The LAFF Society

From Lisa Cribari, Chief Human Resources Officer, Ford Foundation

It is with sadness that I inform you of the recent passing of Bob Gross.  Bob was the Cushman and Wakefield Property Manager at the Foundation for 39 years.  He began his tenure here in 1966 while the building was still under construction and was instrumental in providing  many of us and our former colleagues with a most comfortable and efficient building and working environment.  Bob was always helpful and willing to undertake any initiative to ensure that the building was well maintained and that staff members were well served.  Bob was an avid fisherman and enjoyed spending time with his family both on Long Island and in Florida.

from The Huffington Post.com, October 5, 2009

by Susan Davis, President & CEO of BRAC USA

At the end of August, BRAC’s founder F. H. Abed, the head of BRAC International, Aminul Alam and I visited Haiti to explore ways we could deepen our work there.

Only 680 miles off the Florida coast, Haiti is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with approximately 80% of its 9 million people living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Saddled with multiple development challenges including political instability, high unemployment and illiteracy rates, food insecurity and vulnerability to devastating natural disasters, Haiti is a beautiful country with a vibrant population. In spite of these challenges, the people we met and programs we visited left us feeling very hopeful for the country’s future.

We were hosted by our partner, Fonkoze, the country’s largest microfinance institution, which runs an economic development program for the ultra poor, Chemen Lavi Miyo (CLM). Over the last few years Fonkoze has piloted the CLM program with technical support from BRAC, and the organization is now preparing to scale the program to include up to 5,000 participants.

In 2002, BRAC initiated its innovative ultra poor program which is designed to meet the needs of extremely vulnerable and food insecure women who are unable to access and benefit from mainstream poverty reduction programs in Bangladesh.

The program improves the livelihoods of participants through free assets, enterprise training, special health services, social development, subsistence allowances, and specialized microfinance loans. Today it covers the poorest districts in Bangladesh and has benefited over 150,000 women.

Given the program’s success and impact, BRAC is now providing technical assistance for similar projects in Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Pakistan, Peru, Yemen and of course Haiti.

In Haiti I set out to meet with new members of the CLM program, to hear their stories and also witness the successes and challenges of the pilot program. Natalie is 18 years old. She has 7 brothers and sisters, but she is an orphan. Her mother died in child birth 7 years earlier and her father died two years ago when she was 16. I asked her where she was living and how she earned money for food. With a desperate look on her face, she explained that she now depended on her boyfriend who she had been living with for the last two years. After her father died, she needed to find a way to feed herself. Now she has a baby and tries to do whatever she can to earn income. She’s never been to school a day in her life but would love to learn. Natalie said that she was eager to participate in the CLM program.

We met another very thin woman whose name I will keep confidential. She is a mother of four but has only three at home now. She gave up her oldest daughter as she couldn’t afford to feed her. In Haiti, this means her child is working in someone else’s home, often under slave-like conditions. (There is a book about the estimated 300,000 child slaves in Haiti called Restaveks by Jean-Robert Cadet, a Haitian American and former restavek, who explains this phenomena and promotes a campaign to end the practice.)

This woman has resorted to prostitution to support her family (a Creole term that means ’staying with’). I noticed a burn on her youngest child’s forehead that looked like it was becoming infected. She explained that she didn’t have the means to see a doctor. It was troubling to think the burn required only a simple treatment, but without it had the potential to become a significant health issue. She was also eager to join the CLM program.

At a focus group meeting for potential new CLM participants, I met four more women and their families. Each of these women had between five and 10 kids and most were only eating seven to nine meals a week. In fact, Melanne, the 12-year-old daughter of one of the women, had not eaten all day and it was already late afternoon.

I met with two other children: a daughter who was already pregnant and a son who was working as a day laborer — the only job he could obtain without a proper education. I asked them both what they wanted to be when they grew up, but unlike BRAC school kids in other countries who were quick to talk about becoming teachers and doctors, they both seemed uninspired by the question, as they had little focus on their futures.

As difficult as these encounters were, I know that the CLM program offers a bright side. After living in Bangladesh for over 4 years and now working with BRAC, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of its ultra poor program on the most vulnerable women and households.

