Balancing Content and Process Expertise in the Practice of Foundation Consulting

Despite foundations’ frequent recourse to consultants, little, if anything, has been written on the expertise required of foundation consultants and how they cultivate it. This article looks at the types of expertise that these consultants bring to their work and for which their clients hire them. This expertise falls into three categories: process expertise, or what the consultant does with the client; content expertise, or what the grantmaker does; and hybrid expertise, consultant processes that are their own subject areas. This article also offers examples of how content, process, and/or hybrid expertise might combine to address particular foundation needs, and incorporates the perspectives of 12 consultants to philanthropy, ranging from solo practitioners to members of large firms

What It Really Takes to Influence Funder Practice

Influence is key to our work at the Ford Foundation and to philanthropy as a whole.Many of us in this space combine forces to shift how government, business, and nonprofits tackle urgent problems such as climate change, poverty, or threats to democracy. We also want to influence how the sector as a whole leverages philanthropy—whether this means a shift to giving larger grants, creating more flexible grants, or designing grants through a lens of diversity—in pursuit of a more equitable world.As important as this work is, we don't have a solid understanding of why certain efforts are effective in creating the influence they intend and what causes others to fail.To improve our understanding, we commissioned Milway Consulting to look at 12 independent initiatives aimed to influence how grantmakers and others engage in philanthropy and identify what advanced and prevented the adoption of good practice

YPFS Lessons Learned Oral History Project: An Interview with Christopher Seefer

Suggested Citation Form: Seefer, Chris, 2019. “Lessons Learned Interview. Interview by Mercedes Cardona. Yale Program on Financial Stability Lessons Learned Oral History Project. September 4, 2019. Transcript. https://ypfs.som.yale.edu/library/ypfs-lesson- learned-oral-history-project-interview-chris-seefe

A multilayer circuit architecture for the generation of distinct locomotor behaviors in Drosophila.

Animals generate diverse motor behaviors, yet how the same motor neurons (MNs) generate two distinct or antagonistic behaviors remains an open question. Here, we characterize Drosophila larval muscle activity patterns and premotor/motor circuits to understand how they generate forward and backward locomotion. We show that all body wall MNs are activated during both behaviors, but a subset of MNs change recruitment timing for each behavior. We used TEM to reconstruct a full segment of all 60 MNs and 236 premotor neurons (PMNs), including differentially-recruited MNs. Analysis of this comprehensive connectome identified PMN-MN 'labeled line' connectivity; PMN-MN combinatorial connectivity; asymmetric neuronal morphology; and PMN-MN circuit motifs that could all contribute to generating distinct behaviors. We generated a recurrent network model that reproduced the observed behaviors, and used functional optogenetics to validate selected model predictions. This PMN-MN connectome will provide a foundation for analyzing the full suite of larval behaviors

Microbial and metabolic succession on common building materials under high humidity conditions.

Despite considerable efforts to characterize the microbial ecology of the built environment, the metabolic mechanisms underpinning microbial colonization and successional dynamics remain unclear, particularly at high moisture conditions. Here, we applied bacterial/viral particle counting, qPCR, amplicon sequencing of the genes encoding 16S and ITS rRNA, and metabolomics to longitudinally characterize the ecological dynamics of four common building materials maintained at high humidity. We varied the natural inoculum provided to each material and wet half of the samples to simulate a potable water leak. Wetted materials had higher growth rates and lower alpha diversity compared to non-wetted materials, and wetting described the majority of the variance in bacterial, fungal, and metabolite structure. Inoculation location was weakly associated with bacterial and fungal beta diversity. Material type influenced bacterial and viral particle abundance and bacterial and metabolic (but not fungal) diversity. Metabolites indicative of microbial activity were identified, and they too differed by material

A command-like descending neuron that coordinately activates backward and inhibits forward locomotion

Command-like descending neurons can induce many behaviors, such as backward locomotion, escape, feeding, courtship, egg-laying, or grooming. In most animals it remains unknown how neural circuits switch between these antagonistic behaviors: via top-down activation/inhibition of antagonistic circuits or via reciprocal inhibition between antagonistic circuits. Here we use genetic screens, intersectional genetics, circuit reconstruction by electron microscopy, and functional optogenetics to identify a bilateral pair of larval “mooncrawler descending neurons” (MDNs) with command-like ability to coordinately induce backward locomotion and block forward locomotion; the former by activating a backward-specific premotor neuron, and the latter by disynaptic inhibition of a forward-specific premotor neuron. In contrast, direct reciprocal inhibition between forward and backward circuits was not observed. Thus, MDNs coordinate a transition between antagonistic larval locomotor behaviors. Interestingly, larval MDNs persist into adulthood, where they can trigger backward walking. Thus, MDNs induce backward locomotion in both limbless and limbed animals

MDN brain descending neurons coordinately activate backward and inhibit forward locomotion.

