From: Chuck Bean & Eduardo Romero, The Nonprofit Roundtable
Date: February 2, 2006
Re: Roundtable Events; Members-In-The-News; Welcome Meg Power (Economic Opportunity Studies), Mary Jacksteit (Collaboration DC Project of Search for Common Ground), and Michael Young (United Communities Against Poverty); Other (Catalogue for Philanthropy)

Sponsored by:

Roundtable Events & Notes
Sponsored by The McCormick Group: On February 7 at noon, the Roundtable will host an informal luncheon with Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of The National Council on Voluntary Organizations, "the umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England." The discussion will take place at the Meyer Foundation. RSVP to Mary Knighton; sandwich lunch provided. Roundtable CEOs only.

Multi-Tenant Nonprofit Buildings: On March 21, from 9:30am-4:00pm the Roundtable will co-host an event with NonprofitCenters Network and the Nonprofit Finance Fund on multi-tenant nonprofit centers. NOTE: There is a fee for this event but Roundtable Members receive a discount. To attend, please use this registration form; if you have questions about this event, please contact Eduardo. (Open to anyone.)

Last Week: The Roundtable's event on emergency preparedness, co-hosted with NPower (and sponsored by AOL), was featured in The Examiner. ""What do you do - to do the things you need to do - when you can't?," asked NPower's Tim Johnson.

Tickets: Dance Place is offering 2 complimentary tickets to their upcoming performance, Washington Reflections Dance Company on Saturday, February 11 at 8:00pm or Sunday, February 12 at 4:00pm. The first person to email will receive two tickets to this performance, praised for its "athletic virtuosity and breathtaking precision" by the Washington Post.


Member Transitions
Campagna Center's Katherine Morrison will be stepping down after 15 years of leadership later this month, according to The Connection.

Former Roundtable Board Member Vin Pan was named Executive Director at the San Francisco-based Center for Asian American Advocacy.

Members in the News
Alternative House was among the nonprofits where teens found successful volunteer opportunities, according to The Connection.

America Online, Fairfax Futures, the Freddie Mac Foundation, Greater DC Cares and Washington Grantmakers were featured in an article about corporate support to the nonprofit sector. AOL's Rich D'Amato stated, "One of our most important missions is really around strengthening the capacity of nonprofits," according to The Examiner (article near bottom of page).

Arlington Community Foundation's funding of SOC Enterprises, an Arlington community rehabilitation program was noted in the Washington Post. Separately, ACF's partnership with the Arlington Theater Company was included in the Falls Church News-Press.

Brainfood was featured as the Foundation Center's 'Grants That Make a Difference'.

Capital Area Food Bank's partnership with the Upper Cardozo Clinic to create a free nutrition course was recognized in the Washington Post. The program provides free Spanish-language nutrition classes for overweight children and their parents. eparately, the Washington Nationals hosted a "Winter Caravan" that benefited CAFB, according to the Washington Post.

Carpenter's Shelter posted a 'mini-movie' of their 2005 holiday season party (.wav format) online.

Catholic Community Services expressed concern with a new immigration bill and that the services they provide and their volunteers and staff would become targets for prosecutors, according to the Washington Post.

Community Family Life Services released a powerful position paper entitled, More Than Shelter: Meeting the Affordable Housing Challenge in Washington DC. CFLS is holding a Community Roundtable on February 15 at 10 a.m. at the Goethe Institute, 812 7th Street NW. For more info or to RSVP, contact JoAnn Murchison.

Community Foundation for the National Capital Region's Greater Washington Youth Philanthropy Initiative released their new RFP for youth-led projects, please see the CFNCR's website (see right hand column). Proposals are due March 10.

Community Research and Learning (CoRAL) Network's April 29 annual conference will be on "Transforming DC through Community Based Learning and Research."

DC Action for Children's Susie Cambria was cited in an article about DC Mayoral candidates and their ideas on youth development in The Hill Rag.

DC Fiscal Policy Institute's parent organization, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities released Pulling Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends about income inequality across the USA over the past two decades. Commenting in the Washington Post on the study's impact locally, Ed Lazere said that, "It seems pretty clear that there's a large group of disadvantaged residents in the city who aren't getting the help they need to move up the economic ladder, whether it be education or training or other supports." Separately, DCFPI joined a coalition that sent a letter to DC City Council Members regarding the baseball stadium lease that suggested it is too risky a plan, according to a press release. Also, Ed Lazere also wrote an op-ed title, "Where is the Money? The $1 billion School Modernization bill will be passed, but the source of funding isn't clear", in the Hill Rag.

