The Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy is awarded annually by Grantmakers In Health to an outstanding grantmaker whose leadership and thoughtful application of philanthropic resources have forged permanent improvements in health through innovation, risk taking, and boldness. The award recipient’s achievements will exemplify responsiveness to people in communities, large or small, with a particular emphasis on reaching those most in need.

To be eligible, a nominee must be, or have been within the last three years, an active grantmaker for at least five years with a U.S. grantmaking organization in the field of health, serving as a trustee, staff member, or donor. Nominees can be at any stage in their careers — the award honors grantmakers whether they are in the midst of their service to the field or are at the end of their career. Current GIH board members are not eligible for nomination.

Any individual or organization may nominate a grantmaker to receive the award.

The 2011 Leadership Award will be presented at the Grantmakers In Health Annual Meeting on Health Philanthropy, March 2-4, in Los Angeles. The award includes a $5,000 honorarium.

The award program brochure is available at the GIH Web site.

http://www.gih.org/calendar_url2665/calendar_url_show.htm?doc_id=1249416

Ameriprise Financial, Inc., a diversified financial services company, is accepting grant applications for the third cycle of its 2010 Community Relations grantmaking program.

Ameriprise recently completed the first of its three funding cycles for 2010, awarding more than $1.1 million in total grants to 72 nonprofit organizations under the company’s three funding areas — meeting basic needs, supporting community vitality, and volunteer-driven causes. Second-cycle grant decisions will be announced in August.

Ameriprise provides grants to nonprofit organizations in communities across the United States where its employees, advisors, and retirees live and work. The company prefers to direct funding to specific projects that can demonstrate innovative approaches with measurable results or capacity building rather than general operating support.

In the meeting basic needs category, the company supports programs and services that help at-risk populations stabilize their lives and become more self-sufficient. Consideration will be given to programs that help provide food, shelter, and self sufficiency. The supporting community vitality category supports programs and services that build strong communities by creating economic vitality and cultural enrichment. Support is provided in the areas of community development, cultural enrichment, civic leadership, disaster response and recovery, and environmental awareness. The volunteer-driven causes category allows Ameriprise employees, advisors, and retirees to help determine where and how a portion of grants are directed. (Proposals in this category must be from the nonprofit organizations where employees/advisors/retirees volunteer.)

Visit the Ameriprise Financial Web site for complete program information and application criteria. Applicants are requested not to submit their applications more than six weeks in advance of the deadline.

http://www.ameriprise.com/about-ameriprise-financial/company-information/ameriprise-community-relations.asp

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS with LITERACY: A Learning Curriculum that Serves
An innovative research-based curriculum designed to engage students for academic excellence.
SEE DATES, LOCATIONS and COSTS  BELOW

Strategies for Success with Literacy combines high level literacy skills with social and emotional development, delivered through engaging teaching methods including (and especially) service learning. This acclaimed approach already implemented with over 40,000 students  in the Los Angeles Unified School District (more this summer!) and in seven  other states, helps students of all abilities to become academically and civically engaged and increases their literacy competencies.

Program themes include:
– Building Skills
– Strengthening Relationships
– Meeting  Challenges
– Growing Community

New components have added leadership and career exploration plus higher order skills that improve research and writing skills.  This  program has been used as part of a district approach to replace dropping out of school with active engagement and commitment to graduation.

Bonus for TEACHERS! While this curriculum is aimed at grades 5-10, all grade level teachers have attended  and found great value in participating. This Institute enlivens your teaching methods with strategies you can use every day in your classroom to engage and motivate students to be outstanding learners and exceptional contributors within their school and community. This program has been used as part of a dropout prevention plan, a summer transition program, a semester or year-long course of study (English/Language Arts with added elements of Social Studies and plenty of civic participation),  afterschool, alternative education, gifted programs, and more.

Registration includes a Strategies for Success with Literacy Teacher Tote Bag with $400 worth of resources  including a Teacher Guide with articulated lessons, Student Guide, and ten books used to integrate skill development and literacy, and more, including Cathryn Berger Kaye’s newly revised The Complete Guide to Service Learning book and CD! Note: Additional student materials are required for implementation.

Register Today!

DATES AND LOCATIONS and HOW TO REGISTER and LEARN MORE!
———————–
August 18-19,  2010
9:00 a.m. to 3:00  p.m.
Chicago,  Illinois
$350 for Illinois  Educators; $500 for out-of-state
The Center: Resources for Teaching and Learning
2626 South Clearbrook Drive
Arlington Heights, IL  60005-4626
For more information on  this Summer Institute plus lodging, please contact:
Mike Mangan at mmangan@cntrmail.org or 224-366-8534
———————–
August 9-11,  2010
Days One and Two 8:30  a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Day Three from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45
Ionia, Michigan (near Grand Rapids)
Cost: $200 for Michigan Educators (subsidized by Learn & Serve-Michigan)
$575 for Out-of-State Educators
Travel and housing information available upon request.
Please note: The third day allows for additional, comprehensive review and experience of program materials.
Register at http://www.ioniaisd.org
For more information on this institute contact:
Deborah Wagner at dawagner@ioniaisd.org or 616-522-1405

———————–
For more information on Strategies for Success with Literacy and bringing this innovative program to your school or district, please contact the program author:
Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A.
cbkaye@aol.com
310-397-0070

A new report from NACEDA (National Alliance of Community Economic Development Association)

NACEDA’s new report on the  accomplishments of the community development  industry from 2005-2007, Rising Above: Community Economic Development in a Changing Landscape, is now available for downloading on NACEDA’s website at http://naceda.org/pdfs/census-report-2010.pdf

Download your copy today!

