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SPOTLIGHT
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Coming Events In New York City
LAFF’s New York chapter has scheduled two events later this year. |
NEWSLETTER
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The LAFF Family Gathers in New York
Nearly 100 people—LAFF members, family and friends, and Ford Foundation staff—attended the get-together March 21 at the renovated Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City. |
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Syrian Family Comes Home To Town Ravaged By War
By Christopher Reardon The author, who worked for Ford Foundation’s Office of Communications from 1992 to 2006, is Chief of Content for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. This article, is a poignant description of the human toll of eight full years of war in Syria. |
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The New American Orchestras: Engines of Fresh Energy, Ideas
By George Gelles In a phenomenon of which Mac would surely have approved, a new breed of orchestra has emerged, providing an antidote to the perceived symphonic stuffiness that might partially explain audience attrition. |
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Learning Not to Hate: Lessons From Aunt Lucy By Sally Kohn The more I got out of my own liberal bubble, the more I met other conservatives who were neither stupid nor hateful, or at least no more deliberately hateful than I was. |
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My Life at Ford and in Politics: “Pursuing the Audacious”
Susan Hairston explores how the successes and “bumps in the road” she encountered while working at the Ford Foundation prepared her for the “wild wild west” of local politics in New Jersey. |
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Eight former Foundation staff who had participated in EDAG meetings, and four of their spouses, gathered in Oaxaca, Mexico, last August for an amazing and enjoyable week of activities. |
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Making Schools Better: “What it Means to be a Human Being” By Greg Farrell Greg Farrell, founding president and CEO of EL Education, writes about the “radical and surprisingly successful national school reform organization and public school network”. |
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The annual Christmas carol performance was back at the Ford Foundation as the renovated building re-opened just before the holiday season. Above, … |
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Among the Makassae in East Timor
Shepard Forman, president of The LAFF Society, presented this paper on his experiences as a young research anthropologist at a meeting of the Timor Studies Association in July in Brasilia. |
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New LAFF Presidents: Meet Them March 21
Betsy Campbell and Suzanne Siskel will assume the office of president of The LAFF Society effective January 1, the seventh and eighth members to lead LAFF in its 27-year history and the first as co-presidents. |
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Wielding the Purse Strings of Southeast Asian Civil Society
By Rosalia Maria Emanuela Sciortino As democracy experiences a global decline, and Southeast Asia oscillates between authoritarian endurance and democratic rollback, civil society in the region is facing a bleak future. |
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Where Are All the American Orchestra Conductors? By George Gelles George Gelles wonders why Leonard Bernstein’s breakthrough has led to a dead end, in a country as vast as ours and as artistically rich in homegrown talent. |
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From LAFF’s Archive: A Tribute to Marvin Feldman
In the Summer 1994 issue, the late Edward Meade, co-founder and first president of LAFF, paid tribute to Marvin Feldman, who had died in November 1993. |
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Many of our members post photos on our Facebook page, personal notes on their lives and work, that are well worth checking out. |
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Nellie Toma, LAFF’s secretary-treasurer, has completed the arduous task of indexing every newsletter since the Society’s inception in 1991. |
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Rohingya Refugees Seek Hope in a “City of Despair”
Local and international officials strive to ease the burdens of Rohingya refugees, including LAFF members Natalia Kanem and Gowher Rizvi. |
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Economic Policy for Human Rights By Radhika Balakrishnan In a talk at a Carter Center forum on “Restoring Faith in Freedom”, Radhika Balakrishnan poses the question “what is the economy for?” |
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An Initiative Towards a New Ecology for the Human Rights Movement
An assessment of the Ford Foundation’s Strengthening Human Rights Worldwide global initiative, written by Barbara Klugman and Denise Dora., offers a detailed analysis of lessons learned. |
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Agent Orange: “Much Remains to be Done”
By Charles Bailey Charles Bailey, who has led studies at the Ford Foundation and Aspen Institute on lingering effects of the Vietnam War-era chemical Agent Orange, explores what remains to be done so that “a war legacy that for decades was a source of resentment and recrimination can be a compelling example of how we build a better future”. |
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Reflective Practices: A Path to Better Outcomes By Jan Jaffe Jan Jaffe describes the work of a project known as Reflective Practices, which helps practitioners in philanthropy “illuminate strategy, grant-making approaches and the inevitable dilemmas that come with any good work”. |
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The Ford Foundation in Russia and Eastern Europe
The Moscow office was closed in 2009 and the East European program has been phased out, but these articles provide intriguing insights into a pivotal period in world history—and that of the Ford Foundation. |
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The Early Years of The Moscow Office
By Mary McAuley The Ford Foundation had long supported activities relating to Russia but, in 1991, it established a grant-making program for organizations and institutions working in Russia itself. |
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Ford in Eastern Europe: Lessons Unlearned
By Irena Grudzinska Gross After 2004 there was a real change of priorities. Primarily the growth or return of nationalism and disenchantment with “Europe”. |
