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batallanr123-blog · 5 years

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Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

The main target can be on massive themes: schooling, gender equality, hunger and malnutrition, and climate change – most of all on climate change. From the first session, speaker after speaker reminded us that we solely have 15 years through which to scale back greenhouse fuel emissions before the effects of local weather change turn out to be irreversible.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

And Asia is at the sharp end. The struggle to combat climate change shall be gained and lost there, stated Maria Athena Ballesteros, of the Growald Household Fund. Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets, noted that the country had declared 2018 an official yr of climate motion. Rising sea ranges and rising temperatures (the island state is heating up twice as shortly as the rest of the world, she stated) posed a menace to its future. It’s investing in solar power and expanding its public transport community so that eight out of each 10 Singaporeans can be inside strolling distance of a railway station. But, she stated, the authorities could not do it alone. It needed the help of both enterprise and civil society. Fung Wing-ah of BRACE Hong Kong defined that the funding firm had now aligned its whole portfolio on local weather change mitigation and, like Minister Khor, also careworn that the efforts of one sector alone wouldn’t be enough. Enter another key conference theme: all of the issues beneath discussion will require partnerships that contain not just cash but joint motion.

Later in the conference, Christine Heenan of the Rockefeller Foundation additionally touched on both of those in a keynote speech. The challenge is not to find options to local weather change, she argued. These exist already. The problem is to deliver them to scale. That’s the place partnerships come into play, partnerships based on mutual respect, complementary strengths and synergy.

Words to deeds The convention also marked the launch of AVPN’s local weather motion platform. Naina Batra, AVPN chair and CEO, signalled the want for a deeper and extra lively dedication which was evident all by means of proceedings. The platform, she stated, will probably be greater than a bit of symbolism, a board which all members have been invited to signal as an earnest of their solidarity, it should attempt to attach all the sectors, offering funding opportunities and information. However, she added, to achieve success, ‘it needs your engagement’. She spoke of the power of networks, which not solely deliver individuals collectively (her welcoming remarks have been addressed to 1348 delegates from 48 nations, itself a token of the formidable convening power of AVPN), they convey campaigns together and they bridge divides. However convening is just not enough. We have to catalyse and allow action. We need to cooperate, to behave urgently, whereas not dropping endurance and we have to make change irresistible.

Eileen Rockefeller Growald of the Growald Family Fund (GFF) struck a constructive word: ‘we can and are finding climate solutions together,’ she insisted. GFF is seeding social enterprises and innovators and collaborating with them and with funders to further climate options. The obstacles, nevertheless, remain formidable. Know-how must be delivered to bear more shortly, stated Dan Choon of Cycle Group. Know-how transfer presently takes too lengthy – historically, 45-60 years to get to 20 per cent market penetration. We have to transfer a lot quicker. In the similar session, Britt Groosman of the Environmental Defense Fund spoke of the difficulties of shifting finance in the direction of measures to combat climate change. The subsequent-best factor, she stated, is to induce sectors who produce large-scale emissions, like aviation and delivery to think about carbon pricing, indeed there are indicators that they are doing so. Geoffrey Seeto of New Forests Asia endorsed this from his personal expertise. A variety of airways, one among which is Indigo in India, have agreed to offset their carbon emissions from 2020 and they see funding forestry from the proceeds of pricing carbon as part of doing that. Nevertheless, while funding carbon sequestration at scale is a confirmed technique of local weather change mitigation, only three per cent of local weather finance presently goes into it.

Ideas for attracting finance for local weather solutions brainstormed amongst all members in the session ranged from coaching grassroots installers of solar panels, debt aid for governments funding clean power and banks cooperating to offer concessionary ESG bonds.

Breaking boundaries Along with what we have to do, there’s the additional question of the place we’ll get the assets to do it. AVPN COO, Kevin Teo reminded the viewers that, if the SDGs are to be achieved, an estimated $2.5 trillion per yr will probably be needed (he was not the just one to cite this figure over the coming days). Giant buyers, subsequently, will need to make giant investments with proportionally huge influence and the convention title, Breaking Boundaries, signalled the need to attract those buyers – public and personal – into the social and environmental sphere. How to do this shaped one other strand linking convention proceedings. For its half. AVPN has been actively working with buyers in each these sectors, making an attempt to hyperlink personal influence or would-be impression buyers with social businesses on the one aspect and continuing to press forward with the APx coverage discussion board on the different.

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

In his quest to ‘privatise failure and socialise success’ James Chen referred to as on philanthropists to train their much-touted capability for danger. ‘If you are serious about impact,’ he stated, ‘high risk is where the real returns occur.’ He provided Gates Basis’s work with malaria as a mannequin of catalytic philanthropy and an example of how ‘perseverance and domain expertise’ might have great influence. His personal organisation, Clearly, which aims to deliver low-cost imaginative and prescient correction to poor communities round the world, had overcome initial objections from funders, amongst them the World Financial institution, that there was no proof for the impact of imaginative and prescient correction programmes and no model of the intervention in low-income nations, by providing each in the form of Vision for a Nation, a programme run collectively with the authorities of Rwanda, and a serious research in the Lancet. Each, he stated, had helped to de-risk investment in sight correction.

Suitability and sustainability How are you going to construct a philanthropic culture when the word ‘philanthropy’ is barely understood, or has connotations of charity and patronage because it does in both Myanmar and Indonesia? The questions have been asked in a breakout session on unlocking native philanthropic funding in South-East Asia. In a spot like Myanmar the place investment and philanthropy are both discovering their ft, individuals have to build good companies, not just give away cash from successful ones, argued Aung Htun of Myanmar Investments. Ruel Maranan of the Ayala Foundation (Philippines) agreed, noting that the younger era is extra aware of the concept of social impression, so change is on the method. A more direct means of encouraging giving, believes Victor Hartono of the Djarum Basis in Indonesia, is for governments to offer tax incentives, a problem to which Veronica Colondam of YCAB Foundation in Indonesia would return later in the conference. The restrictive surroundings for philanthropy in that nation has meant, amongst different things, that YCAB took longer to find a suitable technique and type for its operation, since there are not any endowments.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

Inevitably, there was a lot speak of sustainability over the three and half days of the convention. It was Ruel Maranan who matched it with the notion of suitability. Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own wants quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have? It makes for larger engagement: ‘they [communities] are already involved and open,’ and if all stakeholders are concerned, all of them win, he argued. The theme of suitability also arose in discussion of the question of influence. Victor Hartono urged donors to assume ‘what’s applicable for you’ as well as for beneficiaries. Djarum, which has pioneered a form of vocational faculty that the authorities is now copying, crops timber as part of its local weather change mitigation efforts. It’s inside reach whereas funding in a more refined carbon seize know-how will not be.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

The malnourished and the hungry 81.7 million youngsters in Asia endure from stunting because of malnutrition, stated Ertharin Cousin, previously of the World Food Programme and now a board member of the Energy of Vitamin. Opening a discussion on investing for higher vitamin, she introduced that the international value of malnutrition is now a staggering $three.5 trillion per yr, leaving apart the value in distress and suffering. We have to reform the international meals system, she stated, and we will’t do it without personal sector funding and involvement. To get it, we’d like agreed metrics outlined based on business rules. One other method, instructed both Martin Brief, CEO of the Energy of Vitamin and Rebecca Boustead of Kellogg, may be appealing to buyers’ bottom line, mentioning the economic effects of the drawback. Ertharin Cousin also sees nothing incorrect in corporations taking advantage of social investments, as long as they work and social benefits accrue.

