EdOps’ Post

Last July, The Lankellychase Foundation announced its intention to “relinquish control of our assets, including the endowment and all resources, so that money can flow freely to those doing life-affirming social justice work”. The foundation went on to say: “We will make space to reimagine how wealth, capital and social justice can co-exist in the service of all life, now and for future generations”. In the first of a series of blogs, Julian Corner, CEO of The Lankellychase Foundation foundation discusses the learning journey that led to this choice. Read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/egFP_Pbx

Guaranteed income aims in part to correct for the failings of traditional financial assistance programs, which have a long history of discrimination and disempowerment. “The real goal of these guaranteed income studies is to understand how additional money every month that’s regular and consistent improves well-being across a couple of different dimensions,” says Michael Norton, Chief Policy Analyst at Reinvestment Fund. “So social and emotional stress reduction, financial stress reduction, as a way to help people stabilize their lives day to day, week to week, month to month.” Check out the article to learn more about the recently completed year-long pilot study, Guaranteed Resources Optimize Wellbeing (GROW), run by Philadelphia’s Office of Community, Empowerment & Opportunity (CEO) and partner organizations, including Reinvestment Fund, to measure the effects of a guaranteed income on the economic mobility of recipients of extended Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (E-TANF). ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eMKyrHN3

#CaseStudy 👉 Our Role Samuel S. Fels Fund was at a critical inflection point to define and fully embody social change grantmaking through their values and practices. CBV facilitated sessions to support Fels Fund staff in defining social change and other critical terms, and grantmaking values and practices; and, confronting previous practices. We used data from grantee surveys and documentation review to guide session discussions. Prior to each session, Fels Fund staff received pre-work to reflect on key topics.   CBV also provided virtual listening opportunities that centered around Brave Space Building™ to help Fels grantees share their truth and provide vital information that supports organizational reconciliation. For those grantees that could not attend, we created and distributed a survey to get information on their experience and recommendations on creating a social change centered grantmaking process and the types of support that they need to sustain their work. ✨ The Difference Fels Fund received an embodied experience that helped them define a new transformational culture to fully live their values. They now have a community of practice to slow down and process, which has made way for imagination and dreaming to center social justice and racial equity. In addition, Fels Fund was able to redefine its grantmaking strategy that centers racial equity and social justice. #racialequity #socialjustice #trustbasedphilanthropy

A fantastic article from Sarah Moody (per Center for Effective Philanthropy) on reimagining the program officer role. The critical (and often tough) questions that started the process: 1. How are we ever going to be effective at addressing root causes of health inequities through systems change if we are not willing to change our own internal systems? 2. How do we build real relationships if we are not willing to be honest and transparent about our own faults, learnings, and willingness to grow? 3. How do we serve and collaborate with communities across Missouri if we are not actively engaged with, living in, learning from, and involving community members? Grantmakers, take the time to consider these questions and start your own process. It might be hard work, but it will absolutely be worth it in the end and your grantees will be incredibly appreciative.

The Government has released the Grant determination for the Social Care Grant, Improved Better Care Fund and Discharge Fund for 2024 to 2025.  Read more about this latest news🔗 https://bit.ly/3JwEZcn #GovernmentGrants #GrantAllocation #SocialCare #BetterCareFund

Chicago Beyond directs all its multi-year grants to BIPOC-led organizations with direct experience in the social issues they are working on. In this blog, Liz Dozier shares more about: 🔷why she believes funders should be supporting leaders closest to the issues 🔷the shifts Chicago Beyond needed to make to do this 🔷how other funders can use Chicago Beyond’s Mirror Tool to identify and reduce bias in the ways they fund. Read it below 👇

The Ministry of Youth, Social Development, and Seniors has awarded $25,000 to The Eliza DoLittle Society (TEDS) in recognition of their tireless work addressing food insecurity across the island. This is made possible through the mechanism of our grant application process and the Mid-Year Budget Review Social Investment Fund Allocation. Over the past year, The Eliza DoLittle Society has served nearly 1,000 families, distributing more than 16,000 bags of groceries, offering fresh produce, meats, and essential items that support health and vitality. “With nearly 30% of Bermuda’s residents facing food insecurity, TEDS’ work is vital to the health and well-being of our community,” said Minister of Youth, Social Development, and Seniors, the Hon. Tinee Furbert. “This grant represents our commitment to ensuring no family or individual is forgotten and reinforces our shared vision of a Bermuda where everyone has the resources to thrive.” Full statement: https://lnkd.in/e9bCJ5hX

