Smart Communities

Two Heroes to Remember

In the last two weeks two heroes of the Civil Rights Movement have passed away – Rosa Parks and Vivian Malone Jones.  Ms. Parks' legacy of courage and elegant refusal to support a segregated system made her known worldwide for the rest of her life.  Ms. Jones was one of the first two students to integrate the University of Alabama even with Governor George Wallace’s “stand in the schoolhouse door.”

Their lives literally opened doors for people to enter American life in new ways and with new expectations.  We aren’t where we need to be yet but we wouldn’t be where we are today without the courage of Rosa Parks and Vivian Malone Jones.

In a wonderful tribute cartoon in The Washington Post on October 26th, 2005 St. Peter says, “Rosa Parks … yes, we have something in the front row for you … we have been holding it open since 1955.”

Ms. Parks and Ms. Jones have front row seats in history and our hearts.

Last Call for Appalachian Community Fund Applications

The November 1st deadline is fast approaching for community-based organizations concerned with the social and economic distress in central Appalachia to submit applications to the Appalachian Community Fund.  The Fund offers two distinct types of funding, technical assistance and "Seize the Moment" funding, there is information on each funding type and the grant process in general on their website.  For first time applicants, please note the areas of Appalachia covered by Appalachian Community Fund and read the application for specific information pertaining to funds outside their typical range of coverage in New York.

One additional related note - to read what an expert has to say about the needs of communities in Appalachia then download our most recent publication, Solutions for America (PDF). and read our interview with Appalachian Regional Commission Co-Chair Anne Pope.  In the interview, Pope discusses the need for local leadership, infrastructure improvements, and priorities for the people of the region.

Project for Public Spaces Conference

The sixth international public market conference is "on" this weekend, October 28th-31st, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.  There are a number of workshops and exhibits planned for the event including sessions titled "How to Attract New Vendors", "Markets and Youth Programs", "Why Markets Fail", and "Top 10 Tips for Effective Marketing."  Upon registering you can also get a listing of tours taking place in markets in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC on Saturday, October 29th.  Conference costs are a bit steep for your average Joe, $550/person is the registration fee, but perhaps some intrepid souls can find the funding from an employer or other interested party.

Recent Travels

I've seen a fair bit of America in the past two months due to consulting, speaking, and meetings with folks implementing the Pew Partnership for Civic Change's leadership program.  Here are a couple thoughts, Larry King-style, about two places I visited.

On a recent visit with the inaugural class at the Clinton School, I came away impressed and optimistic. The students came to this program with impressive experiences and big ideas. From filmmakers to congressional aids, their backgrounds and their perspectives are varied. However in my conversations with them, I sensed a real eagerness from all to merge academics with real life problem solving. They are ready to find solutions.

Mankato, MN is 80 miles south of the Twin cities. A mid-sized city, it is undertaking a new initiative call Envision 2020. People from throughout the community are beginning to have conversations about where they want to be as a community in the next 15 years. I had the opportunity to spend the day there recently and talk with a number of groups. My sense is that there is a real urgency to capitalize on their strengths and address their problems. They know, as we all do, that managing change and finding the right path for your community is key. They are well on their way.

Higher Education and the Public Schools

If you were to ask most Americans where to begin to improve the country they are likely to say, "make sure that every child has access to a quality public education."

Unfortunately for too many that is just not happening. While there is plenty of blame being tossed around, the fact of the matter is that there are many causes and many places to put blame. But blame does not get us anywhere. What might though is a renewed effort by institutions of higher education — education schools in particular — to find innovative ways to improve our public education system. We know that higher education supplies the teachers and the administrators for the system but could we also call on institutions to help them and us find some solutions to some of the challenges?

Here is what I mean. It is not enough to provide eager, well-schooled graduates to situations that that they are unprepared to handle. We need schools of education developing strategies in class and for application in schools that will better equip teachers and administrators to address the myriad of non-educational issues they will face. Second, we need the schools and colleges of education to actually engage in the public schools in their community — get in the game I say. This means having faculty, students, and department heads working one-on-one in schools to help improve them. It means putting institutional resources writ large into improving the schools in the communities where we live. What is the point of turning out research papers for national conferences if the schools in your backyard are failing? Finally, if we could capture and then apply the vast knowledge that rests in our schools of education, find practical ways to implement that knowledge in schools systems and classrooms, and then fund it adequately we could change public education forever. The place to begin the process is in higher education.

Building Opportunity and Growth

"h", the magazine of The Heinz Endowments, had an article in its summer issue that was an adaptation of remarks by Maxwell King, president of The Heinz Endowments, delivered to the Western Pennsylvania Nonprofit Summit.  Among the remarks are an interesting set of guiding principles for nonprofit leadership and community support.  These include:

1.    "The nonprofit community must place a tough, data-driven, metric-specific emphasis on results rather than rely on good intentions."
2.    "Nonprofit leaders and funders must collaborate."
3.    "Nonprofit leaders and their funders must strive for efficiency."
4.    "Nonprofit groups and the foundations that fund them must be innovative to the point of taking risks."