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

For Rebecca Boustead, there are two questions. How can we make meals which is both nutritious and appealing, and how can we get it to small village markets? She spoke of partnerships which Kellogg had with the Breakfast Revolution and with the Sesame Workshop. In the former case, meals was attending to the hard-to-reach and in the second, the message of the significance of vitamin was being conveyed.

If self-interest was a means into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra in their malnourished communities? ‘Engage, engage, engage – with hard data’, was Ertharin Cousin’s recipe. Give them sensible solutions that help them get monetary savings, instructed Rebecca Boustead, a prescription not up to now faraway from that advocated by individuals for use with the personal sector.

Impression investing: time, transparency and demonstration These three issues are wanted to ramp up influence funding throughout all sectors. Whereas it is perhaps true to say, as Richard Ditzio of the Milken Institute, who chaired the subsequent panel discussion, did, that there is spare capital and it needs to spend money on sustainability, there are still obstacles. Didier von Daeniken, additionally of Normal Chartered questioned how banks and monetary institutions might help shoppers translate words like sustainability, influence investing and philanthropy into language they might perceive. Measurement continues to be a sticking level, he noted, as is the lack of knowledge about funding alternatives. Angela Bai of China Alliance of Social Worth Funding (CASVI) and Roy Swan of the Ford Foundation each endorsed this in a later session. Bai added a 3rd challenge: the problem of creating investments scalable.

Doug Lee of D3Jubilee Partners, an impression enterprise fund in South Korea famous a Catch-22 state of affairs arising. First-time funds have the lowest price of return, so buyers draw back, but if funds can’t appeal to buyers, how are they to succeed? Foundations have the added problem of persuading the trustees. Roy Swan associated that it took two years to induce Ford’s trustees to release eight per cent of the foundation’s endowment to dedicate to influence investing! Frank Niederlander of BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt agreed that endurance is needed and caution. The pioneer buyers, he stated, have to be apostles. They will’t afford to fail.

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

All that stated, there is progress. Rashesh Shah of Edelweiss (India) famous that particular person buyers are asking extra of their banks. Banks themselves, represented by Jose Vinals of Normal Chartered, can earn a living and assist save the world at the similar time, he stated. From doing no harm, Commonplace Chartered is now shifting in the direction of being a pressure for good. He referred to as for benchmarks on inexperienced bonds, tips for company disclosure and higher sustainability built into the financial system. This remark itself is progress, says Annie Chen (RS Group, Hong Kong). She noted that she could not have imagined listening to a financial institution saying it ought to do good 10 years ago. The Sustainable Finance Initiative in Hong Kong which RS launched a yr earlier helps to spread the word on influence investing amongst household workplaces there and to foment a strong impression investment group. She famous, nevertheless, that many banks in Asia (local and international) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable investment. Didier von Daeniken agreed. Communication is their largest drawback. Normal Chartered’s research among its Asian shoppers, nevertheless, means that 20 per cent of respondents at the moment are allocating some investment in the direction of the SDGs and that there’s higher understanding of impression investing.

There are different grounds for optimism. Each Annie Chen and Eliza Foo of Temasek International (Singapore) see hope in the evident want for change, particularly among the younger, and in the tempo of change. And there’s a lot at stake. If influence investing actually takes maintain, stated Amit Bouri of the International Influence Investing Community (GIIN), we’d change the means the financial markets work.

Measurement The challenge the convention returned to most frequently, although, was measurement of impression. Eric Rice of Wellington Management Singapore noted little progress on this, but influence is ‘what distinguishes this segment. We won’t get mainstream capital if we don’t determine it out, he warned. Moreover, new era donors are notably eager on impression, stated Giovanni Zenteno from LGT Enterprise Philanthropy. On the plus aspect, should you can present it, money is extra more likely to come your means.

Adam McCarty of Mekong Economics, whom I had marked down as a hard-shell pragmatist from previous periods, has a barely totally different take. We do influence measurement, he stated, because that’s the deal of influence investing. If you would like free or low cost cash, it’s a must to answer for the good you’re doing. Most influence measurement at the second is rudimentary, he advised and extra refined means gained’t emerge until donors demand it. Usually, panellists agreed, influence measurement is donor-driven, though Ronald Abraham of iDinsight in India feels that each side have to take it critically. He sees three essential challenges: first, impression evaluation is sluggish. It may take between one and three years, by which era the programme has changed. Second, the quality of the knowledge is usually poor. Third, it’s costly, though it could actually repay expenditure by the NPO, even if it doesn’t lead to extra funding. Idinsight had labored with Educate Women on a machine-learning venture which has enabled them to work with more youngsters on their price range, regardless of the initial value of the train.

Collaborative philanthropy For those who ask donors whether or not they practise collaboration, all of them say ‘yes’, stated Nadia Roumani of the Institute of Design at Stanford, though a show of arms in a breakout session on the matter revealed that only half a dozen or so out of an viewers of 50-60 are actually pooling assets. Why so few when it’s clear that more may be completed by working with others? The chief purpose given in the session was lack of management. Smaller contributors worry being swamped by larger ones, moreover, it is troublesome to reconcile giving unrestricted grants from the pool with the specific needs of particular person donors? Co-Influence tries to bypass this by allowing smaller contributors to vote on where they want their funds to go within the framework of the programme, stated Anne-Marie Harling of Co-Influence. Individuals also want a specific amount of humility. Erin Hulme of the Gates Basis stated that in the collaboration on polio involving Gates, WHO and UNICEF, the foundation had been prepared to ‘go where the expertise lies’ and did not want to steer. Boon Heong Ng of Temasek Worldwide agreed. Temasek was originally the sole donor of Challenge Silver Display in Singapore which works to fight listening to deficiencies amongst the elderly. Silver Display now includes other corporations, the Ministry of Well being and individuals’s associations, all of whom deliver totally different sorts of expertise.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

It’s not just massive funders who can benefit from collaboration. Ludwig Forrest of the King Baudouin Basis (KBF) explained the concept of umbrella foundations. These permit modest donors to pool assets beneath the aegis of a bigger entity like KBF and to provide to causes they have in widespread. It’s a approach of democratising philanthropy, he stated. KBF presently has 750 smaller foundations sheltering underneath its umbrella.

Regardless of obvious advantages, collaboration stays troublesome, especially amongst establishments. Establishing collaborations requires giving a number of thought to the construction, which must be clear, yet flexible sufficient to adapt, stated Nadia Roumani.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

What’s efficient philanthropy? For these – and there have been many – who had been urging the non-profit to be more like the for-profit sector, Larry Kramer of the Hewlett Basis, had some words of warning. ‘It’s an enormous mistake,’ he stated. ‘We all want to be efficient but that’s not enterprise, it’s good organisational considering.’ Non- and for-profit organisations have totally different strategies, totally different areas of work and, most essential, totally different technique of measuring. Enterprise has one easy metric Philanthropy can’t have, however that doesn’t imply it could actually’t be effective. There are three parts to effective philanthropy: have a aim, have a story about the way to obtain it and have a approach to measure progress. The criterion for the last, he argued, is ‘reasonableness under the circumstances.’ Don’t mislead yourselves and don’t drive it. Settle for that there can be some fuzziness. He urged the viewers to assume when it comes to learning, not of success or failure.

