Announcements

The George Gund and Cleveland foundations have released a report, “Cleveland Schools that are Making a Difference,” which highlights 13 urban schools recognized by independent researchers for inspired leadership, thoughtful curriculum, innovative instructional practices and well-cultivated community and parental involvement.

The foundations engaged independent researchers to provide tangible evidence that quality education can be—and has been—created in a cross section of schools located in the City of Cleveland. The goal of the project was to identify, describe and share best practices that exist within Cleveland’s traditional public, private, parochial and charter schools that make a positive difference in students’ achievement.

Schools featured in the report are:
Louisa May Alcott (Cleveland Metropolitan School District — CMSD)
Citizens’ Academy (charter)
Cleveland School of the Arts (CMSD)
Benjamin Franklin (CMSD)
The Intergenerational School (charter)
Joseph Landis (CMSD)
Miles Park (CMSD)
Orchard School of Science (CMSD)
St. Francis (parochial)
St. Martin de Porres (private Catholic)
St. Thomas Aquinas (parochial)
SuccessTech (CMSD), and
Urban Community School (private Catholic/Christian)

To ensure independence and objectivity, the foundations contracted with the New York-based Institute for Student Achievement and the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University, to act as principal investigators. A Cleveland consulting firm, Candor LLC, provided analysis of student achievement data that was used to identify schools for this project.

All 13 schools selected for this report met several key criteria: they were operating in the 2004–05 school year; the majority of students were economically disadvantaged; and they were demonstrating progress in student achievement gains as evidenced from state report card data, value-added student achievement data, standardized test scores and graduation rates.

Researchers spent months conducting site visits, reviewing data and interviewing students, teachers, principals and parents. They looked at six dimensions that research shows are critical factors in positively impacting student learning: shared vision; strong curriculum and instructional methods; use of multiple data types to drive instruction and student outcomes; presence of a nurturing, safe learning environment; and positive professional development opportunities for teachers and staff.

Dr. N. Gerry House, a nationally recognized urban education leader who currently serves as president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Student Achievement, said the report is unique for bringing together four types of schools—traditional public, private, parochial and charter—all serving the same student population. Both an executive summary and a full report are available.

The project evolved from the foundations’ larger strategy to help create a portfolio of new, excellent schools in Cleveland. Both the Gund and Cleveland foundations have dedicated substantial resources to support new schools in Cleveland. Foundation grants totaling $1.5 million have supported research, planning and start-up support for new schools in Cleveland, including the CMSD’s four single-sex elementary schools that opened in 2007 and a new science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) high school scheduled to open this fall. The foundations granted another $1 million to open and staff the Office of New and Innovative Schools at the CMSD, which will assume overall strategy and supervision of the district’s new opportunity schools, and have also supported various new Cleveland charter and private schools.

George Gund Foundation grantees are becoming increasingly aware of the threat posed by global climate change and are taking thoughtful steps to promote environmental sustainability, according to global climate change statements that have been part of the Foundation’s application process since September.

“We have received more than 175 climate change statements in the two grant cycles since we began the requirement and are impressed with the many ways in which our grantees are taking positive steps in everything from waste reduction to energy conservation,” said David Abbott, the Foundation’s executive director. “While some organizations are just beginning to think about their role in global climate change, others already have made significant adjustments in their operations.”

He said efforts fell into six general categories—energy conservation, green building, green purchasing, transportation, waste reduction and education and advocacy.

Abbott said the Foundation is sharing some of the actions and strategies that had been adopted by grantees on its website to encourage others to think about how they can become more proactive in addressing climate change.

“We are pleased to be able to share this information and are also using it to help reduce our own carbon footprint,” he added. “I am pleased to report that our internal Foundation “green team” has completed the Entrepreneurs for Sustainability Sustainability Implementation Training Program, and that more than 75% of the dollars we spend on office supplies are now purchasing green products. We also have eliminated the use of disposable dishware and individually bottled water as a waste reduction measure, and have conducted an energy audit of our offices.”

In addition to information from the grantee climate change statements, the Foundation’s website also includes sample statements for different types of organizations, online resources to help organizations better understand climate change and reduce their carbon footprint and a list of frequently asked questions about our climate change policy. These resources will be updated periodically to support the evolution of organizations’ practices related to climate change.

George Gund Foundation Executive Director David Abbott has been elected chairman of The Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaborative philanthropic effort to strengthen the regionís economic competitiveness through grantmaking, research and civic engagement.

More than 100 foundations, organizations and individuals have contributed over $50 million to the Fund since it was established in 2004. Abbott replaces Robert Briggs of the GAR Foundation who was the organization’s founding chair.

The Fund collaborates with others in the 16-county region to improve the region’s economic competitiveness in four action areas:

• Business Growth & Attraction
• Talent Development
• Growth Through Racial & Economic Inclusion
• Government Collaboration & Efficiency

The Fund is in its second, three-year phase of work. In Phase Two, the Fund is collaborating with partners in the public and private sectors to implement Advance Northeast Ohio, the region’s economic action plan.

www.futurefundneo.org

www.futurefundneo.org/page9075.cfm

The George Gund Foundation now requires nonprofit organizations to submit a climate change statement as part of future grant applications.

“Global climate change has long been a concern for us as part of our environmental grantmaking, but the growing negative impact of human behavior on our planet’s climate has convinced us that we need to extend that concern beyond the confines of a single program area,” said David Abbott, the Foundation’s executive director. “We are asking prospective grantees to tell us what they are doing or considering to reduce or to eliminate their impact on climate change as a way of encouraging them to think about this important issue.”

Abbott said the one-page statement, which was required beginning with proposals submitted for the September 15, 2007 deadline, should include information that applies to both the organization’s operations as well as it programming. Plans call for sharing this information to highlight “best practices.”

