Philanthropy New York Currents December 2010

Dear Members,

At this time of year, when we traditionally reflect on our goals and accomplishments over the past twelve months, we at Philanthropy New York are also already looking ahead with great anticipation into 2011.

Our year-end reflection actually began several months ago with the first gathering of the Strategic Planning Committee. This dedicated group of members, representing a wide range of foundation types and sizes, has worked tirelessly since June and has now completed its primary task: proposing a comprehensive 2011-2013 strategic plan. The draft plan will be posted on our website right after the New Year and will be up for a full month—providing you, our members, with ample time to read and offer feedback on it. We encourage you to share your thoughts, ideas, and reactions with us during this open comment period. Thereafter, the committee will review member suggestions and submit a final plan to the Board of Directors in mid-March for approval.

The draft strategic plan sets ambitious—but achievable—goals in three main areas: member engagement, public policy, and institutional sustainability. Through careful analyses, member input, board recommendations, review of sector-wide best practices, and more, we have come to propose steps that will allow Philanthropy New York to play a leadership role over these next three critical years.

We look forward to your thoughts and comments!

Happy Holidays,

Ronna Brown
President, Philanthropy New York

Welcome New Members

• The Kavelman Group, LLC
• The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life

New York Gets $600,000 from Social Innovation Fund to Train Workers in the Healthcare Sector

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions has announced that New York City is one of ten communities in the country to receive funding through the federal Social Innovation Fund for a proposal from the New York City Workforce Funders.

The project, the New York Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (NYACH), was developed by The New York Community Trust and has brought together an extraordinary coalition of trade associations, unions, the City, and foundations to deal with both the increasing demand for healthcare workers and high employment, particularly among low-wage workers, brought on by the recession.

The City's Department of Small Business Services has accepted the $600,000 grant from National Workforce Solutions for the New York City Workforce Funders group, which includes (in addition to The Trust) Philanthropy New York members Morgan Stanley and the Altman, Clark, Gimbel, JPMorgan Chase, and Mizuho USA foundations.

Learn more about the project and its first grantees.

For Your Grantees: NPCC's Nonprofit Outsourcing Clearinghouse

The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York has launched the Nonprofit Outsourcing Clearinghouse program to help nonprofits reduce administrative costs, increase productivity, and improve operational quality through the use of outsourced services.

NPCC will work with 50 nonprofits to facilitate a successful match with an outsourced vendor in one of nine resource areas, including bookkeeping and financial management, human resources, legal services, and information technology.

Interested nonprofits can complete the application below or send any additional questions to mbrown@npccny.org.

The deadline is January 12, 2011.

Click here for the Nonprofit Outsourcing Clearinghouse application.

Reminder: Philanthropy New York is Accepting Board Nominees!

Philanthropy New York is seeking new members for our Board of Directors for the Class of 2014 (to be elected May 2011). We welcome committed visionaries in the philanthropic world to join the leadership team of our organization.

Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague! For more information about Philanthropy New York's Board of Directors, please visit the Governance section of our website.

The deadline for applications is December 22, 2010.

Click here to nominate yourself or your colleagues.

Congratulations

• Yrthya A. Dinzey-Flores is leaving her position at the Toyota USA Foundation to join the administration of Governor-elect Andrew M. Cuomo on January 3, 2011. Ms. Dinzey-Flores, who was also a member of Philanthropy New York's Increasing Diversity in Philanthropy Committee, will become the governor's Chief Diversity Officer, whose task is to reform and strengthen the State's programs and efforts to encourage the growth of minority and women's business enterprises within the state government and in the private sector.
• Leah Hamilton, a Program Officer at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has been appointed as a member of the Digital Learning Council, a group of more than 50 leaders from education, government, philanthropy, business, technology, and think tanks who will identify policies that will integrate current and future technological innovations into public education.
• Laura K. Landy, President & CEO of the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation, has been elected as a Fellow of The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), one of the nation's oldest medical academies. Ms. Landy was recognized for her leadership of the Foundation and its role in "seeding innovations in health" to achieve better health, better care, and lower costs for all Americans.
• President Barack Obama has appointed Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, to the newly established White House Council for Community Solutions, which will provide advice to President Obama on the best ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses, and government to work more effectively together to solve community needs.

(View a full text, PDF version of Philanthropy New York Currents, December 2010.)