Prizes If the ethos of the non-profit sector is – or should be – collaboration, the MacArthur Foundation has discovered competition can typically be helpful. Its 100 and Change prize gives $100 million for any answer to any drawback, defined Celia Conrad. The primary winner in 2017 was the Sesame Workshop. Along with sparking innovation, the applicants, even the unsuccessful ones, can generate invaluable concepts which could possibly be shared. For the winners themselves, the prize money will help deliver in more funds, as has happened for Sesame Workshop. Lisa George from the MacQuarie Group Basis in Australia had launched an identical, though more modest ($10 million) prize to mark its 50th anniversary. Like MacArthur, that they had been stunned by the high quality and breadth of the purposes. The shortlist of finalists had included initiatives as numerous as the Ocean Cleanup, Human Rights Watch and Woman Impact.

It’s a high-stakes recreation although, cautioned Safeena Hussain of Educate Women, a profitable applicant to the Audacious Challenge run by TED for its efforts to deliver 1.5 million women back into the faculty system in India. Whereas the software process may also help NGOs assume by way of what they do, additionally it is time-consuming. ‘If we hadn’t gained, we might have struggled,’ she stated, ‘because we had invested so much in the process for over a year.’ She urged funders to think about the value of the acquisition of their money.

Previous power, new energy The nature of power is changing and donors and buyers want to adjust to cope with the shift, says Jeremy Heimans of Function. Previous power is formal, specialist, non-participatory. It’s what he termed energy as foreign money. Harvey Weinstein is previous power (an unsympathetic instance in case you have been wondering which aspect you should be on). New power is transparent, casual, fluid, participatory, or energy as present, as he put it. Examples embrace #MeToo, Occupy and Airbnb. The longer term might be a battle for mobilisation, he predicted and the drawback philanthropists want to unravel is find out how to work with new power.

Workshops The final day of the convention offered the probability to work in more element in a collection of workshop throughout the morning and afternoon. As with the breakout and plenary periods, these coated a variety of subjects, among them, options journalism and the influence of storytelling, methods to improve the effectiveness of philanthropic follow, utilizing finance as a software to deal with gender-based violence, and figuring out impression funding opportunities in Asia. Each of the ones I attended proved fascinating and involving. In a single, Eric Nee, editor of Stanford Social Innovation Evaluate (SSIR) and Fan Li, his counterpart on the Chinese language version of SSIR, introduced the concept of options journalism. Moderately than providing exposés of issues, as traditional journalism tended to do, Nee defined, options journalism – nicely, the clue is in the identify – focuses on the response to the drawback, goes into element on how the response works and supplies lessons and frameworks, not just inspiration. He and Fan Li also outlined ways on presenting concepts in order that they might persist with the audience, telling tales that have been credible, concrete, simple and arresting.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

The workshop on the effectiveness of philanthropy, introduced by Lindsay Louie of the Hewlett Basis, looked at 4 parts of Hewlett’s follow, values, strategy, measurement and grant apply. Louie underlined the importance that Hewlett attaches to analysis, spending two per cent of its finances on the difficulty. Moreover, Hewlett periodically evaluates its own evaluations. Evaluations need to watch three criteria, she steered: utility, acceptability and suitability. In different phrases, assessment needs to fit the intervention in question, it has to make respondents really feel part of the venture and it must be tied to implementation. When it comes to how one can be a great grantmaker, she provided the following: be responsive, show curiosity about the grantee organisation, not just the programme, make expectations clear at the outset, pay attention more than you speak and be clear and constant in your dealings with the grantee.

Consuming the conference As regular, AVPN offered an array of periods and subjects that have been virtually overwhelming in quantity and selection. When you’re catering for as giant and numerous an viewers as the conference attracts, it’s a must to put on an enormous menu.

It was thoughtfully set out, although. The subjects, although assorted, by no means strayed removed from the major themes of the convention. It appeared to me, too, that this yr, it was higher paced, with fewer, but longer periods which allowed larger discussion and there was an urgency and a conviction about proceedings which was putting. There were additionally more – and welcome – modifications of tempo, with a larger number of participatory periods. The standard of the periods, as all the time, depends on the presenters. Everyone could have their very own highlights, in response to taste. For me, James Chen’s and Larry Kramer’s keynotes, the workshops, and the local weather finance and the listening to the voices of grantees breakout periods stood out.

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

One panellist remarked that you would put all of the individuals into three bins – those that want money, those that have it to provide and those who mediate in numerous capacities between them. He could also be proper, however those are very huge bins, accommodating many differing kinds and sizes of organisation – funders, non-profits, investment managers of different stripes, researchers, CSR officers and consultants and native and regional social enterprises who have been pitching to the ‘deal share’platform all added to the combine. A trademark of the AVPN conference remains its power and its curiosity. There’s a willingness to satisfy and to strike up conversations that isn’t all the time apparent at different gatherings. Little question individuals convey this with them, however AVPN deserves some credit score for offering the setting and the environment to allow them to do so.

One factor extra: Quite a few audio system appealed to an financial, fairly than a normative, rationale for addressing the points discussed which – for me – felt jarring. True, there were a lot of people in the room accustomed to considering in monetary phrases and each mode of life has its own conceptual body and its personal vocabulary. Perhaps, too, they thought the message of the social sector can be heard more readily by mainstream capital if it have been couched in phrases it might readily grasp. In any respect events, it felt at occasions like listeners have been being urged to take on social issues for the sake of worldwide GDP, slightly than for causes extra primarily human.

Clearly, it is going to take more than two or three days to break the boundaries between the social and mainstream investment worlds. Even those already on the social and impression funding bus – so to speak – weren’t all the time clear about the place to take a seat, who to take a seat with, or even what route the bus should take to its vacation spot. One participant I spoke to had a easy rule of thumb: ‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In case you’re anticipating stock market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’ But if members are typically hazy about their very own roles and nomenclature and the difficulties of bringing others who are presently outdoors the ambit of social investment (nevertheless outlined) remain unresolved, certainly one of the things the convention made clear is that working in widespread takes time and plenty of conversations. You must start someplace. AVPN’s convention was a firm and essential first step.

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ourwinterana0universe · 5 years

Text

Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

The post Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda appeared first on Android Smart Gears.

#Blog #Post

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dreadsleepblog-blog · 5 years

Text

Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

The post Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda appeared first on Android Smart Gears.

#Blog #Post

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webronzeferrari-blog · 5 years

Text

Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

The post Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda appeared first on Android Smart Gears.

#Blog #Post

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isoristudiesus · 5 years

Text

Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

The post Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda appeared first on Android Smart Gears.

#Blog #Post

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queer-gnome · 5 years

Text

Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

The post Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda appeared first on Android Smart Gears.

