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.
Weeks after Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said schools can begin to reopen, school leaders are still deciding on when to do just that.
Sophie Felts, a member of the Ruppert landscaping family, is leading a public-private effort to raise funds for "learning hubs" in Montgomery County — Rupport Cos. and the Rupport Family Foundation contributed $150,000 to the effort.
Establishing a scaled fiscal hosting solution for Baltimore through a collaborative process that demonstrates local philanthropic support, strong financial analysis, and grassroots leadership could transform the field. Join us for an exploratory conversation about applying this idea to the recently announced 2030 Racial Equity, W.K. Kellogg Foundation challenge.
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.
Modeled after Impact Hub’s "Embracing Emergence: Adaptive Leadership for Uncertain Times" retreat, Maryland Philanthropy Network's Emergent Philanthropy Roundtable (formerly Rising Leaders Roundtable) will use this time to reflect and develop greater clarity around one’s purpose and commitments, laying the foundation for folks to be the leaders they want to be.
Disability is a relatively untapped area of investment for philanthropy, but one that offers promise of change and multiple avenues for donor impact.
The Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) has launched a new storytelling campaign, Work.Better.Together, to help all Baltimore City residents secure
Join Maryland Philanthropy Network for the second of a three-part series on community schools. Part II will focus on Intermediaries and the role they play in facilitating the implementation of Community Schools. We will be joined by the following community school leaders: Chief Tina Hike-Hubbard of Baltimore City Schools,; Khalilah Slater Harrington, Chief Program Officer, Family League of Baltimore; and Dr. Ingrid Williams-Horton, Director of Community Schools, Prince George’s County Public Schools.
As the urgent needs of the pandemic spread like wildfire last year, Caitlin Heising knew that she and her family had to do something big.
Join Maryland Philanthropy Network for the first in a two-part series on the teacher pipeline. The onslaught of the pandemic has created a crisis in the classroom with school systems at-risk of losing educators.
As we age, our hearing declines and, for many, it can decline significantly. Almost all of us will experience hearing loss to some degree as we age.
Please join Maryland Philanthropy Network's Health Funders Affinity Group and Public Policy Funders for a deeper dive discussing the complexities in meeting the objectives of two health bills passed at the 2022 Legislative session, Medical Assistance Adult Dental coverage (bill SB150/HB6) and Healthy Babies Equity Act (bill SB0778/HB1080). Our speakers will explore the plans, programs, and infrastructure necessary to implement the bills’ mandates throughout Maryland.
No matter where your organization might be or want to be on the spectrum of impact investing, join Maryland Philanthropy Network, and the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network for an opportunity to learn and share your experience with other funders. Toniic, a community of funders and asset holders seeking deeper net impact across a spectrum of capital, will also provide an overview of the many types and approaches grant makers can use to leverage capital for good. We will then hold a funder-only discussion to assess interest in a funder learning cohort specific to our region and/or the many opportunities emerging in the agriculture, climate, and food sectors.
Join Maryland Philanthropy Network, the Abell Foundation, and the Middendorf Foundation for a joint program examining recent research on Baltimore City’s contracting, payment, and permitting processes and how delays in those processes negatively affect non-profits and the high-need communities they serve. At this briefing, you will hear from authors of the newly released Abell Report on the City’s contracting process and learn about the findings from a joint Middendorf/MPN study on the City’s permitting and grantmaking systems. The goals of the briefing are to share the scale and scope of the challenges, recommend changes, and discuss how funders can support the implementation of these changes in an effort to strengthen and support Baltimore’s non-profit sector.
Maryland has an opportunity to build a statewide, multi-racial coalition of organizations comprised of parents and providers designed to build awareness and unite around a plan to educate policymakers and other key stakeholders on Prenatal to 3 priorities for parents, families and communities. The Maryland Family Network (MFN) currently has a planning grant from the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Foundation (Pritzker) with an opportunity to receive an implementation grant. The Prenatal-to-Five (PN-5) and Education Funders Affinity Groups are invited to learn more about the focus of the planning grant, the importance of stakeholder engagement toward achieving policies and systems goals in the state, and how MFN, Strong Schools Maryland and other organizations are working together to prepare a strong case for continued support from Pritzker.
Maryland Philanthropy Network members interested in attending for the first time are encouraged to reach out to Marlo Nash prior to attending a meeting.
How can we build a better and more equitable health care system? Join the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Maryland Philanthropy Network’s Health Funders and Public Policy Committee, and leading advocates working to advance health equity in Maryland as we discuss state and local initiatives to expand health care coverage, improve health care quality, address disparities in health outcomes, and make prescription drugs more affordable.
One of the fundamental design flaws of our public education system is the premise that all children should learn at the same pace regardless of educational background.
Join Maryland Philanthropy Network’s evolving Emergent Philanthropy Roundtable, to discuss Darren Walker’s book, From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth. This peer discussion will focus on the first two chapters, which include pages 1 - 48.

