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In our most recent round of funding, the Dodge Foundation made more than $5 million in grants which served to acknowledge long-standing partners and collaborators, support new partners who are driving racial equity and justice, and respond to the real-time issues and crises facing people across the State of New Jersey. These grants represent our purposeful efforts to support and recognize the impact of years-long partners and institutions, while also strengthening and growing our support to new organizations focused and aligned to our new strategic direction of building a just and equitable New Jersey.
The Dodge Foundation provided multi-year funding to support a number of partner organizations, representing a collaborative strategy of providing the space, time, and opportunity for each organization to strengthen and build their capacity and encourage new voices and funding partners to join the movement. The goal of this support is to achieve long-term sustainability that allows these organizations to continue their impact well into the future. As the Foundation continues our transformation to center racial equity and justice in our work and our funding, we are also thrilled to recognize these long-standing partner organizations and the impact they have had and will continue to have on communities across New Jersey.
In this funding cycle, we provided three organizations each with a three-year grant of $1M general operating support. For all of these initiatives, the Dodge Foundation was a core partner from the earliest days and an integral supporter in achieving years of state-wide impact.
After a recommendation from the Racial Equity Task Force, now the Racial Equity Committee of CNJG’s board, the CNJG Board of Trustees approved and adopted the New Jersey Principles for Philanthropy, our equity principles. These Principles are a complete overhaul of CNJG’s Guiding Beliefs & Principles for New Jersey Grantmakers last revised in 2007. No longer a binary option, these Principles use a developmental framework and understand that each organization – and individual in philanthropy - has its own starting point and journey. In 2025, CNJG will gather tools and resources to help members, other philanthropic organizations, and individuals on their own equity journeys. Wherever you see your organization on the spectrum of learning, these New Jersey Principles for Philanthropy offer an opportunity for shared learning and evolving, leadership, and trusting relationships among funders and with your nonprofit partners.
CNJG’s membership is comprised of many varieties of philanthropic organizations, including, but limited to private foundations, public charities, corporate giving programs and foundations, family foundations, government agencies, and more. Each organization will interact with these principles in their own way. Furthermore, staff, board, volunteers, and donors of the organizations will start and journey through the different developmental levels in their own way.
Although we are not requiring CNJG members to “sign onto” these Principles, we do hope that the New Jersey Principles for Philanthropy become a framework and a tool for your organizational development.
CNJG gratefully acknowledges the Minnesota Council on Foundations for laying the groundwork for these New Jersey Principles for Philanthropy.
Sam Parker, Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Way and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Murphy, will discuss ways to become involved with a state board or commission and the appointment process. You will also have the opportunity to learn about the expectations and responsibilities in serving the State as well as why it is important to be involved as a philanthropic organization. Sam oversees the Appointments Department which is responsible for the numerous appointments to New Jersey’s various Boards, Commissions, Councils, Advisory Committees and Task Forces; as well as the Judicial Bench.
Sam Parker (she/her) is an organizational, development and political professional with extensive experience in strategic planning, leadership management, civic engagement, and collaborative partnership building. Sam is currently the Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Way and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Murphy. Before joining the administration in March of 2021, Sam served as the Development and Political Affairs for the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide. Sam was also Congressman Frank Pallone’s Deputy Campaign Director (2013) and Deputy Field Director for the New Jersey State Democratic Committee’s Victory Campaign (2012). Previous to her return to her home state in 2012, Sam worked for organizations such as The National LGBTQ Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, EqualityMaine and Equality North Carolina on LGBT+ issue campaigns all over the country. Sam has a BA of English/Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine and a master's degree in Public Policy and Management and a certificate of Social Justice and Economics from The Muskie School at the University of Southern Maine.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $75 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is only open to staff and trustees from grantmaking organizations.
Webinar Video
Resource
Governor's Boards, Commissions, and Authorities Directory
70 years after Brown vs. The Board of Education, segregation and resource inequities continue in New Jersey schools. Discussion will center on the lawsuit brought by 9 families with a coalition of civil rights, faith, and social justice groups. Meet Dr. Charles Payne, Director, The Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies Rutgers; Dr. Jesselly De La Cruz of Latino Action Network Foundation; Vivian Fraser of Urban League of Essex County; Jared Hunter with Salvation and Social Justice; and Brandon McKoy of The Fund for New Jersey.
New Jersey boasts one of the top education systems in the U.S. but our public schools are also among the nation’s top 6 or 7 most segregated. We see substantial differences in resources afforded across our 620 districts aligned with home rule. This results in significant harm in outcomes for students in segregated districts, including the 63% of all Black and Latino students who attend schools segregated by race and poverty.
Panelists: Dr. Jeselly De La Cruz, Executive Director at Latino Action Network Foundation; Vivian Cox Fraser, CEO of Urban League of Essex County; Dr. Charles Payne, Director, The Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University; Jared Hunter, Organizing Director with Salvation and Social Justice; Brandon McKoy, President, The Fund for New Jersey
Cost: Free for CNJG Members, $50 for Non Member Grantmakers.