DC Hunger Solution's parent organization, Food Research and Action Center, was featured in the Baltimore Sun. "Starting next month, breakfast will be free in all city elementary and middle schools, in an effort to improve pupils' performance."

DC Vote's Ilir Zherka wrote a Close to Home piece in the Washington Post that urged 'FAIR Treatment For D.C. Voters.' Ilir was also a guest this week on NewsChannel 8's "News Talk with Bruce DePuyt" where he discussed the DC FAIR Act and the strategy for moving DC voting rights forward in 2006.

The Fannie Mae Foundation is an investment partner with 'Lunch with a Leader', part of Communities In Schools, "the nation's leading dropout prevention network." Separately, Fannie Mae announced that "a record breaking $7.8 million was raised to benefit 178 Washington metropolitan area homeless service providers" in their Help the Homeless program, according to a press release.

The Foundation Center recently introduced a new and significantly advanced version of its database, the foundation directory online professional, which combines their grant maker and grants lists with items such as news articles, foundation publications, grant distribution charts, 990 text-searching.

The Freddie Mac Foundation has awarded Higher Achievement Program a $500,000 grant to help expand its after school academic enrichment and expanding their work into Alexandria, according to a press release and The Examiner. Separately, the foundation reviewed their grantmaking in 2005 including the extraordinary needs created by Hurricane Katrina, according to a press release. Among the recent partners noted were Bright Beginnings, Northern Virginia Family Service, Catholic Community Services, and the Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center.

Georgetown University - Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership is hosting two events: From Passion to Profession: Making A Career That Matters on March 24 ( 9:30am - 12:00pm) and The Role of Nonprofits in the Electoral Process on May 1 (4:30 pm - 6:00pm).

The Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital, busy in its cookie season, was highlighted in their work to teach young girls about healthy lifestyles and well-being, according to The Gazette. "Unofficially, for the sixth year in a row, Washington area customers bought more boxes than any of the 312 other Girl Scout councils in the country: 4.25 million last year," reports the Washington Post.

Goodwill of Greater Washington is a partner with several faith-based employment groups, providing support to dislocated workers and those with barriers to traditional employment, according to the Washington Post. Separately, Goodwill's January clothing drive partnered with ZIPS Dry Cleaners was highlighted in The Times Community.

Higher Achievement Program DC Youth Poetry Contest winners will recite their Valentine love poems on Feb. 8 at the City Museum.

Hoop Dreams announced that the Freddie Mac Foundation's Maxine Baker will be the keynote speaker at Hoop Dreams Monthly Mentoring workshop this Saturday, Feb. 4. The Mentoring Workshop will start at 1:00pm and will be at the Elliott School at The George Washington University - 1957 E Street NW in DC.

IMPACT Silver Spring was praised for the success of their efforts in supporting and encouraging immigrant parents to participate in their children's schooling in a Marc Fisher column in the Washington Post.

The Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington's Clark Lobenstine was a guest speaker at the Dulles Area Muslim Society's event for Pakistani relief effort, according to the Herndon Times-Community.
Latin American Youth Center's gang prevention programs received an additional boost with the $750,000 in federal funding. The money will target programs in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, according to several press releases, the Washington Post, The Examiner, and the Baltimore Sun.

Leadership Greater Washington was a co-sponsor of a DC Mayoral candidate forum, according to the Washington Times.

Miriam's Kitchen was one of three featured nonprofits in a new study titled 'Nonprofit Reporting in Action: Practitioners and Researchers Assess the Challenges of Linking Accountability to Organizational Learning. According to the report, Miriam's Kitchen sought to improve the way it gathered feedback from its customers as well as design more comprehensive outcome measures for funders.

National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship's Regional Business Plan Competition was held on Jan. 19, according to a press release. "Throughout the year, NFTE provides school-based and after-school programs to teach youth how to start and operate their own businesses, culminating in the presentation of a business plan during the bi-annual business plan competition."

Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry will host Imagine 2006 on April 29 with Freddie Mac Foundation as the presenting sponsor, according to the Fall Church News Press.