#Blog #Post

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punkestboy-blog · 5 years

Text

Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

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yesmermaidenisaac-blog · 5 years

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Energy, curiosity and urgent questions on the AVPN agenda

20 minute read

This text was initially featured on Alliance Magazine here.

The 2019 AVPN conference in Singapore put its cards firmly on the table from the begin.

Amy Khor, Singapore’s Minister for Surroundings and Water Assets

Why don’t donors, especially corporate donors, let communities define their own needs quite than simply giving them what they, the donors, have?

James Chen, Founder of Clearly.

Ertharin Cousin, Energy of Vitamin.

The themes of collaboration and ‘feet on the ground’ have been additionally in proof in the session. Hartono spoke of the importance of ‘staying local. You are there, your people are there.’

If self-interest was a approach into the pockets of the personal sector, how might we get governments to take a position extra of their malnourished communities?

Many banks in Asia (native and worldwide) nonetheless didn’t have a clear grasp of sustainable funding.

Rashesh Shah (proper) CEO of Edelweiss.

Regardless of apparent advantages, collaboration remains troublesome, especially amongst establishments.

Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation.

‘Make expectations clear at the outset, listen more than you talk and be clear and consistent in your dealings with the grantee.’

‘If you are giving money away, you’re a philanthropist. In the event you’re expecting inventory market returns, you’re not a philanthropist.’

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kyliecheung · 4 years

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Full newsletter below-

Last week, I wrote about why no one should use survivors of sexual violence to justify police and incarceration — not when both are more likely to perpetrate and exacerbate sexual violence than protect victims and survivors. (You can read this piece here.)

No one should be using victims and survivors as convenient political talking points, period, but especially not to uphold a system in which (at least) 40 percent of police officers are domestic abusers, (at least) 60 percent of prison rapes are perpetrated by prison guards and staff, and 90 percent of incarcerated women, who are predominantly women of color, are survivors of sexual violence. Lest we forget, it was just a few years ago that a white Oklahoma police officer was caught abusing his power to sexually assault dozens of Black women with impunity for years, while in many other documented cases, officers have been exposed abusing information databases to stalk, harass and target women. More recently, a Utah police officer who had denied a woman a restraining order shortly before her stalker killed her, had circulated explicit photos of her with other officers.

That said, in light of viral graphics and social media posts calling for specific police reforms making the rounds, not to mention recurring videos of police officers kneeling and dancing and hugging protesters (like, why bother sharing these when police already have paid PR departments..?) on my timelines, I wanted to write about the importance of understanding why these “reforms” — many of which are already widely implemented in police departments with some of the most lethal records — will not bring change. Only disarmament, divestment from, and eventual abolition of police will stop the killings, brutality, and racist violence — physical and non-physical — that are inherent to policing. (It’s worth noting here none of these ideas are original, and Black activists have been fighting and creating the framework for abolition for decades, which you not only can but absolutely must read more about here!)

Generations of co-opting survivor justice to reinforce and breathe fire into support for the carceral police state have convinced many of us that we need police to protect victims. But far more often than not, coming forward about sexual violence to police will lead to being treated as a criminal suspect, yourself — especially for women of color, who are more likely to experience sexual violence and more likely to face criminalization. Hundreds of thousands of rape kits sit untested across the country. In far too many cases, feigned concern for the safety of victims is used by white supremacists to target and enact violence on Black men and men of color. White femininity is often specifically weaponized to demonize, incarcerate, and kill Black men and men of color. Days before George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, a white woman in New York was caught on video threatening to call the police on a Black man just for reminding her of park rules.

All of this is entwined with the notion that police protect us from violence, that without police — not with them — we are at greater risk of facing violence. This notion is a result of our racist, classist conceptions of what constitutes and defines “violence” and “crime.” These definitions are essential to upholding the carceral, capitalist police state, as Angela Davis writes about extensively in her texts Freedom is a Constant Struggle and Are Prisons Obsolete?, and Jackie Wang writes about in Carceral Capitalism.

The majority of incarcerated people are imprisoned for so-called survival “crimes” — they face punishment, policing and criminalization for growing up in a country where we invest drastically more in prisons and policing than in health care, education, housing, and other basic needs and resources. As a friend pointed out to me recently, it’s not only rape and sexual violence that are used to justify police and prisons — many defenders of the carceral police state also invoke gang violence, despite how gangs often form as a result of a) lack of resource and investment into communities, and b) fear of the police.

When we define violence, often only two things come to mind — murder, rape, maybe sometimes armed robbery. This is not to minimize or devalue any overt acts of violence. Certainly, though, prisons as we currently understand them cannot be the answer to solving and addressing the crisis of our rape culture — not when rape is so common in the very prisons that are supposedly rehabilitating offenders.

But all of that said, these definitions too often absolve white, wealth-hoarding capitalists of the daily violence they enact on society with the help of police. White capitalists’ exploitation and wealth hoarding leads to millions dying each day from being unable to afford health care or housing — this, too, is violent, and makes the country unlivable for the most marginalized, namely poor communities of color.

And what do police do about that? Police actively perpetrate violence not just through physical beatings, assaults and extrajudicial killings, but also, arguably, through enforcing the private property mandates of capitalism that empower wealth hoarding, and lead to mass death and suffering. Yet, we’ve been socialized to not see that as violent. As Angela Davis writes, the existence of prisons has made it so no one has to think critically about why crime happens, as the state can just conveniently tuck away these harrowing truths and inequities behind bars, far from public observation and critique. If people really sat down and saw how the white supremacist, carceral capitalist police state itself creates the crimes, they would see the only solution is abolition, investment in our communities, and alternate, peaceful and community-based approaches to emergency response and accountability.

As I’ve written in a previous newsletter:

“if the government were doing its job of redistributing wealth, fulfilling basic needs, and investing in humanity, billionaires, charities (and ESPECIALLY ‘corporate social responsibility initiatives) and prisons, wouldn’t exist. My thinking is that if the government were adequately providing basic resources, most crimes would likely cease to exist because most crimes are survival crimes. …

For a long time, I believed decriminalizing nonviolent and victimless crimes and liberating offenders was enough, and had concerns about what prison abolition could mean for violent offenders. That was before I read the essay “Against Innocence” in Jackie Wang’s brilliant Carceral Capitalism. If we rely on arbitrary definitions to differentiate between violent and nonviolent crimes and what those offenders deserve, then we’re allowing this to distract from a greater system of racist, classist, colonialist oppression. We reduce this system of oppression to individual acts.”

Policing is ultimately not about good vs. bad individuals, or a few bad apples; as Blake Simons of Hella Black Pod wrote in 2017, “policing is not a question of individualism.” He continues:

“It is not as if a random individual gets a gun, a badge, a police car, and a blue uniform. The police are a highly organized institution with systemic power. In order to understand any institution, it is important you start with the history of that institution, the institution of modern day policing evolved from the slave patrol system. ...

“To suggest that there are good cops is like saying there’s good slave patrols or good colonizers. It acts as if policing is an individual act that isn’t a product of racial capitalism. A cop might have “good intentions”, but these good intentions don’t change the fact that they are a part of a system that is rooted in anti-Blackness. These “good intentions” don’t change the fact that the system they work for criminalizes the whole Black community.”