New Grants to Foster Hunger-Free Communities and Deliver Help to Americans in Need

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2010 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA will invest in research, planning, and various hunger relief activities to help end hunger in America. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the Farm Bill, authorizes $5 million in funding under the new Hunger-Free Communities grants to deliver help to Americans in need.

“Hunger is a problem that the American sense of fairness should not tolerate and American ingenuity can overcome,” said Secretary Vilsack. “That’s why we have set the goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015 and support rapid passage of a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill that will reduce hunger and improve the health and nutrition of our Nation’s children. Through these new Hunger-Free Community grants, our strong partnerships at the National, State and local levels will be pivotal in providing better access to food and a more healthful diet for our Nation’s most vulnerable.”

Despite record participation in Federal nutrition assistance programs, food insecurity still persists. USDA’s study, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008, reported that 14.6 percent, or 17 million households, were food insecure. These households, at some time during the year, had difficulty providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources.

Through the grants, FNS seeks strategies that support the creation of Hunger-Free Communities by funding activities including food distribution, community outreach, resource development and other methods to make food more accessible to those most in need.

One million will fund Planning and Assessment Grants to evaluate food insecurity in communities and develop strategies to become hunger-free. The remaining $4 million will support Implementation Grants for communities that already have a plan to end hunger and need resources for program implementation.

The grants are available to public and not-for-profit organizations and require collaboration with one or more community partners. Grant applications may be submitted by email to: HungerFreeCommunities@fns.usda.gov or through http://www.grants.gov.

Improving USDA’s child nutrition programs are a top priority of the Obama Administration. Congress is currently considering legislation to bolster the Child Nutrition Act, which authorizes the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, and Summer Food Service Programs. These programs serve nearly 32 million children each school day and work in concert to form a national safety net against hunger. Improving the Child Nutrition Act is the legislative centerpiece of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign and highlighted in the White House report Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation released Tuesday, May 11. By passing strong reauthorization legislation, the Administration hopes to reduce hunger, promote access, and improve the overall health and nutrition of children throughout the country. To learn more about the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign, visit http://www.LetsMove.gov.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) oversees the administration of 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the child nutrition programs, that touch the lives of one in four Americans over the course of a year. These programs work in concert to form a national safety net against hunger. Visit www.fns.usda.gov for information about FNS and nutrition assistance programs.

For more information, visit: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/outreach/hfc_grants.htm

Deadline: October 1, 2010

By 2050, no single racial or ethnic group will comprise a majority in this country. That reality opens the door to a historic opportunity to create a truly inclusive, sustainable democracy. The political and policy choices we make today will chart the course for America’s future.

In our new book, Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America’s Future, Stewart Kwoh, Manuel Pastor, and I take a deep and critical look at race in America today and propose an agenda that will lead us all to a more equitable nation.

http://www.uncommoncommonground.org

But this conversation needs your voice and your ideas. Against the backdrop of a continuing recession, populist anger, and deep uncertainty, there is an urgent need for America to think long-term.

Please join us on EquityBlog to chart a course for race and America’s future.

http://equityblog.org/tag/uncommon-common-ground/

Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder & CEO
PolicyLink

I am very pleased to announce the next installment in the COMM-ORG papers collection:

Patricia N. Van Pelt-Watkins, Does Theory Matter in Social Movement Practice in the Midwest? A Descriptive Study

http://comm-org.wisc.edu/page.php?7

This is a book-length scientific study of how activists and organizers think about theory and research.  It dispells some myths that activists have no use for research, or that only educated activists care about scholarship.  It also finds a severe shortage of skill and funding resources for the important intellectual work of activism.  If you want the short version of the work, you can go directly to Chapter 5.

Thanks to Patricia for contributing this work.

Randy Stoecker
moderator/editor, COMM-ORG
rstoecker@wisc.edu

“The public knows little about [ACORN], that lightning rod for right-wing abuse.  No one has written more informatively about this difficult, necessary work than John Atlas.”
-Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage

“A knowledgeable and empathetic observer, but never an apologist, Atlas has now written the definitive work on ACORN.”
-Samuel G. Freedman, author of Letters to a Young Journalist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Atlas, a longtime public interest lawyer, writer, and organizer, is a founder and current president of the National Housing Institute, which publishes Shelterforce. His work has appeared in numerous publications including The Huffington Post, The Star Ledger, The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Tikkun, The Nation, Dissent, New Jersey Reporter, and Social Policy.

To learn more about the book, click here: http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/books/387/seeds-of-change