Join Maryland Philanthropy Network and our speakers for an overview of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to contextualize the ways funds are being disbursed, including the $350 billion in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). Drawing on ideas found in this Philanthropy News Digest article by Darius Graham of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, we’ll discuss how a greater understanding of priorities and processes in a community can help with allocating SLFRF in ways that inform grantmaking. We will conclude with a dynamic panel discussion with our partners on how funders can support nonprofits, provide community input about public dollars, and address any potential funding gaps.
When place-based funders from 12 regions across the country formed a learning group in 2020, chronicled in this five-part series, they shared practical, tactical steps to grapple with a range of thorny questions. When they turned to engaging stakeholders, the funders focused on three core challenges to building community partnerships.
During this interactive virtual session, corporate grantmakers are invited to hear from members of the Corporate Racial Equity Alliance design team and Sarah Keh at Prudential Financial, who will share examples and lessons learned from the company’s efforts to advance racial equity within Newark, where it is headquartered. In facilitated small group discussions, you will have a chance to reflect and brainstorm with regional peers.
Independent Sector, in partnership with Edelman Data & Intelligence, released a third annual report of exclusive survey findings that explore the nuances of trust in American nonprofit, philanthropic organizations, and other institutions. The report also provides recommendations on how we can do better.
Baltimore has long benefited from the place-based investments of our philanthropic community. The Community Investment Affinity Group and others who invest in place are invited to hear about two newer initiatives led, in part, by MPN members:
The Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative recently signed onto a national statement on good jobs. The broadly shared, widely endorsed definition of what constitutes a good job was released by the Good Jobs Champions Group, convened by the Families and Workers Fund and the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, in October 2022. Signed by over 100 leaders from business, labor, policy, philanthropy, academia, and workforce development it represents a historic step forward toward a future in which all work is valued; no one working full-time lives in or near poverty; companies and workers thrive alongside each other; and diverse talent is never overlooked.
Maryland Philanthropy Network members are invited to join representatives from B’more Invested, InFusion Community Grants, Youth as Resources, and other participatory grantmakers for an engaging discussion about what they are learning, especially about decision-making structures, coaching, compensation, and the power of allocating resources that directly impact their neighbors and peers. We’ll also discuss how the Ground Root Collective is collaborating on efforts to strengthen the social sector by supporting applicants and grantees before, during, and after grant cycles. If you are curious about or have joined in participatory grantmaking, this is time to dig in and explore this practice and the implications of being more participatory!
Maryland’s Department of Labor is preparing to launch the Maryland Works for Wind program, a new apprenticeship model to support the region’s growing offshore wind industry funded with $22.9 million awarded to the state through the American Rescue Plan Good Jobs Challenge grant. In partnership with leading employers—including Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Crystal Steel Fabricators, US Wind, and Orsted Offshore North America—and seven local unions, the Maryland Works for Wind program will build a training model to meet the needs of employers and local communities. At this program, the Business Network for Offshore Wind will give an overview of Offshore Wind, what it will look like in Maryland, and the types of jobs expected to be needed. We will hear from training partner – Jane Addams Resource Corporation, and a labor representative about entry into apprenticeships that will lead to family sustaining employment in the sector.
Over eight years of producing 11 Trends in Philanthropy, the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy team has combed the landscape of nonprofits and foundations for the most visible signs of a trend — the increased grant dollars, the emerging networks, familiar voices speaking up. This year’s trends share a familiar wealth of examples, data, quotes, and research publications that can help us all anticipate the vectors of change. But at the core of 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2024, readers will find a set of questions rather than answers. Check out the report for yourself to see what questiosn the field will wrestle with in 2024.
Please join Maryland Philanthropy Network in partnership with the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore for an exciting day of learning and networking with fellow philanthropic leaders. This half-day program will focus on the unique challenges and opportunities faced by grantmaking organizations and communities serving rural Maryland. We will learn from Dr. Yen Dang, Professor of the Rural Health Disparities Program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Special Secretary Carmel Martin, Governor’s Office for Children. Gain insight and understanding regarding social determinants of health and Governor Moore's new place-based strategies associated with the E.N.O.U.G.H Act, which aims to reduce the causes of childhood poverty in communities across Maryland. Participants will then enjoy lunch and an engaging conversation with local voices to discuss shared goals around the racial, social, and economic inequities facing rural Maryland and how philanthropy might respond.
Lack of reliable transportation to work is one of the most vexing barriers for career seekers and businesses.
In the 2021-22 school year, only one in three fourth graders in the United States was reading at grade level, only one in four eighth graders was proficient in math, and rates of chronic absence had skyrocketed.
This fall, the Workforce Community Conversations group is focused on the lack of reliable transportation to work as one of the most vexing barriers for individuals seeking careers across the Baltimore region.
A message to the Maryland Philanthropy Network membership from our President and CEO Danista E. Hunte.
Thousands of families across the Greater Washington region are facing an urgent hunger crisis following the recent federal government shutdown and disruptions to SNAP benefits.
Maryland Philanthropy Network has joined Maryland Nonprofits and our colleagues across Maryland in responding to a call for ideas from the State for how the budget surplus should be allocated. MPN was part of a group of 170 practitioners and partners that came together to create a joint appeal the result of which is this letter to the Governor. Together, we urge the State to dedicate $1 billion of the projected budget surplus for targeted relief, and that $500 million of this commitment should continue in future budgets to assure sustainability and for more equitable disbursement of state resources in partnership with the social purpose sector.