(I can’t recommend the full essay enough, as it traces the history of policing to slave patrols and then utilizing policing to continue racist labor exploitation via mass incarceration, etc.)

Calls for police reform — while certainly well-meaning — are innocuous and harmful, because they will ultimately lead to more funding for police, taken away from investment in vital resources for the community that prevent crimes. Police budgets as is are already unjustifiable — they bleed cities dry, from Los Angeles (which allocates 44 percent — $3 billion — to policing), to my suburban hometown of Fremont, CA (which allocates 43 percent — $93.3 million — to policing), and take away from funding for anything else.

Briefly circling back to sexual violence, advocates in the survivor justice community have been critical of the Violence Against Women Act (AKA, a piece of legislation you’ve probably heard propped up as the sole defense from Biden supporters about why we should believe he’s on our side) for investing more funding into policing. While VAWA has been critical to recognizing the crisis of domestic and sexual violence, and funding hotlines, shelters, resources, education, and more to support victims, it has also played a harmful role in legitimizing policing as a solution.

I also fear that calls for reform will lead to passivity and a false feeling of victory if and when those reforms are easily implemented by police departments, only for nothing to really change. After all, if police aren’t following existing rules (hence all the killings and brutality), why do we have any reason to believe they’d follow new ones? Racist violence is inherent to policing, because in addition to all the baked in white supremacy, policing is the gateway that protects and upholds every violent system our nation is rooted in, namely white supremacist, capitalist exploitation, theft, and hoarding. Note, too, that Minneapolis Police Department — home to the officers who killed George Floyd — is widely recognized as the “most progressive police department” in the nation. Policing is unreformable.

Respectfully, using the current crisis we face to call for folks to vote is deeply tone-deaf and harmful, and will be until more Democratic politicians especially at the local level take meaningful steps to support divestment from police and disempower police forces and unions. Cities and localities with the most violent police response to protests, such as Los Angeles, Oakland, and New York City, are all governed by Democratic mayors. Yes, vote — but demand divestment from policing. Demand real change and leadership. Demand real steps toward abolition.

#prison abolition #abolition #police abolition #feminism

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csrgood · 4 years

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Supporting COVID-19 Relief Efforts in Our Communities

Supporting COVID-19 relief efforts in our communities

It’s providing homeless services organizations in California with emergency response supplies to diagnose and prevent the spread of COVID‑19. It’s helping centers in Idaho that are providing child care for first responders, health care workers, and essential workers, to stay open. And it’s supporting nursing students in Texas so they can graduate on time and enter the workforce sooner, where they are desperately needed.

Last month, Wells Fargo announced it was redirecting $175 million to COVID‑19 community relief efforts, and since then, the company has worked to streamline grant making and offer highly flexible funding to nearly 1,000 nonprofits reaching more than 800 communities. Strong collaboration between Corporate Philanthropy and Community Relations and Government Relations has also helped Wells Fargo contribute to dozens of state and local COVID‑19 relief funds. On April 5, Wells Fargo announced it will donate fees generated through the Paycheck Protection Program as charitable grants to nonprofits that support small businesses.

“This has been an unprecedented pandemic with effects that no one could have predicted,” said Jimmie Paschall, interim president of the Wells Fargo Foundation. “Wells Fargo is fortunate to be in a position where we can use our resources to help bring relief to our communities, many who quickly deployed relief funds. These grants will help communities respond to nonprofits, small businesses, and people they serve who are losing money, struggling to provide for others, seeing an increased demand for services, and facing other challenges as a result of COVID‑19. We hope to help them keep their doors open, retain staff, and provide services to the people that rely on them most.”

The following are some of the ways Wells Fargo’s support is helping to provide relief in the U.S. and around the world:

International: A $10,000 grant is supporting Anxiety Canada in Vancouver to provide funds to help cover COVID‑19-related services and programs. Anxiety Canada provides free online, self-help, and evidence-based resources on anxiety including the MindShift™ CBT app, which is designed to help Canadians manage anxiety. The charity provides free online courses to help people relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of anxiety.

A $40,000 grant to the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in London is helping the organization’s medics and support staff with travel, accommodations, food, training, and other needs. The organization is based in the Southwark borough, one of the most affected areas of the COVID‑19 pandemic.

National: A $1 million grant to the Opportunity Fund, which is headquartered in San Jose, California, kicked off a $50 million small business relief fund for vulnerable small businesses across the U.S. that are affected by COVID‑19. The Opportunity Fund has already deferred payments for 700 small businesses and will continue to lend capital and offer technical assistance as the fund continues to grow. In particular, this fund helps small businesses owned by people of color, immigrants, and women.

Alabama: A $100,000 grant to the Birmingham Strong Fund is providing emergency loans to small businesses to help stabilize employment, stimulate economic vitality, and offset losses related to COVID‑19. The fund, led by the mayor of Birmingham, offers loans ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 with zero interest for 180 days. The loans are meant to help limit reductions in payroll or staff size, maintain business operations, or fund a business model reconfiguration in response to COVID‑19.

California: A $150,000 grant to the city and county of San Francisco is supporting its Give2SF Fund, which can be spent on various city efforts to respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak and support residents. This includes providing shelter, food, and other types of assistance to help individuals across the city, as well as assistance to small businesses impacted by the outbreak in the form of zero-interest loans with flexible repayment schedules and terms. This emergency loan fund will expand access to cash for small businesses who may have difficulty accessing more traditional loan products and help sustain them through the ongoing public health crisis.

A $150,000 grant to LA Family Housing in North Hollywood is providing free meals for low-income families. The nonprofit houses up to 500 families on any given night in its interim, or bridge, housing, which currently consists of motels and large single-family homes. Under normal circumstances, food insecurity is a critical area of concern for these families — and it’s even more of an issue with the recent closure of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which provides critical meal services for children in schools. The Wells Fargo grant will cover the cost of daily meals for families over the next four weeks. LA Family Housing will provide one hot meal per day for each family member served in the various motels and interim family sites operated by the organization.

A $100,000 grant to United Way of Greater Los Angeles has helped the group create the Pandemic Relief Fund to support vulnerable populations who are at the greatest risk of health and economic impacts in this crisis. Los Angeles has 60,000 individuals experiencing homelessness each night, and preventing the spread and diagnosing COVID‑19 within this population is extremely challenging. Through the Wells Fargo grant, the Relief Fund will provide homeless services organizations with emergency response supplies, including additional food, face masks, hand sanitizer, and infrared thermometers to help keep this population protected.

A $100,000 grant to the Long Beach Economic Partnership helps provide at least 200 small businesses with mini grants of $500 and enhance their eligibility for the City Loan Program.

Colorado: A $150,000 grant to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in Denver is providing respite beds for individuals awaiting COVID‑19 tests and for those sick with mild to moderate symptoms. Working with the county, the city of Denver purchased the Western Motor Inn, and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless has put in place a master lease to use the site. The city and county are working to identify other motels that can be available for master leasing by the Coalition. The city ultimately hopes to secure 800 – 1,000 additional motel units to respond to the emergency.

