Search results for: grassroots

By David Callahan What role does philanthropy play in social movements? It’s an interesting question, and there’s a long history of funder involvement in different movements—from civil rights in the 1960s to LGBT rights in the past decade. Just last week, I wrote about the role of…

“Real social change has to be built from the ground up through the participation of millions of people speaking in their own voices,” says Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the 40-year-old Center for Community Change (CCC). To ensure that policymakers hear the voices of low-income…

The story behind The Atlantic Philanthropies’ embrace of social justice is recounted in this speech by Gara LaMarche, The Atlantic Philanthropies’ President and CEO, at the Ford Foundation Convening on Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace in February 2009 in Cairo, Egypt. It is bracing…

Now that we know that Barack Obama will take the office of President of the United States on January 20, the scenario planning that virtually all non-profits and philanthropies have been doing can kick into high gear. My e-mail inbox, and no doubt yours, is…

By Kavitha Mediratta Last year, at the beginning of ninth grade, my son's friend Emmanuel was suspended from school for bringing a brick to class. Emmanuel had found the brick in the schoolyard, and with the satirical wit of a 14-year-old, named it "Softie" and…

A deep-red state shows the way, with conservatives in the lead.By Shari SilbersteinOn Wednesday, Nebraska senators voted 30-19 to override a gubernatorial veto and end the death penalty. Nebraska’s Senate maintains a uniquely non-partisan structure, but each senator’s party affiliation is well known – and…

By Richard Kirsch.  One year after the Tea Party insurgency disrupted Democratic Congressional town hall meetings, it’s worth asking how healthcare reform survived. By the beginning of 2010, Scott Brown had taken Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, reform proponents had lost the national narrative and voters…

By Gara LaMarche.  In March, I was honored to watch President Obama's bill signing for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with a group of labor leaders and reform activists. Around me were advocates who had worked for months -- in some cases decades…

Original Source By Wagner Blogger With the U.S. in the throes of a devastating economic crisis and donation dollars more scarce than ever, should foundations divert their funding efforts to direct-service programs which assist casualties of this devastating recession -- or should they instead continue…

Lysa John has been named as the new Executive Director of the Atlantic Institute, following a high impact career at CIVICUS, Save the Children and the U.N. She has been an advocate for equity and the power of international collaboration for over two decades. Supporting…