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Every week Connections presents fresh links to the best the Web has to offer on issues related to the changing world of philanthropy. Subscribe to our biweekly Connections newsletter and receive two weeks' worth of links delivered to you by e-mail. If you have an item you'd like to share, drop us a line at connections@foundationcenter.org.
May 25, 2013
Women
The Simple Truth About the Gender Gap 2013 Edition
Although the gender wage gap in the United States has narrowed slightly since the 1970s, the median annual earnings for women working full-time in 2011 was just 77 percent of that earned by men, a report from the Association of American University Women finds. According to The Simple Truth About the Gender Gap 2013 Edition (28 pages, PDF), the pay gap ranges from 10 percent in Washington, D.C., to 33 percent in Wyoming. Indeed, even after taking into consideration age, marital status, geographic region, college major, GPA, type of undergraduate institution, institution selectivity, occupation, and hours worked, the report found a 7 percent differential in the earnings of men and women just one year after graduation. The report also found that the gender gap in median weekly earnings was wider among Asian Americans than other races/ethnicities, and among men and women between the ages of 35 and 64 than among younger or older cohorts. Moreover, given that the incomes of married women account for 36 percent of family income in a typical household — up from 29 percent in 1983 — and that 34 percent of working mothers are their families' sole breadwinners, the pay gap is not simply a women's issue, the report argues, it's a family issue.
May 22, 2013
Human Services
Solutions for the Poorest: Insights on Savings Behavior of Clients
The willingness and ability of the poorest women in developing countries to save regularly by joining a voluntary savings group depends on the level of trust among members of the group and the confidence they have in the implementing organization, a report from Grameen Foundation and Grameen Foundation India finds. Solutions for the Poorest: Insights on Savings Behavior of Clients (16 pages, PDF) looks at a pilot project in Bihar, India, that offered a voluntary and flexible savings product through "adapted self-help groups." Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the report debunks certain misperceptions about the savings behavior of the very poor, including the notions that they will only make a deposit in a savings account when they attend a group meeting, that they cannot manage their own accounts, and that they will not save for the future.
May 19, 2013
Arts and Culture
The Promise of Arts-Based Community Development
The arts have had a significant impact in low-income and minority communities in the Twin Cities region in part thanks to their ability to strengthen community bonds, inspire young people, bolster economic development, and spark a sense of possibility, a report from the Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corp. finds. The Promise of Arts-Based Community Development (3 pages, PDF) highlights LISC-supported projects involving galleries, art and design classes, public performances, and neighborhood beautification efforts in Twin City neighborhoods facing economic and social challenges — and the impact of those projects on area businesses, youth, and sense of community. According to the report, youth who participate in arts programs often feel as if they have been given a voice and are more likely than non-participants to learn discipline and critical thinking skills, achieve academic success, and become contributing members of their communities. Indeed, arts and culture have the greatest impact on a community, the report argues, when everyone feels welcome and empowered to participate in a collective activity and that sense of empowerment, in turn, helps create a greater sense of opportunity and possibility.
May 16, 2013
Health
Connections - Health Care for Undocumented Migrants: European Approaches
While many countries in the European Union — including those with universal health insurance systems — limit healthcare access for undocumented migrants to emergency services, some provide additional access to those who meet certain requirements, a report from the Commonwealth Fund finds. According to Health Care for Undocumented Migrants: European Approaches (14 pages, PDF), undocumented migrants in France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland can apply for public coverage or purchase health insurance on their own and receive the full range of benefits provided by the public system in those countries. In Belgium, Italy, Norway, and the United Kingdom, undocumented migrants receive some benefits in addition to preventive, maternity, and pediatric care and treatment of infectious diseases that involve a public health hazard. The report notes, however, that even in countries with liberal policies, cost-sharing requirements, discriminatory attitudes among providers, the fear of deportation, and language and cultural barriers limit undocumented migrants' access to care.
May 13, 2013
Public Affairs
Connections - Report of the Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment
According to a report from the Constitution Project, the United States engaged in the torture of detainees following the 9/11 attacks, and the nation's highest officials bear some responsibility for sanctioning its use. Funded in part by Atlantic Philanthropies, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Park Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the Open Society Policy Center, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Proteus Fund, and the Security & Rights Collaborative,
The Report of the Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment (602 pages, PDF) details the findings of former members of Congress, diplomats, judges, military officers, and government officials, as well as experts in law, medicine, and ethics, about allegations of torture as the U.S. mobilized to address the global terrorist threat. As evidence of widespread responsibility among civilian and military leaders, the report cites memoranda defining torture narrowly and declaring that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to al Qaeda and Taliban detainees, as well as then-President George W. Bush's authorization of brutal CIA interrogation techniques for certain detainees. While much of the torture that occurred at Guantánamo and in-country in Afghanistan and Iraq was never explicitly authorized, the study notes, the authorization of CIA interrogation techniques at so-called "dark sites" essentially turned the exception into the rule. Among other things, the task force calls on the Obama administration and Congress to take steps to end the indefinite detention of many prisoners still held at Guantánamo.