Florida: A $50,000 grant to the Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund will help provide grants to qualified charitable nonprofit organizations in support of local efforts to address community problems created by and in response to COVID‑19. The fund is administered by the Pinellas Community Foundation and is a strategic collaboration with the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Pinellas Community Foundation, United Way of Citrus County, United Way of Hernando County, United Way of Pasco County, and United Way Suncoast.

Georgia: A $250,000 grant to the Greater Atlanta COVID‑19 Response and Recovery Fund is supporting those most vulnerable to the economic and health-related impacts caused by the pandemic. The fund was organized by United Way of Greater Atlanta and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Wells Fargo is among the first corporate foundations supporting this fund.

Idaho: A $100,000 seed grant has helped Home Partnership Foundation in Boise create the Idaho Housing Rapid Response Fund, helping with rental assistance, immediate shelter, and transitional housing. The grant provided initial seed money, and with additional donors, the fund has now grown to more than $250,000.

A $20,000 seed grant to Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children in Boise has helped the group create the Idaho Child Care Provider Fund in response to the emergency small business needs of child care providers across the state who are caring for children of first responders, health care workers, and essential workers. Without this emergency fund, many of these child care centers — especially those already located near “child care deserts” in more rural committees — would not be able to remain open during this time when essential workers need to remain employed, healthy, and safe.

Iowa: A $150,000 grant to the Institute of Community Alliances is providing rental assistance to shelter residents across the state of Iowa. At the time of the award, 1,158 Iowans resided in shelters. The need to reduce the risk of COVID‑19 among shelters was great, and Wells Fargo responded with this grant with the hope that it would pay for first month rent for as much as 10% of the state’s sheltered residents. This was the first-ever statewide rental assistance fund, and the local foundation provided an additional $10,000 for a Landlord Mitigation Fund. In addition to this $150,000 grant, the local Wells Fargo Foundation contributed $125,000 for small business assistance and $100,000 to disaster funds across the state. The total COVID-related giving is $410,000.

Massachutes: A $250,000 grant to NeighborWorks Housing Solutions in Quincy is primarily supporting the Residential Assistance to Families in Transition program, which provides short-term emergency financial assistance for families and individuals to stabilize their situations by assisting with mortgage payments, rent, utility bills, and costs for other basic needs. The organization administers this program on behalf of the state for more than 60 towns and cities, and the grant from Wells Fargo will help augment it. The program is now targeting households facing instability as a result of a COVID‑19-related housing crisis due to loss of wages or increase in expenses. Funds are also providing emergency food support to individuals and families living in NeighborWorks Housing Solutions’ affordable rental properties, including housing for domestic violence survivors, senior citizens, and adults with disabilities.

New Mexico: A $50,000 grant is supporting the Emergency Action Fund for New Mexico, which was set up by the Albuquerque Community Foundation and United Way of Central New Mexico so nonprofits could receive emergency funds in response to COVID‑19. The funds being released are providing emergency support to various nonprofits in New Mexico, primarily supporting food for seniors, care for transgender citizens, and other needs for vulnerable populations.

North Carolina: A $150,000 grant to Common Wealth Charlotte is supporting the group’s trauma-informed financial capability and wealth building programs. Before the COVID‑19 pandemic, the majority of the nonprofit’s clients rarely made ends meet, due to limited work hours and high housing, transportation, and child care costs. The nonprofit has established a COVID‑19 financial questions virtual/text system for low-income wage earners with concerns about current or impending financial hardship due to loss of income from job cessation, voluntary or mandatory quarantines, or other hardships caused by COVID‑19. Advanced financial education and loan administration teams and trained volunteers will respond with a phone call or text to address questions about paying rent, feeding families, and other related questions. The team will offer relevant guidance and make referrals to other appropriate agencies, as necessary.

A $50,000 grant to Thread Capital in Raleigh is supporting operations for the COVID‑19 Rapid Recovery Loan program for small businesses and farms. To preserve businesses and save hard-won jobs, Thread Capital has activated its low- and zero-interest disaster recovery loan product to address this unprecedented crisis. This loan product helps businesses bridge the gap between when crisis strikes and when federal loans and other relief funds are approved.

Texas: A $50,000 grant to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso is providing a safety net for nursing students in the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing who are facing financial challenges and unforeseen circumstances due to the COVID‑19 pandemic. The goal of the fund is to keep students on track to graduate in May or December, allowing them to achieve their dreams and enter the workforce, where they are desperately needed.

Virginia: An $8,000 grant to the COVID‑19 Harrisonburg-Rockingham Small Business Resilience Grant fund in Shenandoah Valley is helping 200 rural business impacted by COVID‑19. This emergency grant fund will be used to support small businesses that need immediate help to ensure ongoing operations, retain employees, and keep this sector of the community’s economy moving.

Wisconsin: A $20,000 grant to Couleecap, Inc. in Westby is providing critical bill payment assistance for small business owners and their workers within the Coulee Region. The goal is to offer support to small businesses whose employees are struggling with payroll assistance for sick and medical leave and the cost of rent. Small businesses’ most emergent needs will be determined, and awards will be given for critical needs. All participants will be referred to government programs, and they will receive information on emergency and unemployment budgeting to help them determine how other public resources can be used to free up cash for critical bills.

Read more at Wells Fargo Stories.

Image 1: Wells Fargo is redirecting $175 million to COVID-19 community relief efforts and since then has offered funding to nearly 1,000 nonprofits reaching more than 800 communities. These are some of the areas where the support is providing relief around the U.S.

Image 2: Medical Assistant Rebecca Henkind screens a guest at the National Western Complex in Denver, one of the emergency shelter locations where health care triage services are being provided with a grant to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. Photo: Colorado Coalition for the Homeless

source: https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/44832-Supporting-COVID-19-Relief-Efforts-in-Our-Communities?tracking_source=rss

#CSR #corporate social responsibility #social good #philanthropy #employee engagement #workplace givi

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dinafbrownil · 5 years

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Bruising Labor Battles Put Kaiser Permanente’s Reputation On The Line

Kaiser Permanente, which just narrowly averted one massive strike, is facing another one Monday.

The ongoing labor battles have undermined the health giant’s once-golden reputation as a model of cost-effective care that caters to satisfied patients — which it calls “members” — and is exposing it to new scrutiny from politicians and health policy analysts.

As the labor disputes have played out loudly, ricocheting off the bargaining table and into the public realm, some critics believe that the nonprofit health system is becoming more like its for-profit counterparts and is no longer living up to its foundational ideals.

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Compensation for CEO Bernard Tyson topped $16 million in 2017, making him the highest-paid nonprofit health system executive in the nation. The organization also is building a $900 million flagship headquarters in Oakland. And it bid up to $295 million to become the Golden State Warriors’ official health care provider, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The deal gave the health system naming rights for the shopping and restaurant complex surrounding the team’s new arena in San Francisco, which it has dubbed “Thrive City.”

Kaiser Permanente reportedly bid up to $295 million to secure the naming rights for a shopping and restaurant complex surrounding the Golden State Warriors’ new arena in San Francisco, which it dubbed “Thrive City.” (Hannah Norman/KHN)

The organization reported $2.5 billion in net income in 2018 and its health plan sits on about $37.6 billion in reserves.

