On April 24 and April 25 more than two dozen funders from Western Pennsylvania hopped on a bus to learn more about Allegheny County’s vibrant immigrant and refugee communities.
The opioid epidemic affects Pennsylvanians from every walk of life. Rich, poor, black, white, young, or old – the opioid crisis is unprecedented in its reach and devastation. At least ten Pennsylvanians die every day from a drug overdose, with over 3,500 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania in 2015 alone. In recent years, major U.S. policy efforts have been aimed at combating the epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose deaths.
Gerald Cross, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League; Karen Miller, Senior Fellow, Berks County Community Foundation, and Max King, President & CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation joined funders across the state to discuss a soon-to-be released analysis from the Pennsylvania Economy League of the finances of Pennsylvania's municipalities over a 44-year period which reveals that Pennsylvania's municipal government system is plainly broken.
This Keystone Policy Series call discussed how funders can make a case for funding advocacy and where to begin.
This Keystone Policy call involved a discussion about Health Policy. Ann Torregrossa, Executive Director of PHFC, provided an update on PHFC’s priorities and initiatives for 2017. Ann Marie Healy, Executive Director of First Hospital Foundation, described the foundation's recent strategic planning process. She and her board arrived at a new focus that puts policy advocacy at the forefront of the foundation’s work.
On this call, funding colleagues addressed statewide education advocacy efforts currently underway; including current priorities and challenges, the role their organizations play in these initiatives, and opportunities for other funders to become involved.
Speakers:
Kristen Burns, Associate Director, Grable Foundation
Michelle Figlar, Vice President of Learning, The Heinz Endowments
Stan Thompson, Education Program Director, The Heinz Endowments
Elliot Weinbaum, Great Learning Program Director, William Penn Foundation
Philanthropy professionals in Pennsylvania understand how state policy affects the nonprofit sector, and many have a history of engaging and educating state policymakers. Even given private foundations’ constraints on lobbying, there are numerous opportunities for communication between philanthropy and the public sector that are permissible and can serve to build relationships and advance important issues.
About the PLACES (Professionals Learning About Community, Equity and Smart Growth) Fellowship Program:
PLACES, hosted by the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, is designed to help funders use an explicit equity lens in supporting community development. With this framework, funders can better engage and leverage residents’ own perspectives in improving their communities.
GWP members gathered for the association’s 2016 annual meeting, generously hosted at the Center for Connected Medicine by UPMC Health Plan.
In early August, members of Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia(PNGP), Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania (GWP) and Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative (PHFC) came together for a unique opportunity gathering funders from across Pennsylvania to network and learn about the local innovations in food access and food systems.
