In this second annual summary of the their work, the Investing in Community Initiative provides practical advice for community leaders and policymakers around four critical issues. First, how should local needs be defined? Chapter 1 argues that data about local economies can show whether communities are best served by creating new jobs,…

The Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) contracted with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the youth workforce development system within the state. The study documents how the youth workforce system developed in New Jersey since the federal…

When Crystal Bridgeman joined the Siemens Foundation as senior director of workforce development programs in 2014, she pored over research and led conversations about what kind of projects the foundation should invest in to have the biggest impact. Her findings suggested there were a growing number of job opportunities in fields such as advanced…

National Science Foundation's (NSF's) new Strategic Plan, "Building the Future: Investing in Discovery and Innovation--NSF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2018-2022," was released on February 12, 2018. To achieve NSF's vision of "A Nation that is the global leader in research and innovation," the Plan lays out three…

This edited volume explores and deconstructs the possibilities of higher education beyond its initial purpose. The book contextualizes and argues for a more robust interrogation of persistent patterns of campus inequality driven by rapid demographic change, reduced public spending in higher education, and an increasingly polarized political…

The article is derived from a larger study of charities, philanthropists, policy entrepreneurs and international businesses in state schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand. The article considers the formation of a private professional services provider, CORE Education, and its recent corporate trajectory following the government's decision in 2009 to…

In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and its expected economic impact, this European University Association (EUA) briefing explores the possible implications for university funding in Europe in the short to medium term. Based on a wealth of data collected under the EUA Public Funding Observatory over more than a decade, the briefing focuses…

Since the early 1990s, the Open Society Foundations have supported early childhood development, recognizing it as a prerequisite for sustainable political and social change--with a focus not only on young children, but on parents, caregivers, and the wider community. This report commemorates the Open Society Early Childhood Program, which, from…

This paper examines an "experimental" program in African American adult education that took place at the Harlem branch of the New York Public Library in the early 1930s. The program, called the Harlem Experiment, brought together a group of white funders (the Carnegie Corporation and the American Association for Adult Education)--who…

Collaboration is a recurring theme among philanthropic funders and their grantees. Most funders have engaged in collaboration at some level. A few collaborations achieve outstanding success and are lionized in case studies. Others break up without conclusion or fall short of their original mission and are tactfully forgotten. One standard…

In April 2021, New America's Open Technology Institute (OTI) and the Philanthropication thru Privatization Project (PtP) released a joint proposal that the federal government should invest a substantial portion of the windfall proceeds from future auctions of public airwaves (spectrum) to seed a new Digital Equity Foundation dedicated to…

This multiple-site case study of 24 intermediary organizations (IOs) engaged in postsecondary public policy examined how they identify policy issues and move issues, problems, and solutions onto the higher education policy agenda. Specifically, this study used agenda-setting theory to examine how IOs construct higher education policy issues,…

The building that houses Brooklyn Friends School's (New York) preschool, lower, and middle divisions stands on a quiet one-way street in an otherwise bustling downtown Brooklyn business district. After most students head home for the day, others come to the school to participate in the Horizons Program. The Horizons Program at Brooklyn Friends…

The Oliver community, only a couple of miles northeast of the city's business core, is just a sliver of East Baltimore that could be easily overlooked. Once a stable neighborhood filled with sturdy brick row houses, thriving churches and small businesses, Oliver declined--along with much of the city--over the course of several decades, beginning…

In this study, educators' requests for foundation grant funding to purchase desired educational materials or services were examined. Specifically, this study sought to review to what extent, and in what manner, educators utilize research and other forms of evidence to support their decision making. Data analysis revealed several themes. Although…