May 10, 2013
International Affairs/Development
Social Progress Index 2013
While economic development is important, it is not the only driver of social progress, a new study from the Social Progress Imperative finds. Based on an analysis of non-economic outcome-based indicators of social progress in fifty countries — including clean air, water, and sanitation; access to basic knowledge; health and wellness; access to higher education; and individual rights — the report, Social Progress Index 2013 (153 pages, PDF), found that a country's overall level of economic development can mask social and environmental challenges as well as areas of underperformance. Funded by the Skoll and AVINA foundations, Compartamos Banco, Deloitte, Fundación Latinoamérica Posible, Cisco Systems, Inc., and IGNIA Partners, LLC, the report ranked the United States sixth out of fifty in overall social progress, seventh in meeting basic needs, sixteenth in establishing the foundations of well-being, and first in creating opportunity.
May 7, 2013
Public Affairs
Taking Aim at Gun Violence
Because gun violence disproportionately affects African-American men and boys, particularly those who live in high-poverty communities, efforts to end it must also address issues of race, place, and poverty, a report from CLASP finds. According to Taking Aim at Gun Violence (11 pages, PDF), 53,850 African-American males were killed by firearms between 2000 and 2010, while rates of gun violence among young African-American men were highest where dropout, unemployment, and poverty rates are also high. The report calls for rebuilding and strengthening distressed communities by providing the infrastructure and resources needed to improve education and expand job opportunities, including out-of-school activities, cultural institutions, and vocational programs. Such efforts, the report argues, must take into consideration five key strategies: targeting federal, state, local, and private financial resources to communities of concentrated poverty; building community capacity to deliver services to struggling youth; re-engaging students who have dropped out or are at risk of doing so; offering subsidized employment, internships, on-the-job training, summer jobs, and transitional jobs; and promoting healing from trauma and adversity.
May 4, 2013
Education
KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes
The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), a network of public charter schools, has a positive, statistically significant, and educationally substantial impact on middle school student achievement, a report from Mathematica Policy Research finds. Commissioned by the KIPP Foundation, the report, KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes (180 pages, PDF), examined state test scores in math, reading, science, and social studies; norm-referenced skills assessment tests; student attitudes and behavior; and other data from forty-three KIPP middle schools and found consistently positive impact results across all four subject areas and the norm-referenced tests. While estimated impacts on student attitudes and behavior were not as consistently positive, KIPP students spent more time on homework, and students and parents expressed higher levels of satisfaction with the school experience.
May 1, 2013
Health
Equity in the Digital Age: How Health Information Technology Can Reduce Disparities
Health information technology (HIT) that's designed to improve the quality and efficiency of care can exacerbate existing disparities if it is not implemented equitably in underserved areas, a report from the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Consumers Union, and National Council of La Raza suggests. The report, Equity in the Digital Age: How Health Information Technology Can Reduce Disparities (24 pages, PDF), argues that while HIT offers opportunities to create targeted strategies that promote health equity — for example, through the use of mobile phone apps — language barriers and digital divides can limit access to such technology. The report offers recommendations for maximizing the benefit of HIT, including ensuring that insurance enrollment portals and materials are available in multiple languages and on mobile platforms; streamlining the enrollment process by reducing documentation requirements; and requiring demographic health data while ensuring the security and confidentiality of such data.
April 28, 2013
Arts and Culture
O, Miami: How a Festival Infused a City With Poetry
In the decade since Art Basel Miami Beach debuted, Miami has evolved from an art world backwater into an up-and-coming art city known for unorthodox, offbeat events that engender grassroots support, a report from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation argues. The report, O, Miami: How a Festival Infused a City With Poetry (18 pages, PDF), describes how a poet supported by a Knight Foundation grant of $250,000 envisioned a "world-class" project that would be transformational for the city — making poetry interdisciplinary and relevant to the mainstream. During the inaugural O, Miami Poetry Festival in 2011, poetry was injected into modern dance performances and art installations, sewn inside thrift-store items, plastered across buses, and literally pulled across the sky, while collaborations with local arts institutions proved effective in cross-pollinating audiences. Lessons learned from the effort include go big, partner up, book a celebrity, and set the bar high.
