The pandemic is shifting our lives increasingly online, but virtual working, learning, and job-seeking platforms do not accommodate everyone. Almost half of low-income adults do not have home broadband services or access to a traditional computer. People with digital literacy and access are at a significant advantage.
From 2007 to 2017, a troubling trend emerged: the homeownership rate in Baltimore City fell from 51% to 47%, and the Black homeownership rate sank to 42%.
Please join the Prenatal to Five Impact Collaborative for their second meeting to learn about Maryland State Department of Education’s Prenatal to Eight Strategic Plan and about the three year grant from Pritzker Foundation for Prenatal-to-Three efforts statewide and what role there is for private philanthropy in those efforts.
In the past five months that have seemed like an eternity, philanthropy has faced a reckoning on the deep racial inequities that plague society and our institutions at all levels.
Please join us for a meet and greet with MPN Member, Erin Robertson, the Chief Programs Officer for Nature Sacred. This program will include an overview of Nature Sacred, its vision for health in Maryland and evidence of the healing power of nature with Teresia Hazen, M.Ed., HTR, QMHP and award-winning Firesoul. Katie Lautar, Executive Director of Baltimore Green Space will share how they are working at the intersection of community care of green spaces, advocacy, and scientific research that promotes the health of communities and equitable access to sustainable green spaces.
Innovation Works, a Baltimore organization focused on supporting socially focused entrepreneurs through programming, mentorship and funding, has launched a new $4 million fund.
The Prenatal to Five Impact Collaborative is a peer group focused on learning together about the needs of pregnant women and families with children up to age 5 and how to best support them. This meeting will discuss advocacy and the roles philanthropy can play in systems change work. We’ll be hearing from Sara Watson who authored the Bainum Family Foundation Brief: “Creating Change Through Policy Advocacy”. We’ll also be hearing from Beth Morrow and Laura Weeldreyer about Maryland Family Network’s Early Childhood legislative priorities.
As the District reopens schools, Maryland is also experiencing its first-ever virtual legislative session. Legislation around digital equity, childcare, and the overturn of the veto for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future are critical for the future of Maryland’s children. Maryland Philanthropy Network is pleased to host Melissa Broome, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, for a conversation about City Schools’ legislative priorities for the 2021 state legislative session and the state plan around funding.
More than 80 local investors and philanthropic organizations have pledged support for a new $5 million funding effort that will aim to address major social challenges in Baltimore.
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, a not-for-profit and the largest health care company in the mid-Atlantic region, has been named by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” in 2021.
Social isolation is not a personal choice or individual problem, bu
The Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (WRAG) Board of Directors announced Ruth LaToison Ifill as President & CEO.
The Fund for Educational Excellence, the local nonprofit working to ensure all children in Baltimore City Public Schools experience an effective and equitable education, has elected three new members to its Board of Directors: Nan
Maryland Philanthropy Network has joined our colleagues from the Nonprofit Infrastructure Investment Advocacy Group (NIIAG) in responding to The Build Back Better legislation expected to see Congressional action this week. Maggie Gunther
A recent report from the Bloomberg School of Health found that Baltimore fared better than most cities during the COVID-19 pandemic in cases of illness, mortality and vaccination rates. Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr.
In April 2017, the City of Baltimore entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to address findings related to the Baltimore Police Department’s patterns and practices. Since then, Baltimore City, Baltimore Police Department and multiple partners have come together to map out steps needed to make meaningful and sustainable change. Join Maryland Philanthropy Network’s Health Funders Affinity Group and the Affinity Group on Aging to learn how Baltimore City is transforming the landscape of behavioral health crisis response and providing the tools necessary to reduce unnecessary police interaction with people with mental illness and substance use disorder.
All Maryland Philanthropy Network members are invited to join Julia Baez and Janelle Gendrano of Baltimore’s Promise, Sara Cooper of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Youth Advisors Cesia Calero and J’Naya Harris to hear about and discuss the Youth and Young Adult Grantmaking Initiative, a new participatory and collaborative funding opportunity. This youth-led grantmaking structure enables young people to allocate resources that directly impact themselves and their peers. It also incorporates capacity building, coaching, technical assistance, and compensation for Youth Grantmakers.
Join Maryland Philanthropy Network's Green Funders Affinity Group to learn more about two recent action-oriented reports on climate change efforts in Maryland. Participants will also have an opportunity to discuss with grantmaking colleagues what are they are doing and can do in the climate mitigation and climate justice space. Through the conversation, we’ll lift up issues for further learning and potential collaboration in the environmental grantmaking space.
Public budgets are one of the most important policy instruments of our government. They are moral documents that reflect our values and priorities through decisions on how to tax residents and businesses and spend those collective resources. These decisions impact what families have to spend on basic needs and invest in their future, define the size of the government and its role in the national economy, and affect the lives of all Americans. Join Maryland Philanthropy Network for a special screening and discussion to learn about and discuss why federal and state budget and tax work matters to national, state, and local philanthropy.