Key Findings! - "The Los Angeles homeless response workforce is comprised of roughly 8,000 positions (33% of which are vacant). 5,430 workers in the sector applied to the Wellbeing Fund." - "44% of the applicants earn between $18 and $25 per hour." - "Half of the Black workers earn between $12 and $18 per hour." - "Only 10% of the applicants were white, but they made up 23% of the highest earners, with salaries above $100,000." - "The top categories people requested funds for were housing, health & wellness, transportation, and education." "One year ago, The Wellbeing Fund launched to provide financial support to Los Angeles homeless response sector workers and move towards a living wage throughout the sector. By offering $1 million in worker wellbeing stipends, we aimed to alleviate some of the immediate financial needs of workers, while also sparking important conversations about the broader systemic changes required in the sector. We also distributed an additional $570,000 to partner organizations to support the connection and wellbeing of their teams."

Junction’s The Young Parent Project (TYPP), based at our Hackham Community Centre (HCC), has received a $1.43 million funding boost from the Commonwealth Outcomes Fund.    This vital investment will support the program over the next three years, enabling us to continue helping young parents thrive.   TYPP, a collaboration with The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), supports parents under 25, many of whom have experienced significant trauma. Since its launch 18 months ago, with seed funding from the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the program has supported over 40 young parents.   Federal Minister for Social Services, the Honourable Amanda Rishworth MP, and State Minister for Human Services, the Honourable Nat Cook MP, announced the funding yesterday.    TYPP is one of the first South Australian initiatives to benefit from the $100 million Commonwealth Outcomes Fund, designed to address disadvantage through innovation.   Read the full release here: https://lnkd.in/gr3Vc9td Pictured: (L-R) Sally McLaren (Group Leader, HCC), Hayley McLay (Group Facilitator, TYPP), Amanda Rishworth MP, Nat Cook MP, Maria Palumbo (CEO), Danielle Hynes-Stevens (Peer Mentor, TYPP) and Maddie (Group Participant, TYPP) at Hackham Community Centre. #youngparents #earlyintervention #codesign #livedexperience

Financial exploitation and social impact washing-urgent clarification needed from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) This article in the Guardian really shocked me. Private providers/ private finance are making huge profits out of children's residential care. https://lnkd.in/e89vqfuQ Opportunities for financial exploitation are growing. Finance lobbies claim private finance institutions such as insurers and pension funds can: tackle social harms such as poverty; promote financial inclusion; and invest in regeneration and levelling up.  A whole new category of monetisable social sector assets has emerged as the state (central and local) restricts its role in funding housing, social care, specialist education, and other public services. Private finance institutions want to fill that gap to make high returns and obtain a reputational advantage too. Remember, the high returns extracted by private finance means that it is a costly way to fund critical services. Politicians might claim they are acting prudently by limiting public spending. But, relying on private finance is a financial conjuring trick to conceal a false economy. It is bad enough that private finance is able to exploit social needs like providing care. But, there is a real risk that private finance institutions can 'impact wash' their activities due to the weak standards used to challenge social impact claims. See this article: https://lnkd.in/e2j5rjMq and FIC's report on impact washing called 'Making a return or making an impact?': https://lnkd.in/e96fnAv8 More worryingly, there is a real risk that the FCA could provide official legitimacy for social impact washing. I don't say that lightly. Why is this the case? The FCA has produced guidance for investment funds on what could be considered as eligible assets for firms intending to use the regulator's new sustainable investment label. The FCA's policy statement Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels Policy Statement PS23/16 includes an example of hypothetical investment fund called the 'ABC Social Impact Real Estate Fund' - this is on page 108 of the document. This fund would invest in and make profits from properties used by local authorities to house homeless people. These assets would count towards eligible assets for using the Sustainability Impact™ label. If the FCA would allow investment funds to classify making profits from housing homeless people as 'Impact', firms could claim that making profits from children's residential care as described in the article should also be classified as 'Impact'. It beggars belief that exploiting social needs to generate high returns and transfer wealth could be described as 'social impact'. Surely, this cannot have been the intention of the FCA's new initiative. I would hope that civil society would agree that this is not social impact finance. We need clarity from the FCA. #ESG #socialimpactfinance #sustainablefinance #impactfinance