April 25, 2013
Civil Society
Building Bridges, Building Power: Developments in Institution-Based Community Organizing
Over the past decade, the field of institution-based community organizing — which brings together public schools, labor unions, neighborhood associations, faith-based organizations and congregations, and others — has expanded its geographic reach and embraced strategic coordination to help shape policies at the state and national levels, a report from Interfaith Funders finds. According to Building Bridges, Building Power: Developments in Institution-Based Community Organizing (44 pages, PDF), IBCOs historically have bridged divides of race/ethnicity, class, religion, and citizenship status; actively surfaced issues of racial inequity; and boasted diverse memberships and boards. In order to maximize their political leverage, however, IBCOs need to more effectively coordinate their activities, which will require new funding, organizing talent, and responses to emerging challenges. The report was funded by the Charles Stewart Mott, New York, W.K. Kellogg, and Hearst foundations; the Needmor Fund; Duke University; the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock; the Presbyterian Church-USA; the Catholic Campaign for Human Development; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Religious Research Association, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.
April 22, 2013
Environment
Connections - Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy: The Role of Policy in Developing Successful Domestic Solar and Wind Industries
Electricity production from non-hydro renewable sources is projected to grow more than eight-fold by 2035 and attract nearly $3 trillion in investments — if existing national commitments are implemented, a report from the World Resources Institute and its Open Climate Network project finds. The study,
Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy: The Role of Policy in Developing Successful Domestic Solar and Wind Industries (56 pages, PDF), examined policy strategies for developing solar-photovoltaic and wind industries in China, India, Germany, Japan, and the United States and found that, while deployment rates for solar PV systems were price-sensitive, the Chinese and Japanese solar industries were able to grow in the absence of significant domestic demand by pursuing export-driven strategies. In contrast, domestic demand and stable policy was essential to the development of domestic wind industries, the report found. Moreover, export opportunities for the wind energy industry tended to emerge from an established domestic manufacturing industry supported by significant domestic demand.
April 19, 2013
Philanthropy and Voluntarism
The State of Global Civil Society and Volunteering
Globally, the nonprofit institution sector is a major employer, a significant economic presence, and an important contributor to gross domestic product, a report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies finds. Based on statistics from sixteen countries that have implemented the UN's guidance with respect to collecting data on nonprofit institutions and volunteering, The State of Global Civil Society and Volunteering (18 pages, PDF) finds that the nonprofit workforce, on average, accounts for 7.4 percent of the total workforce in the thirteen countries where complete data is available, and at least 10 percent in Japan, the United States, New Zealand, Belgium, Australia, and Israel. Moreover, the NPI sector generates, on average, 4.5 percent of GDP (3.9 percent when volunteers are excluded), ranging from 1.6 percent in Thailand to 8.1 percent in Canada. And in seven of the eight countries with longitudinal data, the growth of the sector outpaced that of the overall economy.
April 16, 2013
Children and Youth
The Role of Risk: Mentoring Experiences and Outcomes for Youth With Varying Risk Profiles
At-risk youth who participate in mentoring programs seem to experience fewer negative feelings and symptoms of depression, a report from Public/Private Ventures finds. The report, The Role of Risk: Mentoring Experiences and Outcomes for Youth With Varying Risk Profiles (132 pages, PDF), examined how the different levels and types of risk youth faced affected their relationships with program-assigned mentors as well as the benefits they derived from the program and found the same kind of outcomes among high-risk groups as among other groups. Participating youth also reported greater acceptance by peers, more confidence in their ability to succeed in school, and had better grades, although there was no evidence of improvement in their behavior toward peers, rates of truancy or misconduct, or their relationship with parents. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and distributed by MDRC, the report recommends that funders and practitioners work to customize training and support based on risk profile, expand the availability of mentoring programs, place greater emphasis on youths' mental health needs, and enhance the strength and consistency of program benefits.
April 13, 2013
Environment
Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey: 2012 Findings & Recommendations
The U.S. insurance industry remains largely unprepared to meet the potential liabilities it faces from the effects of global climate change, a report from Ceres finds. Based on a survey conducted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey: 2012 Findings & Recommendations (72 pages, PDF) found that while approaches to identifying and managing climate risks in the industry varied, smaller insurers tended to be far less prepared than larger ones. And while property and casualty insurers were further along than life and annuity and health insurers in both understanding the business risks posed by climate change and in developing tools to manage those risks, only twenty-three companies out of the nearly two hundred surveyed had a comprehensive strategy in place for coping with climate change. Funded by the Blue Moon Fund and the Kresge, Skoll, Bullitt, and William B. Wiener, Jr. foundations, the report recommends that insurers develop models that anticipate the probable effects of climate change in terms of extreme weather events, work with regulators to ensure that rates and loss reserves adequately reflect climate change scenarios, and provide transparent public disclosure.