Command-like descending neurons can induce many behaviors, such as backward locomotion, escape, feeding, courtship, egg-laying, or grooming (we define 'command-like neuron' as a neuron whose activation elicits or 'commands' a specific behavior). In most animals, it remains unknown how neural circuits switch between antagonistic behaviors: via top-down activation/inhibition of antagonistic circuits or via reciprocal inhibition between antagonistic circuits. Here, we use genetic screens, intersectional genetics, circuit reconstruction by electron microscopy, and functional optogenetics to identify a bilateral pair of Drosophila larval 'mooncrawler descending neurons' (MDNs) with command-like ability to coordinately induce backward locomotion and block forward locomotion; the former by stimulating a backward-active premotor neuron, and the latter by disynaptic inhibition of a forward-specific premotor neuron. In contrast, direct monosynaptic reciprocal inhibition between forward and backward circuits was not observed. Thus, MDNs coordinate a transition between antagonistic larval locomotor behaviors. Interestingly, larval MDNs persist into adulthood, where they can trigger backward walking. Thus, MDNs induce backward locomotion in both limbless and limbed animals

Reduced Leukocyte Infiltration in Absence of Eosinophils Correlates With Decreased Tissue Damage and Disease Susceptibility in ΔdblGATA Mice During Murine Neurocysticercosis

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is one of the most common helminth parasitic diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) and the leading cause of acquired epilepsy worldwide. NCC is caused by the presence of the metacestode larvae of the tapeworm Taenia solium within brain tissues. NCC patients exhibit a long asymptomatic phase followed by a phase of symptoms including increased intra-cranial pressure and seizures. While the asymptomatic phase is attributed to the immunosuppressive capabilities of viable T. solium parasites, release of antigens by dying organisms induce strong immune responses and associated symptoms. Previous studies in T. solium-infected pigs have shown that the inflammatory response consists of various leukocyte populations including eosinophils, macrophages, and T cells among others. Because the role of eosinophils within the brain has not been investigated during NCC, we examined parasite burden, disease susceptibility and the composition of the inflammatory reaction in the brains of infected wild type (WT) and eosinophil-deficient mice (ΔdblGATA) using a murine model of NCC in which mice were infected intracranially with Mesocestoides corti, a cestode parasite related to T. solium. In WT mice, we observed a time-dependent induction of eosinophil recruitment in infected mice, contrasting with an overall reduced leukocyte infiltration in ΔdblGATA brains. Although, ΔdblGATA mice exhibited an increased parasite burden, reduced tissue damage and less disease susceptibility was observed when compared to infected WT mice. Cellular infiltrates in infected ΔdblGATA mice were comprised of more mast cells, and αβ T cells, which correlated with an abundant CD8+ T cell response and reduced CD4+ Th1 and Th2 responses. Thus, our data suggest that enhanced inflammatory response in WT mice appears detrimental and associates with increased disease susceptibility, despite the reduced parasite burden in the CNS. Overall reduced leukocyte infiltration due to absence of eosinophils correlates with attenuated tissue damage and longer survival of ΔdblGATA mice. Therefore, our study suggests that approaches to clear NCC will require strategies to tightly control the host immune response while eradicating the parasite with minimal damage to brain tissue

COM TEXTO LITERÁRIO

O projeto de ensino “Com Texto Literário – Descolonizando leituras” existe há três anos no Campus Ibirama e visa criar um espaço de leitura e discussão de obras literárias de diversos gêneros e principalmente incentivar a leitura de autores que historicamente tem tido suas vozes silenciadas (mulheres, negros, indígí enas, pessoas com deficiência, imigrantes, entre outros), a partir de uma perspectiva decolonial. O projeto tem como referencial teórico CANDIDO (2011), COSSON (2006), MACEDO (2021) e MACHADO e SOARES (2021), e consiste em encontros quinzenais, de 50 minutos de duração. Tem como objetivo principal propiciar o aprofundamento do  conhecimentos acerca de diferentes gêneros literários, bem como desenvolver o letramento literário dos participantes e estimular a construção de um olhar crítico sobre a obra literária, valorizando e respeitando a diversidade, através dos diálogos e debates que ocorrem em cada encontro. Começamos o ano de 2023 apresentando o projeto somente para os primeiros anos, pois como eram recém chegados no instituto não o conheciam. Essa divulgação fez com que nos primeiros encontros tivéssemos a média de 60  pessoas participando, por isso decidimos dividir em dois grupos para deixar as pessoas mais confortáveis para falar. Com o passar dosencontros houve uma diminuição no número de participantes, agora temos uma média de 25–30 pessoas por encontro. Há dias em que os estudantes participam muito e outros dias com menos participação, e os alunos eventualmente trazem experiências pessoais que se relacionam com os assuntos dos contos. Este ano já tivemos diversas leituras em conjunto, lemos autores que discutem diferentes temáticas em suas obras. Dentre os autores, citamos Ursula K. Le Guin, Marina Monteiro, Mariana Enriquez, Íris Figueiredo e Jhumpa Lahiri, além de contos e mitos populares de diferentes culturas não–europeias. A escolha das obras literárias ocorre conforme sugestões da coordenadora e das bolsistas ou de acordo com indicações dos participantes, em decisões tomadas coletivamente. A cada encontro a autora / o autor também é introduzido ao grupo. Para o segundo semestre, pretendemos ter leituras mais extensas, e ampliar os nossos encontros com novos autores, participações especiais e atividades diferentes como oficinas, oferecidas não somente aos participantes do projeto, mas a quem quiser participar. Até o momento, temos percebido resultados como aumento na compreensão das especificidades dos textos que compõem o corpus de leitura e desenvolvimento de habilidades de expressão oral e de escuta ativa