Before entering the program, the targeted women have often been abandoned by their husbands and even children. They have been isolated and ignored within their communities and each day is merely a struggle for survival. A sense of self-worth or optimism for a better future has completely disappeared. However, the program’s highly targeted training and support more often than not produces a drastic change.

These same women, who one or two years earlier were too shy to look me in the eyes when introducing themselves, are transformed into confident, self-sufficient and even ambitious persons that have earned the attention and respect of their communities. After two years of support — asset transfers, skill training and social linkages — over 90% “graduate” into becoming successful microfinance members. Together, Fonkoze and BRAC are blazing a new pathway out of poverty.

From allgov.com

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

President Obama has turned to a veteran civil rights attorney, Jacqueline A. Berrien, to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an independent agency responsible for eliminating all forms of discrimination in the workplace. Although she was nominated July 17, 2009, Berrien has yet to be confirmed by the Senate,. Her nomination was greeted warmly by civil rights activists and others on the left, but at least one right-wing organization, Americans for Limited Government, has criticized Berrien as an “ideologue” who “finds racism in everything.”

Berren’s mother, Anna, spent almost thirty years as a federal employee in the field of public health, while her father, Clifford, worked for the State Department. Berrien was born in Washington, DC, in 1961. Following in her parents’ footsteps, in her senior year in high school she worked as clerk-typist for the federal government. Berrien earned a B.A. in Government from Oberlin College in 1983, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as a General Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, in 1986. While at Oberlin, Berrien served an internship with the NAACP. After law school, Berrien served as a law clerk to U.W. Clemon, a 1960s-era civil rights activist who became the first African-American U.S. District Court Judge in Alabama.

Following her clerkship, in 1987 Berrien went to work as a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, and in 1989 joined its Women’s Rights Project (WRP), which had been founded by Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1972. At the ACLU WRP, Berrien worked on pregnancy discrimination cases.  In May 1992, Berrien left the ACLU to work for the Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C.. In August 1994 she joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), where she coordinated LDF’s work in the area of voting rights and political participation. She represented African-American voters in proceedings before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts. In November 2001, she became a Program Officer for the Ford Foundation Peace and Social Justice Program. She administered more than $13 million of grants to promote greater political participation by underrepresented groups, particularly people of color, women, and youth. In September 2004, she returned to the LDF as its new Associate Director-Counsel, where she supervised LDF’s litigation, public education, and organizational work.

Berrien has been a member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees since 2007. She has taught trial advocacy at Harvard and Fordham law schools and has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School, where she taught a course entitled Blacks and American Law. She has published several articles on race and gender discrimination issues, including “A Civil Liberties Imperative: Promoting Quality Education for All African-American Children” in the Columbia Teachers College Record (Summer 1993) and “Pregnancy and Drug Use: The Dangerous and Unequal Use of Punitive Measures,” in the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism (Spring 1990).

Berrien  has lived in Brooklyn, New York, since 1987 with her husband, Peter Williams, the executive director of a community economic development corporation. A Democrat, Berrrien has contributed $3,250 to Democratic candidates since 2007, including $3,000 to Barack Obama in 2007 and 2008.

-Matt Bewig

From mekong currents

By Rosalia Sciortino*

From prnewswire.com

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, the Rockefeller Foundation announced the opening of its 2010 New York City Cultural Innovation Fund competition. The fund, established in 2007, annually awards $2.5 million in grants - ranging between $50,000 and $250,000 - to spur and support cultural innovation in New York City’s creative sector, a vital economic engine. Today’s announcement comes after a difficult economic year for the industry in which 80 percent of NYC’s nonprofit cultural organizations were forced to reduce their budgets and more than half have reduced staff and postponed or canceled programs.

The Rockefeller Foundation also announced today that Edwin Torres has been hired to replace the long serving Joan Shigekawa, who recently left the foundation for a position as Senior Deputy Chair for the National Endowment for the Arts. Torres comes to the Foundation from Parsons the New School for Design where he was Director of external partnerships. Prior to his work at Parsons, Edwin worked at the Bronx Council on the Arts and the Ford Foundation. Torres will oversee the Foundation’s Cultural Innovation Fund competition, as well as being responsible for the Foundation’s New York City grant making.