Webinar Video
Cornwall Research Finding Summary: The Latinx Experience in NJ Schools: A Preliminary Overview
Dr. De La Cruz referenced article from Chalkbeat: New Jersey school segregation case: A look at key points, what’s next in Latino Action Network vs. NJ
What does an age-integrated society look like and how can funders be part of the movement to strengthen aging initiatives in the philanthropic sector? Join this special conversation with Lindsay Goldman, CEO of Grantmakers In Aging, a community of funders mobilizing money and ideas to strengthen policies, programs, and resources for all of us as we age. Lindsay will share insights on how aging intersects with funding priorities including health, caregiving, social connection, and housing.
Lindsay Goldman serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Grantmakers In Aging (GIA), a position she assumed in January 2021. She draws on nearly 20 years of experience in program development and administration, direct service, philanthropy, and health and social policy. Most recently, Lindsay was the founding director of the Center for Healthy Aging at The New York Academy of Medicine. Specializing in public-private partnerships to create age-inclusive environments, Lindsay oversaw a portfolio that included the award-winning Age-friendly NYC, Health & Age Across All Policies NYS, and IMAGE: The Interactive Map of Aging. Earlier in her career, Lindsay was responsible for strategic planning and allocations to support older adults in New York and Israel while working for the UJA-Federation of New York. She also directed the Health Enhancement Partnership at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and received a Best Practice Award from the National Council on Aging in 2008. She began her career at Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, where she coordinated an intergenerational mentoring program in the Bronx. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MSW from NYU.
Emily Hinsey is the Director of Programs. In her capacity, Emily coordinates the programmatic work of the organization, including the webinar series, member meetings, funder networks on housing, serious illness, caregiving, technology, rural health, and multisector plans for aging, and grant-funded projects. Prior to beginning her work with GIA in 2017, Emily was the Administrator and Project Development Manager at Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana, where she advised on the organization’s accreditation and new business development. Emily began her career as the Prevention Coordinator at the Open Arms Domestic Violence Center. Emily serves on the Fort Wayne Mayor's Age-Friendly Council. Emily holds a BA in Social Work from Bluffton University.
This program is open to all interested attendees.
CNJG’s first-ever Policy Agenda that includes our approach to the policy work, and five policy priorities.
You don’t need to be a technologist to understand that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing our world, including philanthropy and the nonprofit sector.
As you attend next month’s CNJG 2024 Spring Colloquium – A Conversation for the Social Sector on June 18, consider what philanthropy does best as the conversation unfolds. Philanthropy takes risks. Philanthropy tests new ideas and concepts, that can then be scaled. Philanthropy drives experimentation. Philanthropy convenes thought leaders, practitioners, and community voices, to engage in full and deliberate conversations.
We’re excited to welcome Jean Westrick, Executive Director of the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG), to moderate the morning panel session. TAG and Project Evident recently released their Responsible AI Adoption in Philanthropy framework to help grantmakers adopt AI in a manner that aligns with their mission. Jean will help us dig deeper into the framework during an afternoon session. Not only does the framework provide practical guidance, it is a clarion call for philanthropy to play a crucial role in advancing the responsible use of AI for nonprofit enablement.
Understanding this seminal role, last year, ten major foundations announced a $200 million investment to ensure AI advances the public interest. The investment is centered around five areas of need including: ensuring AI advancements protect democracy and the rights and freedoms of all people, empowering workers to “thrive amid AI-driven changes,” and supporting the development of AI international norms and rules.
Colloquium panelist Don Chen, President and CEO of the Surdna Foundation, recently spoke at the Partnership for AI’s 2024 Philanthropy Forum. There he discussed the importance of working with partners to make investments in responsible infrastructure. He expanded on these ideas, encouraging ongoing AI conversations to be reparative and healing, especially for racial equity and justice.
Governor Murphy created the New Jersey State Office of Innovation in 2018 to "improve the lives of New Jerseyans by solving public problems differently.” Colloquium panelist Dave Cole, Chief Innovation Officer, in a recent StateScoop Priorities Podcast, shared his commitment to solving problems for NJ residents using human-centered design and leveraging AI to improve services. The practical and pragmatic conversations about AI are central to philanthropy’s role in harnessing technology for good.
Our third panelist, Rachel Kimber, joined fellow social sector leaders in calling for philanthropy to move forward with “responsible AI development and adoption.” Published by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, the blog Responsible AI: How Philanthropy Can (and Should) Support the Movement outlines four critical concepts for philanthropy: drive sector-level vision, fund the back-end, develop guidelines, and invest in equitable innovations.
I encourage you to review the resources we’re gathering on the Colloquium web area to further inform your thinking.