Against that backdrop of wealth, more than 80,000 employees were poised to strike last month over salaries, retirement benefits and concerns over outsourcing and subcontracting. Nearly 4,000 members of its mental health staff in California are threatening to walk out Monday over the long wait times their patients face for appointments.

“Kaiser’s primary mission, based on their nonprofit status, is to serve a charitable mission,” said Ge Bai, associate professor of accounting and health policy at Johns Hopkins University. “The question is, do they need such an excessive, fancy flagship space? Or should they save money to help the poor and increase employee salaries?”

Lawmakers in California, Kaiser Permanente’s home state, recently targeted it with a new financial transparency law aimed at determining why its premiums continue to increase.

There’s a growing suspicion “that these nonprofit hospitals are not here purely for charitable missions, but instead are working to expand market share,” Bai said.

Therapists, psychologists and other mental health providers rallied in Oakland in October to protest the long wait times their patients face. About 4,000 mental health providers in California who belong to the National Union of Healthcare Workers threaten a five-day strike starting Monday. (Credit: Chris Joel)

The scrutiny marks a disorienting role-reversal for Kaiser, an integrated system that acts as both health insurer and medical provider, serving 12.3 million patients and operating 39 hospitals across eight states and the District of Columbia. The bulk of its presence is in California. (Kaiser Health News, which produces California Healthline, is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)

Many health systems have tried to imitate its model for delivering affordable health care, which features teams of salaried doctors and health professionals who work together closely, and charges few if any extraneous patient fees. It emphasizes caring and community with slogans like “Health isn’t an industry. It’s a cause,” and “We’re all in this together. And together, we thrive.”

Praised by President Barack Obama for its efficiency and high-quality care, the health maintenance organization has tried to set itself apart from its profit-hungry, fee-for-service counterparts.

Now, its current practices — financial and medical — are getting a more critical look.

As a nonprofit, Kaiser doesn’t have to pay local property and sales taxes, state income taxes and federal corporate taxes, in exchange for providing “charity care and community benefits” — although the federal government doesn’t specify how much.

As a percentage of its total spending, Kaiser Permanente’s charity care spending has decreased from 1.29% in 2012 to 0.8% in 2017. Other hospitals in California have exhibited a similar decrease, saying there are fewer uninsured patients who need help since the Affordable Care Act expanded insurance coverage.

CEO Tyson told California Healthline that he limits operating income to about 2% of revenue, which pays for things like capital improvements, community benefit programs and “the running of the company.”

“The idea we’re trying to maximize profit is a false premise,” he said.

The organization is different from many other health systems because of its integrated model, so comparisons are not perfect, but its operating margins were smaller and more stable than other large nonprofit hospital groups in California. AdventHealth’s operating margin was 7.15% in 2018, while Dignity Health had losses in 2016 and 2017.

Tyson said that executive compensation is a “hotspot” for any company in a labor dispute. “In no way would I try to justify it or argue against it,” he said of his salary. In addition to his generous compensation, the health plan paid 35 other executives more than $1 million each in 2017, according to its tax filings.

Even its board members are well-compensated. In 2017, 13 directors each received between $129,000 and $273,000 for what its tax filings say is five to 10 hours of work a week.

And that $37.6 billion in reserves? It’s about 17 times more than the health plan is required by the state to maintain, according to the California Department of Managed Health Care.

Kaiser Permanente said it doesn’t consider its reserves excessive because state regulations don’t account for its integrated model. These reserves represent the value of its hospitals and hundreds of medical offices in California, plus the information technology they rely on, it said.

Kaiser Permanente is spending $900 million on a new headquarters in Oakland, which the company says will save at least $60 million a year in operating costs by bringing all of its Oakland staffers together under one roof. (Credit: Kaiser Permanente)

Kaiser Permanente said its new headquarters will save at least $60 million a year in operating costs because it will bring all of its Oakland staffers under one roof. It justified the partnership with the Warriors by noting it spans 20 years, and includes a community gathering space that will provide health services for both members and the public.

Kaiser has a right to defend its spending, but “it’s hard to imagine a nearly $300 million sponsorship being justifiable,” said Michael Rozier, an assistant professor at St. Louis University who studies nonprofit hospitals.

The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West was about to strike in October before reaching an agreement with Kaiser Permanente.

Democratic presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, as well as 132 elected California officials, supported the cause.

California legislators this year adopted a bill sponsored by SEIU California that will require the health system to report its financial data to the state by facility, as opposed to reporting aggregated data from its Northern and Southern California regions, as it currently does. This data must include expenses, revenues by payer and the reasons for premium increases.

Other hospitals already report financial data this way, but the California legislature granted Kaiser Permanente an exemption when reporting began in the 1970s because it is an integrated system. This created a financial “black hole” said state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), the bill’s author.

“They’re the biggest game in town,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of the consumer group Health Access California. “With great power comes great responsibility, and a need for transparency.”

Patient care, too, is under scrutiny.

California’s Department of Managed Health Care fined the organization $4 million over mental health wait times in 2013, and in 2017 hammered out an agreement with it to hire an outside consultant to help improve access to care. The department said Kaiser Permanente has so far met all the requirements of the settlement.

Ann Rivello, a therapist who works at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center, says she’s frustrated that Kaiser Permanente markets itself as a leader in mental health care. Her patients have to wait about two months between appointments for individual therapy, she says. (Credit: Chris Joel)

But according to the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which is planning Monday’s walkout, wait times have just gotten worse.

Tyson said mental health care delivery is a national issue — “not unique to Kaiser Permanente.” He said the system is actively hiring more staff, contracting with outside providers and looking into using technology to broaden access to treatment.

At a mid-October union rally in Oakland, therapists said the health system’s billions in profits should allow it to hire more than one mental health clinician for every 3,000 members, which the union says is the current ratio.

Ann Rivello, 50, who has worked periodically at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center since 2000, said therapists are so busy they struggle to take bathroom breaks and patients wait about two months between appointments for individual therapy.

“Just take $100 million that they’re putting into the new ‘Thrive City’ over there with the Warriors,” she said. “Why can’t they just give it to mental health?”

from Updates By Dina https://khn.org/news/bruising-labor-battles-put-kaiser-permanentes-reputation-on-the-line/

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jeromeschamp84 · 6 years

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Look what’s cooking.

There’s something afoot in funeral world. Letters have been pinging into the inbox of funeral directors around the country advising them of a shiny new entrant into the world of undertaking.

“Over the next few days you may read about a new funeral company called Hospice Funerals LLP. It has been set up by St Margaret’s Hospice of Somerset in order to allow local hospices to extend their care to the local community by providing a caring, transparent and personal funeral service..”

A joint operation between St. Margaret’s Hospice and Memoria, this partnership is, at first glance, a match made in heaven.

Expert end of life carers join with expert provider of state of the art crematoria and low cost funeral services to offer communities across the UK a new, better alternative when it comes to funeral arrangements.

But let’s take a closer look.

Memoria’s CEO, Howard Hodgson, is well known in the funeral world. Here’s a little background, taken from an article by Tony Grundy in 2015:

‘For example, in a classic UK television documentary some years ago, former undertaker and entrepreneur Howard Hodgson told of how he led the transformation of the industry through a combination of acquisition, consolidation, value innovation and cost management. In his book ‘How To Become Dead Rich’ Hodgson set out his vision of how to run his funeral business as economically as possible, with an efficient set of local operations providing up to several funerals in a day, making much better use of facilities such as cars, storage and sales facilities. Alongside this he pioneered a more extensive range of services, optimising the average price.

