PEOPLE

          Longtime Southington High School science teacher NELLIE SHEPARD has established a new scholarship fund at the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain. The first Shepard scholarship will be awarded in 2015 to a Southington High School student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in one of the fields that Nellie loves dearly – biology, chemistry, materials science, physics (including astronomy), earth science or interdisciplinary studies in natural science.
          Nellie spent 30 years teaching physics and chemistry at Southington High School before her retirement in 1989, years she calls the most rewarding of her life.
          “You know, I never had children, so my students were my children – and I had just the best kids in the world,” says Nellie, a Southington native who still resides in town and is revered throughout the community as an active, compassionate friend who continues to care deeply about Southington’s children.
          Read more >>
        top

ABOUT US

The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy is an association of grantmakers committed to promoting and supporting effective philanthropy for the public good. With members representing 112 independent, family and community foundations, federated funds, and corporate foundations and giving programs, the Council is Connecticut’s foremost resource on philanthropy. The organization benefits the larger grantmaking community, the nonprofit sector and the public in Connecticut.

For more news about philanthropy in Connecticut, go to the Council's news roomConnecticut Philanthropy Digest archives and our blog, CTPhilanthropyNotes.org.

News about Connecticut funders may be submitted to the Council for consideration. The Connecticut Philanthropy Digest is brought to you by the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy. Edited by Laurie Allen.
Find More By

News type