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Nurturing Native American Filmmakers By N. Bird Runningwater Since moving images were captured on film in the early twentieth century, Native people had been represented in its imagery but rarely had the creative control to write and direct. |
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The Rise and Fall of “The City at 42nd Street”
By George Gelles Of the Ford Foundation’s myriad initiatives undertaken through the years, few promised such close-to-home benefits as The City at 42nd Street. |
LAFF PARADE |
News About Former Ford Foundation Staff6/16/2019 Emmett Carson, Courtney J. Martin, and Kavita Ramdas are in the news. |
CLIPPINGS
Selection Of Articles Published Elsewhere
U.S. Iran Policy Gives Me VertigoBy Gary Sick | 7/12/2019 Trump administration policy toward Iran has been, in my view, mistaken from the start. |
OCT 31 EVENT: Creative Process in Dialogue: Art and the Public Today10/4/2018 Poet and President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Elizabeth Alexander and painter Amy Sherald. Discussion presented by Bard College. |
Risks and Benefits of the U.S. Speaking Out About Iran1/4/2018 Gary Sick is interviewed by Robert Siegel of NPR about U.S. policy options on Iran. |
Saudi Arabia 'destabilising influence' in Middle EastBy Gary Sick | 11/4/2017 ...according to Gary Sick, a professor at Columbia University and analyst of Middle East affairs, who is currently visiting Italy. |
The Art of No DealBy Gary Sick | 9/25/2017 President Trump has given the world an instructive look at his negotiating style, as he lurches dangerously through the international china shop. |
Former Tulane President Eamon Kelly dies7/8/2017 Former Tulane President Eamon Michael Kelly died on Wednesday, June 28, at the Tulane Medical Center following complications from surgery. He was 81 years old. |
The Iran nuclear deal has been a Middle East game-changer6/14/2016 By Gary Sick and Frank G. Wisner. Two years ago, a new war in the Middle East appeared very likely. The government of Iran, despite enduring the most severe international sanctions ever imposed on a noncombatant power, insisted on increasing its nuclear program. |
Opinion: Robert Curvin, and Leaving the World Better Than the Way You Found It.By Roland V. Anglin | 10/5/2015 Celebrating and commemorating a man whose accomplishments cannot be contained by any one list. |
Iran After the DealBy Gary Sick | 9/10/2015 What to Do When the JCPOA Expires. |
Saudi Arabia's Widening War.By Gary Sick | 6/8/2015 Obama is trying to make peace with Iran. The new Saudi king is on the course for war. |
The Danger of a Failed Iran DealBy Gary Sick | 3/10/2015 If you want a nuclear Middle East, there’s no better way than to let Tehran walk away. |
Now Showing: Brian Mori's Play2/24/2015 Brian Richard Mori’s celebrated play Hellman v. McCarthy is being performed in Beverly Hills, Calif., at Theatre 40 and the Saban Theatre through Sunday, March 1. Next: Salt Lake City. |
A Musical Event with John Koprowski: Five Years That Rocked the World 1964-19692/16/2015 A retrospective look at an era which influenced music, culture and history for the next half century. |
Men are problem and solution to violence against women, says Breakthrough's founder Mallika Dutt1/19/2015 In the wake of rising incidents of violence against women across the country, Iamin talked to Mallika Dutt, founder of Breakthrough. |
Don't Let Iran Walk Away From the TableBy Gary Sick | 11/21/2014 If the November 24th deadline isn't met, everything could unravel at once. |
Strikes on ISIS. Now What?9/25/2014 Bassma Kodmani contributed to the "Room for Debate" discussion in the New York Times. |
Brian Mori's play on Channel Thirteen9/25/2014 Brian Richard Mori's play "Hellman v. McCarthy," will be aired on October 9th and 12th during Channel Thirteen's weekly series, "Theater Close Up". |
National Security Council Veteran Weighs In on Foley, Hostages, and ISIL's Brutality8/21/2014 The brutal killing of American photojournalist James Wright Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (or Syria) has sparked outrage. With ISIL threatening to kill a second hostage, journalist Steven Soltoff, The Wire spoke with Gary Sick, who served on the National Security Council for President Jimmy Carter. |
Four Dimensions of Nuclear Chess GameBy Gary Sick | 5/5/2014 A government negotiating with another government is almost inevitably required to conduct a second negotiation with its own domestic constituents whose own interests will be affected by the outcome. |
Coalition Seeks Public's Advice on New York City's Goals11/11/2013 As Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio prepares to succeed Michael R. Bloomberg, a coalition of leading foundations will unveil an ambitious citywide effort to enlist regular New Yorkers in sharing their views about the city’s future. |
Ubinas Reflects on Six Years as President of the Ford Foundation8/6/2013 In a wide-ranging interview with Rahim Kanani of the Skoll World Forum, Ubiñas reflects on his tenure at the foundation, the state of philanthropy today, measuring and evaluating long-term progress, critical lessons in leadership, and much more. |
After a Gay Rights Victory, A New Challenge for Grant MakersBy Michael Seltzer | 7/12/2013 The Supreme Court found that the Defense of Marriage Act violates the constitution of the United States and that marriage equality is the law in those states where same-sex marriage is legal. It’s also time for philanthropy to reflect on its power to further social justice |
Warren Wilson president is down-to-earth guy4/26/2013 For those of us whose leanings are toward gentler disciplines such as literature and philosophy, a quick perusal of Warren Wilson College President Steve Solnick’s curriculum vitae might invite a touch of academic intimidation. |
Reminiscences on a grantee-grantor relationshipBy Rosalia Maria Emanuela Sciortino | 1/16/2013 When one reaches a certain age – as in my case – there is a tendency to look back and reflect on one’s experiences, including the transformations in one’s own career landscape over time. In the more than 20 years of working with international philanthropic and development organisations of a grant-making nature in Southeast Asia, I have seen many ideologies and trends emerge and wane. |
Mideast peace starts with talking to IranBy Gary Sick | 11/16/2012 (CNN) -- President Barack Obama is getting a lot of free advice. Here's a question, not an answer: With every issue in the Middle East intertwined with every other, like a giant bowl of spaghetti, where do you begin? |