To Get More Young People Into Good Jobs, a New Focus on Apprenticeships

To Get More Young People Into Good Jobs, a New Focus on Apprenticeships

Even as millions of young workers languish in low-wage jobs, employers say they can’t find enough electricians, plumbers and other skilled workers. A funder-backed initiative at New America is looking to change that by re-juicing youth apprenticeships.

Read More

Chasing Financial Health: A Top Bank's Latest Investment in Underserved Communities

Chasing Financial Health: A Top Bank's Latest Investment in Underserved Communities

The lack of savings in underserved communities leaves vulnerable populations ill equipped to weather unexpected emergencies and achieve financial security. JPMorgan Chase recently unveiled a new $125 million effort to address this problem.

Read More

From a Tech Billionaire Couple, Millions to Find the Best Solutions to Homelessness

From a Tech Billionaire Couple, Millions to Find the Best Solutions to Homelessness

Putting $30 million into homelessness research won’t get people housed immediately. But with California poised for bolder action on this crisis, Marc and Lynne Benioff are looking to ensure that resources go to evidence-based solutions that will work.

Read More

Close to Home: A Bank with Local Ties Zeroes in on a Distressed Neighborhood

Close to Home: A Bank with Local Ties Zeroes in on a Distressed Neighborhood

Atlanta has the highest level of income inequality of any city in America, with nearly half of residents in its Westside area living in poverty. The SunTrust Foundation is part of a new collaboration that’s coming together to try to turn things around.

Read More

Who’s Helping Push the Idea of a Basic Income into the Political Mainstream?

Who’s Helping Push the Idea of a Basic Income into the Political Mainstream?

In under three years, the Economic Security Project has galvanized a surprising level of buy-in for the idea of giving people cash without conditions. We discuss strategy and funding with the organization’s leaders, including Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes.

Read More

"All of the Tools in Our Tool Belt." A Community Foundation Steps Up its Impact Investing

"All of the Tools in Our Tool Belt." A Community Foundation Steps Up its Impact Investing

The momentum behind impact investing is being further fueled by a growing sense of urgency among funders up against large-scale equity challenges in top metro areas. The San Francisco Foundation is the latest funder looking to bring more cash to the fight.

Read More

Behind a $180 Million Corporate Pledge to Connect Youth with Opportunity Worldwide

Behind a $180 Million Corporate Pledge to Connect Youth with Opportunity Worldwide

A growing number of philanthropic initiatives are zeroing in on the many teenagers and young adults who aren’t engaged in either school or work. The latest effort, from a major financial products company, is addressing this vexing problem at a global level.

Read More

How a Major California Foundation is Going All-In on Empowering Low-Wage Workers

How a Major California Foundation is Going All-In on Empowering Low-Wage Workers

Three years ago, the James Irvine Foundation adopted a bold, singular focus: building political power and career opportunities for low-wage workers in the nation’s most populous state. We talk to the foundation’s leadership about how this effort is going.

Read More

As Wealthy Donors Fuel Campus Growth, What About Low-Wage Workers and Local Residents?

As Wealthy Donors Fuel Campus Growth, What About Low-Wage Workers and Local Residents?

While the higher ed fundraising boom has lifted many boats, university employees often find themselves squeezed by flat wages and escalating housing costs. Some donors are paying attention to these larger equity issues. Will others follow?

Read More

Growing Up: How an Advocacy Group for Millennials Seeks to Expand Its Fundraising

Growing Up: How an Advocacy Group for Millennials Seeks to Expand Its Fundraising

Started in 2009 by five law students in a campus cafeteria, Young Invincibles has become an increasingly visible national organization engaging young people in policy issues. Already backed by top foundations, it’s now looking to engage more individual donors.

Read More

A Major Bank Doubles Down on Helping Workers, But With Strategies That Only Go So Far

A Major Bank Doubles Down on Helping Workers, But With Strategies That Only Go So Far

Already a leading funder in the space, JPMorgan Chase is upping its investment in workforce development. It’s one of many corporate funders pursuing similar strategies that are showing good results, but sidestep larger challenges facing workers.

Read More

How a Project in Boston is Mixing Philanthropy and Investments to Reimagine Capitalism

How a Project in Boston is Mixing Philanthropy and Investments to Reimagine Capitalism

What would a new economy that works for everyone look like? And how do you create it? The Boston Ujima Project thinks it has some answers, building a place-based investment fund that is democratically controlled by community members .

Read More

He Was a Young Hedge Funder with a Lucrative Job. Now He’s Working to Scale Access to Healthy Food

He Was a Young Hedge Funder with a Lucrative Job. Now He’s Working to Scale Access to Healthy Food

At the age of 30, Sam Polk walked away from a highly paid trading job to enter the social change arena. With help from the Kellogg Foundation and other backers, he’s building a social enterprise that’s focused on food equity and has big ambitions.

Read More

Closing the Gap: Behind a Longtime Corporate STEM Funder’s New Work on Women and Girls

Closing the Gap: Behind a Longtime Corporate STEM Funder’s New Work on Women and Girls

The IT company Cognizant launched a foundation last year as part of its efforts to bolster STEM skills in the U.S. It recently started grantmaking and appointed an executive director. A focus on girls and women has figured prominently in its early moves.

Read More

Hidden Hand: Just How Self-Interested is Corporate Philanthropy?

Hidden Hand: Just How Self-Interested is Corporate Philanthropy?

While it’s no secret that corporations see their giving as a way to both have social impact and burnish their reputations. Research has revealed a more troubling picture of how business philanthropy may be used as a tool to sway public policy.

Read More

Advocacy and More: Philanthropy’s Role in Two Big New Initiatives to Tackle the Housing Crisis

Advocacy and More: Philanthropy’s Role in Two Big New Initiatives to Tackle the Housing Crisis

Philanthropy is a small but important part of major projects in Seattle and the Bay Area aimed at ensuring more affordable housing and providing aid to the homeless. Where can grant dollars have the most impact in taking on these daunting challenges?

Read More

In Solidarity: Here Are the Top Funders Supporting Labor and Workers' Rights

In Solidarity: Here Are the Top Funders Supporting Labor and Workers' Rights

While the odds remain heavily stacked against U.S. low-income workers, efforts to boost their pay and benefits have been gaining steam in recent years. A handful of funders play a critical role in supporting this new labor movement. Who are they and where are grants flowing?

Read More

Giving “Without Friction or Fraud.” The First Bitcoin Donation Platform Turns Five

Giving “Without Friction or Fraud.” The First Bitcoin Donation Platform Turns Five

As the first bitcoin nonprofit recognized by the U.S. government, BitGive was a first mover in a crypto-philanthropy space that’s been growing fast lately. We explore the platform and check in with founder and Executive Director Connie Gallippi.

Read More

Work in Progress: A Funder Looks at Key Challenges Around Creative Placemaking

Work in Progress: A Funder Looks at Key Challenges Around Creative Placemaking

Using the arts to drive equitable community development has been both a promising and frustrating proposition ever since it started gaining traction among funders roughly a decade ago. We check in on how a key leader in this space, the Kresge Foundation, sees the field evolving.

Read More

Tough Problem, Deep Pockets: Parsing Bezos Philanthropy's Initial Steps on Homelessness

Tough Problem, Deep Pockets: Parsing Bezos Philanthropy's Initial Steps on Homelessness

While Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos’ separation is making headlines, a slew of grants announced last fall by their Day 1 Families Fund made the couple among the nation’s largest givers for homelessness. How’s that playing out so far?

Read More