This hugely widened operating profit margin and increased return on net assets. This vision became the model of the Great Southern Group, which Hodgson sold out to and which, after a period of being owned by US company Service Corporation International, is now called Dignity, one of the UK’s top players. These changes also reduced competitive rivalry in the UK market, where a higher proportion of the market had previously been fragmented, made up of ‘mom and pop’ independents.’

St. Margaret’s Hospice announced their plans earlier this month, without mentioning their new partner. The role of funeral director was advertised at £36,000 plus car. One of their existing charity shops is being converted into suitable premises in Taunton – a town in which there are already 12 other undertakers.

The Hospice Funerals website states:

HOSPICE FUNERALS’ VISION

To provide all hospice communities with the choice and experience of hospice funeral services that uniquely reflect the dedication, warmth and reputation of the hospice movement – an extension of exemplary hospice care – caring, transparent and personal.

HOSPICE FUNERALS’ MISSION

To bring choice, quality and affordability to families in our communities, so that they can celebrate the lives of loved ones with a unique and individual funeral that respects their wishes. This is achieved by only engaging highly trained staff with unwavering attention to detail and compassion – so ensuring a caring, transparent and personal funeral to all whatever their budget.

This sounds absolutely wonderful.

Although the top benefit for hospices electing to become a provider listed in another part of the website is:

‘Participation in a new enterprise that will deliver sustainable and growing income going forward and thus helping to bridge the considerable funding gap that stands between government funding and the annual needs of the hospice.’

And in the brochure for ‘hospice partners’ it clearly states:

The partnership will operate as a franchise scheme. These are the facts:

Hospice Funerals signs an agreement with the partner hospice (the partner Franchise Agreement – samples available)

The hospice partner will be entitled to operate exclusively within the defined area

A hospice partner can acquire more than one area if it so wishes

Hospice Funerals will give each partner a demographic survey providing a death profile of the granted area and will be able to advise the partner on this issue

Hospice Funerals will issue a list of products and prices that the partner will need to purchase in order to create their funeral service.

The hospice will be supported to deal directly with these suppliers, shop fitters ad other trades. This means that Hospice Funerals is not involved in the invoice chain and so is making NO margin on the set up of the unit.

Hospice Funerals support you with a turnkey service and are on hand throughout the set up period, signing off the premises when complete.

Thereafter, the location will be inspected prior to opening and all snagging signed off.

Hospice Funerals will select, train and manage the partner’s funeral staff, while being accountable to the partner.

Memoria will also carry out the majority of funeral administration for the partner.

Memoria will also install and teach the partner’s funeral director how to operate a bespoke software system for making funeral arrangement.

Hmm. So, perhaps not quite so in line with the hospice movement set up to look after the dying and their families by Dame Cicely Saunders then.

It’s a franchise scheme, dressed up in the hospice’s clothes, making money for both the ‘hospice partner’ and Memoria alike.

Here’s what we think.

It’s hard to criticise the idea of the much loved local hospice continuing to care for those who have died after death (albeit charging for this part of their service, while everything else until the last breath is taken has been free of charge.)

Why wouldn’t you choose to use them?

Hospices are pillars of the community after all, caring for the dying in the most wonderful way. And your money will be going to help support this admirable cause instead of lining the pockets of those men in black, the stereotypical undertakers.

It’s easy to see what a brilliant idea this is – piggybacking on the reputation and respect held by the hospice to give an immediate advantage over the funeral directors who are so widely and relentlessly pilloried in the media as greedy, money-making vultures who prey on the vulnerable bereaved.

With the helpful assistance of the self-serving life insurance companies generating fear of soaring funeral costs in their annual cost of dying reports, and the media focus on funeral poverty (driven by high charges from corporate funeral businesses including Dignity, Howard Hodgson’s baby, plus austerity cuts and shortage of space impelling local authorities to keep raising the cost of cremation or graves), funeral directors en masse are tarred with the same brush.

The public won’t take much persuading to look elsewhere for help with organising a funeral. And it’s available to everyone, not just hospice patients – again, from the Hospice Funerals website:

‘It is important to note that it is intended that everyone needing the services of a funeral director will be able benefit from the caring, transparent and personal service offered by Hospice Funerals. Therefore, our services are available to everyone in the community – irrespective of whether or not they have been a hospice patient.’

Well, not quite everyone.

This from Howard Hodgson’s letter to funeral directors yesterday:

‘The Directors of Memoria have no desire to compete with its funeral directing clientele. Therefore, in order to prevent a conflict of interest, it has been contractually agreed that NO Hospice Funeral operations will be set up within a 20 MILE RADIUS of ANY existing MEMORIA crematoria.

This agreement will be on going and so will prevent funeral directors within the declared 20-mile exclusion zones from facing this new competition now or in the future.

We hope this act demonstrates our loyalty and gratitude to ALL of our funeral directing clients, whose close working relationship we highly value.’

Nice of him to consider how funeral directors might feel about this idea, although only the ones who operate in the vicinity of one of Memoria’s crematoria. The rest of the funeral world is clearly fair game.

What concerns us about this genius return to the world of funeral provision by Howard ‘How To Become Dead Rich’ Hodgson is what it will do to the wonderful, dedicated, desperately hard-working, ethically run, generous, kind and principled undertakers who have devoted their lives to starting up and running small businesses to serve their communities.

They are everywhere, working day and night to do the absolute best for the families they care for, often living hand to mouth and struggling to stay afloat as the corporate companies relentlessly target them by opening branches nearby. Many of them can be found here on our recommended funeral director list. We applaud and salute them for what they do, and we fear for their future with this latest new player in the game.

These really good people don’t have the massive marketing budgets to pay for TV advertising and PR campaigns, unlike Dignity, Co-operative Funeralcare and now Hospice Funerals, but they are providing vital services for their communities. And they are offering real, informed choice.

Hospice Funerals could spell the end for many of these artisan, genuine, small undertaking businesses, people who have been battling against the corporate expansion into funerals for years, as money men have scented the opportunity to get rich by taking advantage of economies of scale. The Hospice Funeral idea is likely to be a pressure too much for many if it spreads around the country.

If this idea were vision-driven, altruistic. non profit making, a real community venture motivated by a genuine desire to really make a difference to our society , we’d respect it, we’d be completely behind it and we’d be promoting it as far as we can reach.

But it’s not, it’s a clever, clever commercial move.

Maybe the public, those who volunteer and fundraise and support their local hospices might see it for what it is, but probably most people will just think it’s a great idea and not give it any more thought.

And sadly, we expect that the advent of this new hybrid beast is likely to be greeted with delight by hospices around the country as a means of generating the much needed income to keep them afloat. Without thinking about the wider implications.

We’ll find out tomorrow – it’s on the agenda at two high profile hospice meetings, the Hospice UK National Conference in Liverpool and the Legacy Foresight Workshop in London

We’ll be at both events.

from Funeral http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/2017/11/look-whats-cooking/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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