April 10, 2013
Health
The Revolving Door: A Report on U.S. Hospital Readmissions
Better coordination with primary care clinicians and specialists can improve patient transitions out of hospitals and other care facilities and reduce high rates of readmission, a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds. Based on an analysis of Medicare data by the Dartmouth Atlas Project as well as interviews with patients and healthcare providers, The Revolving Door: A Report on U.S. Hospital Readmissions (60 pages, PDF), finds that patient readmissions often result from a fragmented healthcare system that leaves discharged patients unable to follow instructions, not receiving or taking necessary medications, and/or not receiving adequate follow-up care. Ensuring that patients receive the care they need outside the hospital is imperative, the report argues, and policy and payment initiatives should take into account the distribution of hospital resources and the role insurance plays in hospital admissions and readmissions. The report also highlights signs of improvement in discharge planning and follow-up, and calls attention to innovations such as 24-hour onsite pharmacies, which enable patients to fill their prescriptions before they are released, and special clinics for patients who have experienced heart failure and are particularly prone to readmission.
April 7, 2013
Journalism/Media
Connections - The IRS and Nonprofit Media: Toward Creating a More Informed Public
Given the new realities of the digital age, the Internal Revenue Service should modify its approach to deciding the tax-exempt status of nonprofit media organizations, a report from the Council on Foundations and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
argues. The report, The IRS and Nonprofit Media: Toward Creating a More Informed Public (70 pages, PDF), finds that the agency's focus on operational distinctions between not-for-profit and for-profit media organizations has become obsolete as a result of technological advances and serves to discourage innovation at a time when nonprofit journalism is needed more than ever. The report also offers recommendations for eliminating barriers to innovation and filling gaps in nonprofit journalism — especially the decline in investigative reporting at the local government level — including encouraging foundations to continue and/or increase their investment in nonprofit media.
April 4, 2013
Education
Connections - Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic
The United States can meet its goal of raising the high school graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020 — if the pace of improvement from 2006 to 2010 is sustained, a new report from Civic Enterprises, the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University's School of Education, America's Promise Alliance, and the Alliance for Excellent Education finds. The report, Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic (100 pages, PDF), argues that much of the recent progress can be attributed to better data with respect to why and where students drop out, greater awareness of the dropout crisis and its consequences for the country, increased understanding of what works and what doesn't, and a greater focus on collaboration. At the same time, the report notes that improvement in state-level graduation rates has been uneven and calls for continued efforts to strengthen and align reporting and accountability; reduce disparities among racial and ethnic groups, income levels, and students with disabilities; and mobilize resources around the Civic Marshall Plan to Build a Grad Nation.
April 1, 2013
Disaster Relief
Connecting the Last Mile: The Role of Communications in the Great East Japan Earthquake
While Japan's high Internet penetration, 3G mobile usage rates, and rapid rollout of Internet-based information initiatives helped many survive the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the impact of the tech and social media response was limited by large-scale power outages, disabled telecommunications networks, and the elderly-skewing demographics of the affected population, a report from Internews finds. According to Connecting the Last Mile: The Role of Communications in the Great East Japan Earthquake (56 pages, PDF), low-tech and hyperlocal channels such as community radio, local newspapers, newsletters, and word of mouth were invaluable to residents' survival and recovery. At the same time, the report, which examined how residents obtained information before, during, and after the disaster, found a lack of information-sharing systems and coordination mechanisms among humanitarian responders, as well as a lack of awareness about volunteer tech and crisis-mapping communities. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the report recommends that the international humanitarian community put construction of a resilient communications infrastructure at the center of its disaster management planning efforts and work harder to integrate the private sector and volunteer tech communities into formal disaster response structures.
March 29, 2013
Women
Accessing Justice: Models, Strategies and Best Practices on Women's Empowerment
Empowering women in developing countries to claim their rights better equips them to bring about change in their communities, a report from the International Development Law Organization argues. According to Accessing Justice: Models, Strategies and Best Practices on Women's Empowerment (74 pages, PDF), structural and cultural barriers, illiteracy or low literacy, and lack of resources and/or time all serve to impede women's ability to become equal partners in decision making and development. Yet, even when they are able to access formal justice systems, the outcomes often fall far short of international standards, especially with regard to property rights, inheritance questions, divorce and child custody, and spousal abuse. Based on case studies from Afghanistan, India, Namibia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Tanzania, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, the report presents strategies and best practices for the legal empowerment of women through legal education, legal aid services, non-discriminatory dispute resolution forums, paralegal training, and rights awareness. The report also notes that legal empowerment approaches in both the formal and informal justice sectors are more likely to be sustainable when they are locally owned and combined with top-down reforms to ensure that domestic laws and regulations are aligned with international standards.
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