He said the Foundation’s website, www.gundfoundation.org, includes sample statements for different types of organizations, online resources to help organizations better understand climate change and suggest ways to reduce their carbon footprint and a list of frequently asked questions about the new policy.

“There are many things organizations can be doing, some of them very simple, such as printing double-sided or subsidizing public transportation passes for employees,” said Abbott, noting that the Foundation has made several changes in its office and is conducting a sustainability audit of its operations.

In 2007, the Foundation also adopted a policy requiring all projects that receive capital grants to pursue U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

The George Gund Foundation, as part of its commitment to making Cleveland a more environmentally conscious community, has a new policy limiting capital grants to projects that adopt green building principles.

Organizations requesting funds for construction or renovation projects must seek U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. LEED represents the most widely accepted national standard for green buildings. Planning grants also will be available for research, planning and documentation of green elements.

“This new policy is a logical extension of our ongoing environmental grantmaking which has focused on issues related to climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and conservation of natural resources,” said David Abbott, Gund executive director. “We think this new policy will also help educate our community about ways in which they can make their organizations more sustainable.”

Green building design and construction practices address issues such as site planning, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and conservation of materials and resources, he added.

Abbott said he is pleased the Cleveland Foundation has adopted a similar policy.

Cleveland has several buildings that have been LEED certified, including the Cleveland Foodbank and the Idea Center at Playhouse Square.

The Richard A. Shatten Professional Leadership Award, established this year, recognizes professional individuals who exhibit the same traits and passion for moving the region forward through public-private partnerships.

The winner, who will be selected by a committee chosen by the Greater Cleveland Partnership and the Richard Shatten Family Foundation, will be honored during the dedication of the Richard A. Shatten Memorial Board Room in the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s new offices, 100 Public Square, this summer.

The nominated individual should have:

• At least 10 years of experience serving as a key staff member in a Northeast Ohio public, civic, charitable, private or non-profit organization;
• Significant experience staffing public-private partnership projects or initiatives designed to improve the vitality of Northeast Ohio from an economic, environmental, educational or social perspective;
• Demonstrated success in personally bridging the knowledge gap between respective private and public sectors on specific projects or issues;
• The ability to support and guide leadership in their efforts to advance major projects in the community and to provide collateral leadership in the same endeavors;
• Communication abilities that constantly enhance the best practices in public-private partnerships;
• A dedication to individual ethical responsibilities in the governmental and non≠profit sectors;
• A clear passion for Northeast Ohio;
• A desire to know as much as possible about every issue where they are professionally engaged; and
• A desire to teach and nurture others in the skills required to successfully lead public private partnerships.

Individuals who meet the criteria for eligibility can be nominated using this form. Entry deadline is Friday, May 18, 2007. You may e-mail the completed form to Jan Estes at jEstes@GCPartnership.com.

More information about the award can be found on the website of the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

About Richard A. Shatten
Richard A. Shatten’s twenty-year professional career in Cleveland encompassed experiences in the private and non-profit sectors, as well as in academia. Throughout that time, Richard helped to invent, and then demonstrate a set of skills that embodied the development of a new way of advancing bold ideas in our nation: the public-private partnership. He did so, very characteristically, behind the scenes. He knew that ultimate and sustained success of any program or any new idea, depended on an exciting and well executed launch that lay leaders from all sectors embraced from the beginning.

Alliance for Justice tools offer useful tips

An article by Marcia Egbert, senior program officer at The George Gund Foundation, and Susan Hoechstetter, foundation advocacy director at the Alliance for Justice, is featured in the Spring 2007 edition of The Evaluation Exchange, a Harvard Family Research Project periodical.

In the article “Evaluating Nonprofit Advocacy Simply: An Oxymoron?” Egbert and Hoechstetter offer nine principles to guide advocacy evaluation. These recommendations are based on the Alliance for Justice’s groundbreaking 2005 publication, “Build Your Advocacy Grantmaking: Advocacy Capacity Assessment & Evaluation Tools,” the first of its kind for nonprofit advocacy. Since then, the field of advocacy evaluation has expanded, with multiple evaluation models now available. Through their nine principles, Egbert and Hoechstetter seek to remind evaluators of the principles of simplicity, flexibility and grantee participation.

Click here to access the article and read about the nine principles.

The Alliance for Justice website is www.afj.org.

Nonprofit Management and Organization Innovation

The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University is accepting nominations for two annual award programs.

The 2007 Leadership in Nonprofit Management Award is for an individual with an outstanding record of leadership, and the 2007 Organization Innovation Award will be given to an organization with an outstanding record of innovation.

Community members familiar with the work of an outstanding nonprofit leader or organization are encouraged to submit a nomination. Nomination forms and detailed nomination guidelines for both awards can be found on the Mandel Center website at www.case.edu/mandelcenter/nonprofitawards.

All nominations must be received by Wednesday, February 28, 2007, at noon.

The awards will be presented at the Mandel Center Nonprofit Awards Luncheon on June 6.

Click here for more information about the awards.

Ohio Grantmakers Forum (OGF) has released a report, “Education for Ohio’s Future,” which provides a comprehensive look at education in the state from preschool through college.

The report, prepared by a taskforce of grantmakers from throughout the state, outlines a number of high impact changes necessary to prepare Ohio students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

The report, available at www.ohiograntmakers.org, is the first of its kind crafted by the state’s grantmaking community which typically provides about $300 million to education initiative annually.

“The essential first step to improving education is a shared understanding of the challenge and opportunities that Ohio faces,” said George Espy, OGF president. “The next step will be going forward together, encouraging state and grantmaker leadership and engaging communities.”

He said a series of regional meetings will be held to disseminate and discuss the report during the first quarter of 2007.

Click here to download the report.