“The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to continue to build on our history by supporting artistic innovation and creativity right here in New York City,” said Dr. Judith Rodin, the Foundation’s President. “As New York City’s artists and cultural institutions continue to be impacted by today’s economy, there is a great need to support our local creative sector as they are on the forefront of challenging all of us to think and react differently. With the addition of Edwin Torres to the Foundation, we are gaining a rich background in the New York City creative sector, which will allow us to both continue and grow our work right here in our hometown.”

“Creative expression is New York’s chief natural resource,” said Edwin Torres. “Through the Cultural Innovation Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation is pleased to be able to continue to support this critical creativity that is the lifeblood of New York City. I’m humbled and honored to come to the Rockefeller Foundation, with its long tradition of support for New York City; and I look forward to being a part of that storied history.”

Cultural Innovation Fund award recipients’ projects will employ new strategies for cultural production and to achieve solutions for New York City’s creative sector. Projects selected for funding fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Creative engagement with the issues shaping New York City’s future cultural and civic agenda;
• Programming and premieres of new artistic work that demonstrate fresh perspectives and can activate new directions in the visual, performing and media arts;
• New partnerships among cultural organizations, community-based institutions, universities and the private sector;
• Interventions designed to confront longstanding bottlenecks and limitations to the expansion of cultural vitality with fresh approaches and solutions.

The fund is specifically meant to support changes in organizational and/or artistic practice. Many of last year’s winners focused on innovative survival strategies for the arts during difficult economic times, from developing new business models to artist peer loan programs.

Organizations that want to apply are asked to articulate how their proposed innovation differs from their past efforts - and others’ efforts - to achieve their organizations’ goals.

To qualify, organizations must be based in one of the five boroughs of New York City. Applications — which must encompass innovative approaches — must be submitted online, through the Rockefeller Foundation’s website,www.rockefellerfoundation.org, starting at 12:00 noon on Monday January 11, 2010 until 11:00 pm on February 8, 2010. Shortly thereafter, applicants will learn if they will be invited to submit full proposals. Winners will be announced later in the year.

Two prominent leaders from the fields of innovation and the arts will again serve as advisors to the Cultural Innovation Fund. They are:

• David Thorpe, Director of Innovation, Institute for State effectiveness and former Global Director of Innovation, OgilvyOne Worldwide, and
• Andrew Zolli, founder, Z + Partners, a consulting firm specializing in analyzing cultural, technological and global trends, and curator of the annual Pop!Tech conference.

The New York City Cultural Innovation Fund builds on the Rockefeller Foundation’s tradition of support for the arts. The Foundation has funded arts organizations and provided support for the formation of several of New York City’s landmark cultural institutions, including Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, Creative Capital, and the Tribeca Film Institute.

About the Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation fosters innovative solutions to many of the world’s most pressing challenges, affirming its mission, since 1913, to “promote the well-being” of humanity. Today, the Foundation works to ensure that more people can tap into the benefits of globalization while strengthening resilience to its risks. Foundation initiatives include efforts to mobilize an agricultural revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa, bolster economic security for American workers, inform equitable, sustainable transportation policies in the United States, ensure access to affordable and high-quality health systems in developing countries, accelerate the impact investing industry’s evolution, and develop strategies and services that help vulnerable communities cope with the impacts of climate change. For more information, please visitwww.rockefellerfoundation.org.

SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation

From Working with Water.net

11 January 2010
Starting his career in international development as a United Nations volunteer in Chile, Dr David Winder’s career has spanned the non-profit, foundation and academic spheres before his move to WaterAid America

Jim Thompson House in Bangkok on 12/30
Peter Geithner, Khun Sunanthana, Khun Diana, William Klausner, Deborah Geithner, Tongroj Onchan, Peter Weldon, Rosalia Sciortino, Khun Rachanee

Beijing lunch on 12/19/09
Peter Geithner, Sarah Cook, Phyllis CHANG, ZHANG Ye, CHEN Yimei, FANG Lin and his mother, ZHENG Hong (FF Beijing), Thomas Xu (former CASS counterpart) and wife Zhao Wei, Saini Zhu (former CASS counterpart)

For those of you who didn’t know her, Mary Racelis was the country representative in Manila, Philippines in 1992-1997. Here is a wrap-up of her past year.