Our Place's partnership with River Park Friends in helping women returning to the Southwest, DC community from incarceration, was noted in the Hill Rag.

SCAN: Stop Child Abuse Now's Diane Charles was recently quoted in a Washington Post article covering Clear Channel's termination of it's public affairs department and some of their radio programs. "For small nonprofits like us, this is how we got our message out," said Diane.

Piedmont Environment Council's Chris Miller supports Virginia Senate Bill 373 which gives localities a new tool to direct growth, according to the Washington Post. His support was the focus of a short analysis on a Washington Post blog. Separately, PEC and Fauquier County supervisors entered into an agreement to buy development rights for Still Waters Farm, according to the Fauquier Times-Democrat. Also, Chris suggested that there may be good reasons for Fauquier and Loudoun counties to be annexed, according to the Fauquier Times-Democrat.

The Quality Trust's DC Family Empowerment Center, which helps families who have a member with a developmental disability advocate for school services, had a letter to the editor in the Common Denominator (not online) commending "a team approach being used in the DC schools to better serve both general and special education students."

Reaching Out to Others Together (ROOT)'s Kenny Barnes was featured in an article in the Washington Post. "More than four years later, he plans to expand his work, including his multimedia Guns Aside program, to a national stage." Kenny said, "Beginning in March, we are going to be going to the top 15 cities affected by gun violence."

Suited For Change was profiled in the Washington Times where Mary-Frances Wain said, "For low-income women who don't have the resources to create a professional appearance, they're out of the job market before they even get the opportunity to present ... their qualifications."

United For DC was recognized in the Washington Business Journal (not online; Jan 20) as celebrating its most successful year. "We consider Washington DC our home and could not be happier to celebrate our most successful community efforts to date right here in the nation's capital," says Kevin Payne.

The United Way of the National Capital Area was lauded in an opinion piece on WUSA Channel 9.

Virginia Justice Center's advocacy work was highlighted in several articles regarding the immigration bills in Richmond in the Washington Post, Potomac News, and the Daily Press. Said Tim Freilich, "Current federal laws do not reflect the economic reality . . . and our dependency on a large labor force of both documented and undocumented immigrants. If you hurt Virginia immigrants, you hurt Virginia."

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless successfully led a coalition that led to the District's participation in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Others who worked in the coalition included Bread for the City; Columbia Heights Shaw Family Support Collaborative; Children's Law Center; DC Action for Children; DC Hunger Solutions; Fair Budget Coalition; and WEAVE. (You can read a July 2005 Washington Post story for background.)

Workforce Organizations for Regional Collaboration was among the organizations featured in an article about employment support services provided in the greater DC area, according to the Washington Post.

Welcome
We warmly welcome:
Meg Power of Economic Opportunity Studies. EOS offers research and analysis that helps identify and develop new opportunities to mobilize and focus resources that change communities and improve the well-being of low- and moderate-income families and individuals (including reports such as the regularly updated "Winter Energy Outlook for the Poor.") Meg and her work have recently been praised by the Boston Globe editorial board.

Mary Jacksteit of Collaboration DC Project of Search for Common Ground. Collaboration DC promotes and supports the use of collaborative approaches for solving the difficult and divisive challenges facing DC. Mary was a Clinton appointee and has been involved in the DC Education Compact.

Michael Young of United Communities Against Poverty. UCAP's mission is to alleviate poverty, improve community relations, and maximize the quality of life for the diverse residents of Prince George's County. Michael's work at UCAP was recently profiled in The Gazette.

Other
The Catalogue for Philanthropy invites applications for inclusion in their 2006 Catalogue. After a competitive selection process, seventy-five nonprofits will be featured, and Catalogues mailed to 30,000 potential major donors. 501c3s with operating budgets of $2 million or less, and located in Greater Washington, may be eligible to apply. Several Roundtable Members have been included in the past two years. For more information, contact (202) 549-6369 or dcquestions@catalogueforphilanthropy.org. Due Date: March 17.

DC EITC Campaign is a city-wide partnership that educates taxpayers about valuable tax benefits and free tax preparation services and is coordinated by the Capital Area Asset Building Corporation. The CAAB's partners includes DC Action for Children, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, and The Women's Center. Go to www.takethemoneydc.org to learn more about the EITC and other tax benefits. In a related story, DCFPI's Ed Lazere was quoted in a Courtland Milloy column in the Washington Post.