While AI and analytical technologies are revolutionary tools reshaping industries, as Vilas Dhar, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, said in an interview with the Chronicle of Philanthropyrecently, “These conversations are very rarely actually about technology.” In the article, How A.I. Could Solve Humanity’s Biggest Problems — If Philanthropy Catches Up, Dhar implores philanthropy to look closely at how AI is changing our world and challenges us to examine how philanthropy must change. Indeed, philanthropy has several roles to play, including fueling the big picture and visionary conversations, and helping to drill down on the more practical applications of AI for grantmakers and nonprofits in support of a just and equitable world.
Join us at the CNJG 2024 Spring Colloquium: A Conversation for the Social Sector - Empowering the Future: Harnessing AI and Data for Philanthropic Social Impact on Tuesday, June 18, to engage in these big, bold, and transformative conversations.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
The United States Department of Labor, State of New Jersey, and City of Newark announced a $5 million grant to help provide jobs and support to hundreds of Newark residents returning home from prison over the next two years.
The grant includes $2 million in matching funds from the Bodman–Achelis Foundations, Joan Ganz Cooney, the Charles Edison Fund/Edison Innovation Foundation, the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, the F.M. Kirby Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Nicholson Foundation, and the Victoria Foundation.
“The City can’t do this alone. It takes strategic alliances with federal and state officials, community and faith-based organizations, and the leveraging arm of the philanthropic institutions,” said Mayor Cory Booker. “We established the office of the philanthropic liaison, underwritten by the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, to help create stronger connections with funders. The matching grants from the private sector show that these efforts are working.”
“The foundation community is delighted to partner with strong government leadership and the city’s philanthropic liaison in addressing the challenges faced by the growing numbers of men and women re-entering society,” said William H. Byrnes, Jr., program officer with the F.M. Kirby Foundation and trustee of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers.
Over the past three years, the United States Department of Labor has been the lead agency for implementing the federal government’s Prisoner Reentry Initiative. “This grant will enable Newark to build on the success of the President’s Prisoner Reentry Initiative and provide over 1,200 ex-offenders with basic job skills and other assistance to help them succeed in developing new career paths,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor, Eliane L. Chao.
The combined $5 million award will enable the City to strengthen and expand services via a network of partners working through a one-stop center, Opportunity Reconnect, at Essex County College.
The goal of the grant is keep people working, help employers find workers, and keep families safe by successfully integrating ex-prisoners back into their communities through a comprehensive system of services including case management, mentoring, skills assessment, and referrals to health care providers.
State and local agencies will be coordinated to strengthen the city’s network and avoid duplication of efforts.
“We’ve managed to make funders more aware of the barriers that prevent ex-prisoners from being successful," said Jeremy Johnson, Newark’s philanthropic liaison. "Grantmakers have become increasingly involved as a result.”
Newark to Offer Affordable, Healthier Food Options for Residents
Through the office of the Newark Philanthropic Liaison, CNJG recently had the opportunity to convene a group of funders with the Brick City Development Corporation (BCDC), a nonprofit that is working with the City of Newark to improve access to fresh, affordable foods for Newark residents.
BCDC's Fresh Foods Program Farm Stand Initiative will link New Jersey farmers with 11 Family Success Centers located at public housing developments and nonprofit agencies. Operated by BCDC, the initiative will expand Newarkers’ access to fruits and vegetables, increase use of WIC Farmers’ Market Vouchers and Food Stamps, and educate residents about the benefits of nutrition and physical activity.
Newark’s 283,000 residents currently have little access to nutritious, affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Only three full-size supermarkets operate in the city, and Newark residents report a scarcity in supermarkets stocked with nutritious food products. The South and West Wards, the city’s most underserved neighborhoods, are not served by full-sized supermarkets or farmers’ markets.
Lack of fresh foods access is linked to troubling statistics for individuals of color and low-income individuals. A multi-state study found that wealthy neighborhoods have over three times as many supermarkets as low-wealth neighborhoods, and predominantly white neighborhoods have four times as many supermarkets as predominantly black neighborhoods. Nationwide about 44% of Latino and 40% of African American youth are overweight, and obesity rates are three times above average in low-income districts. The State of New Jersey has the highest rate of obesity in 2-5 year old children in the country, and about 56% of its residents are at risk for obesity-related illness. In 2004 the City of Newark WIC Program found that 18.2% of children under age 2 were overweight, higher than both the national average of 13.6% and state average of 16.8%. Similarly, 20.8% of children over age 2 were found to be overweight.
When grocery stores and other fresh-food retailers, such as farmers’ markets, are present, they have a direct impact on residents’ patterns of consumption: a 2002 study found that black Americans’ fruit and vegetable intake increased by 32% for each additional supermarket in the census tract. Farmers’ markets have an even more dramatic effect: another study found that women who had access to farmers’ markets consumed more fruits and vegetables than women who had access only to supermarkets.
BCDC anticipates launching the Fresh Foods Program Farm Stand Initiative in the spring of 2009.