As Christmas and the end of the year draw near, let me update you on my 2009.

If there is one theme that encompasses my major concerns, it would be defending the rights of marginalized groups. My activities this year have focused on promoting urban poor informal settlers’ right to live in the city and get basic services like water, sanitation, and education along with secure land tenure, food, employment, and participation in governance. Alternate thrusts entail women’s and parents’ rights to reproductive health services including modern contraception, and children’s and adolescents’ rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The latter includes making their voices heard as to whether they are actually benefiting from these rights.

The first set – poor urbanites’ right to the city – exploded on the scene in the wake of the massive September flooding in Metro Manila. All sectors of the population were affected – mainly the urban poor living along creeks, rivers, Laguna Lake and coastal shores, but also middle and upper class communities located in low-lying gated areas. Many people died in the raging currents that swept through their communities and from the diseases that attacked them afterwards. Thousands waited out the deluge perched on the roofs of their houses or crowded in nearby schools and evacuation centers.

The struggle in which I was engaged erupted in the days following the storm. Most of the 18,000 poor families displaced along the waterways were returning to their home sites to rebuild their houses and restore their earning opportunities. Government, however, decreed that affected people could not return to their “danger zone” neighborhoods and must instead accept relocation to sites 40 to 60 km outside the city. Riverside dwellers protested, pointing out that distant resettlement posed even greater dangers from the lack of employment. They were thus rebuilding onsite because living in these in-city areas enabled them to survive the daily emergencies of poverty.

I was among a group of NGOs and academics which championed informal settlers’ rights to remain in the city. At the same time, recognizing that the waterways offered poor environments for families, we insisted that the government implement existing laws that entitle them to space and social housing in the city, preferably nearby. My particular part in that multi-partner advocacy was to publish two articles in the Philippine Daily Inquirer which explained the logic of poor urbanites’ choices. The articles later formed the basis of a Pastoral Letter from the Metro Manila bishops read at Sunday masses on the storm victims’ rights as human beings and urban workers to decent housing and employment in the city. It’s certainly rewarding to help generate genuine social reform.

On women’s and parents’ rights, I have long been among those advocating the passage of the Bill on reproductive health still languishing in Congress. My advocacy emphasizes the need to listen to usually silenced poor women, about half a million of whom engage in unsafe and illegal abortions largely because they lack access to modern family planning information and services including contraception. We are making the point that Catholics can support the RH Bill in good conscience. But the opposition is strong.

The third element involves child rights. Here I have been engaged with research partner, Marichi Castro Guevara, in a study on how best to help poor children and youth assess the rights available (or not) to them. This effort took us to UNICEF workshops in Rio de Janeiro in March and Rome in November.

A major undertaking over most of the year was an evaluation of land acquisition strategies by the urban poor and their NGO partners commissioned by Misereor, the German bishops donor organization. Malou Rebullida of the University of the Philippines Political Science Department and I developed with six other researchers community case studies in large Philippine cities. At the same time, a UP graduate student and I have initiated a study on The Everyday Lives of Urban Poor Youth in an informal settlement. Adolescents 15-17 and young adults 18-24 make up this usually left-out group.

All these experiences come together in my Urban Anthropology graduate class at UP this semester. My students are currently in the field interviewing victims of the flood to see how waterway dwellers’ usual responses to frequent floods fared during the deluge of September, and what they felt was needed to address this evidence of climate change.

Other travels took me to Tokyo for a development forum, London for an urban seminar, Laos for an annual team effort at assessing the social impact of the Nam Theun 2 dam on affected upland communities.. Exciting stuff! It’s not all work, though. Marichi and I combined our seminars abroad with delightful forays into the tourist world. We strolled on the beach at Ipanema, Rio, explored awesome Angkor Wat in Cambodia, crawled through the Viet Cong tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, stood with hundreds of others in St. Peter’s Square, rosaries dangling from our arms, to receive Pope Benedict’s blessings, and gazed at paintings galore at the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay during our four day Paris holiday en route Manila from Rio.

Through all this, I manage to keep in close touch not only with my Manila-based family, but also my New York family. Life goes on and I surely lead a blessed one. Season’s greetings. Have a great 2010!