Each of these points is further developed in the article (PDF) which makes a compelling case for why nonprofits, and not businesses, are the real community leaders in contemporary America.

We would like to add one additional principle to those listed by "h" – effective communication.  Too often there is a severe disconnect between the public’s perceptions of the greatest community problems and the views of nonprofits about which problems are most pressing.  We explore this particular question of communication in an article (PDF)  from our latest publication, Solutions for America®.  Two experts, a communications manager for a major nonprofit and the author of a recent book on public relations and nonprofits, discuss this question and how nonprofits can be more effective communicators.

Two New Offerings from GEO

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) has released two new publications that may be of interest to those readers who work for nonprofit organizations.

First is a free publication on leadership (PDF) that the GEO website states, "reviews current literature on the role of leadership development in philanthropy and serves grantmakers interested in leadership as an organizational development strategy."  This particular resource is the first of two, the second will appear in early 2006 and will "profile how different grantmakers are supporting leadership development to increase the capacity of their grantees."  The series is titled Investing in Leadership and is part of a larger GEO initiative to promote better understanding of the benefits of leadership development.

The second offering concentrates on the evaluation process and uses GEO’s 2005 Evaluation Roundtable as the basis for the work.  One of focuses here is to demonstrate how it is possible to make the work of your organization more "results oriented" without breaking the bank.  GEO’s website offers this report, Evaluation as a Pathway to Learning: Current Topics in Evaluation for Grantmakers, in PDF like the other.

Keeping Charities Rolling

It’s great to see that good intentions can yield strong, sustainable results.  Such is the case with an organization recently highlighted in the Chronicle of Philanthropy called Vehicle Maintenance Services.

VMS is the creation of Dakota Area Resources and Transportation for Seniors (DARTS) which, according to their website, "professionally coordinated home-help services and transportation for Dakota County, Minn., seniors and their families and can help them find additional senior services throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area."  The vehicles used by DARTS, some of which are specialized to be wheelchair-accessible, are maintained by Vehicle Maintenance Services (VMS).

Realizing that the vehicle repair shop could offer its services to other charities and social-service groups, DARTS provided a letter of credit to VMS to get the company on its feet.  The company is not yet profitable, it expects to break even by 2006, but it is already contributing to the community by leasing a garage and employing a number of employees including mechanics.  The article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy indicates that VMS has a fleet of 510 vehicles that it presently maintains, roughly 100 more will make the venture profitable.

This is a terrific story of a win-win effort.  VMS is providing a good service for almost 100 nonprofit and municipal agencies, it is employing people, and leasing commercial space.  Furthermore, it is anticipated that VMS will produce $90,000 annually for DARTS – not a small sum for a small nonprofit.  Also among the winners are nonprofits who are paying a lower hourly rate than they otherwise might and, in some instances, have their budgets better served by a regular schedule of preventive maintenance.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy story does a great job of describing the mission and accomplishments of Vehicle Maintenance Service.  We also recommend to our readers another success story involving transportation, this one being about Neighborhood Transportation Service in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  You can download the short chapter (184k, PDF) on this organization, how it was formed, and the successes and pitfalls involved in such a venture.

Reminder - New Publication

Just a quick reminder that the Pew Partnership for Civic Change has produced the latest issue of its newsletter, Solutions for America (PDF.)  Inside, you will find an interview with Anne Pope of the Appalachian Regional Commission, the cover story on getting started with asset-based development, information on how nonprofits can best reach their intended audience, and news on the most recent initiatives from the Pew Partnership for Civic Change.

Appalachia Holds Keys to Its Future

Undisputedly, one of the most beautiful parts of our nation is Appalachia. A 200,000 square-mile area, the region follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. The gorgeous vistas can mask, however, the needs of a region that continues to work toward parity with the nation. As one of the persistently poor areas of America, Appalachia has suffered from isolation and the challenges that follow.

However, I did an interview with the Federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, Anne Pope, for the  latest Solutions for America publication (PDF) that gave me a new perspective on the region. According to Pope, Appalachia's abundant resources and huge stores of artistic talent are key components for future growth and development. In thinking about those assets she said, "We need to foster the notion of thinking broadly and inclusively about opportunities." Easier said than done I would argue but Ms. Pope and I agree that it can be done. She offers this assessment. "This will require local leadership that thinks and acts regionally …. To move forward, communities must work together, have a plan, and work that plan for the benefit of all in the region."

One of the great examples of this kind of local action is our longtime partner, HandMade in America. The Pew Partnership was the original funder of what has now become a national model for regionalism with multiple partners including ARC. Read more of my interview with Anne Pope by clicking on the link above … and more about HandMade in America from the chapter on this organization (PDF) in Inventing Civic Solutions.