Catalyzing Collaboration: The Developing Infrastructure for Federal Public Private Partnerships

There is growing interest on the part of government, philanthropy and business to work together to achieve greater impact. Partnerships that span the sectors have the potential to achieve more than any sector can achieve on its own by leveraging the strengths of each. However, such partnerships also give rise to added costs and entail greater risks. To address these challenges, offices of strategic partnerships are emerging at the federal level to provide an infrastructure to catalyze cross-sectoral partnerships. This report examines 21 such offices in federal departments and agencies whose purpose is to facilitate and accelerate partnerships with philanthropy and business -- ranging from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Education, to the Department of State and the Agency for International Development, to the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The formation of these offices has been driven by champions within government -- many with prior experience in philanthropy or business -- that have witnessed the power of working collaboratively with other sectors. Their actions have often been reinforced by executive orders and other directives conducive to their growth. In the case of those offices that have been created in the last few years, they have also been encouraged by the examples of their more established counterparts

Foundation Support for Nonprofit Capital Needs in Southern California

Analyzes trends in foundation funding for nonprofits' capital campaigns, land acquisition, and building and renovation in five counties. Lists foundations that may provide capital support, but suggests securing other primary sources of capital funding

Foundations in Los Angeles: An Assessment of the Last 25 Years

Philanthropy has changed in marked ways over the last 25 years. We have seen new players, new giving vehicles and new approaches. New players came on the scene from their economic success in the tech industry, financial institutions and other growth industries. Many of them are younger, more diverse and committed to philanthropy. Many took advantage of new structures for giving, such as donor advised funds and philanthropic LLCs leading to a donor-centered philanthropy. These donors adopted new strategies that, at their core, aspire for greater impact, not merely doing good.These forces have created a crescendo that is reflected in the way philanthropy is practiced today. Early in this period, strategic philanthropy and nonprofit capacity building – elements central to the venture philanthropy movement – were the focus. In the intervening years, a number of efforts have emerged: philanthropic collaboration, public policy engagement, public philanthropic partnerships, impact investing, diversity and inclusion, and new giving models that are more flexible and nimbler. Some of these approaches have taken hold as evidenced by the emergence of related infrastructure organizations and affinity groups. In other instances, the developments are at an earlier stage, yet are gaining traction. And, there are others where it is still too early to tell. Despite these different stages, it is clear that this generation of philanthropy is marked by a focus on impact.We have seen these changes unfold here in Los Angeles. In this paper, to provide context, we begin by reflecting on the changing foundation landscape and the prospects for even more changes in the future. Then, we work through the eight strategies that have defined this generation, exploring how they have shaped the way L.A. foundations approach their work. For each strategy, we share some notable examples that bring each to life, providing a vivid portrait of the changes that are reshaping philanthropy in the region. We conclude with reflections on how this generation of impact has found expression in L.A. philanthropy and offer some thoughts on what the future may hold.

Place-Based Initiatives: Lessons From Five Decades of Experimentation and Experience

This article summarizes the findings from a yearlong inquiry into the state of place-based initiatives, underscores the lessons learned, and develops implications for foundation practice. Place-based approaches have matured in response to five decades of historical change. In more recent years, a new framework for such initiatives has emerged that views place as an open system where neighborhoods are aligned with larger areas and influenced by market forces and public policy. Consequently, place-based initiatives targeted to a specific neighborhood are only part of any solution. Seven key lessons emerged from this inquiry that animate a renewed sense of the possible as the next generation of place-based initiatives unfolds

Place-Based Initiatives in the Context of Public Policy and Markets: Moving to Higher Ground

This monograph is the culmination of a yearlong inquiry by The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at USC into place based work. It includes a 50-year evolution of place-based initiatives and a synthesis of the inquiry's conversations with dozens of the foremost practitioners and scholars in the field, many of whom have spent their entire careers working on major philanthropic initiatives or government efforts addressing geographically-concentrated poverty. Among the insights in the report: poor U.S. neighborhoods are not all the same; a single process will not reverse generations of poverty; and public policy must be "place-conscious." National thought leaders also strongly recommend that in order to be successful, anti-poverty initiatives must be "nested" within larger, mutually reinforcing public policies and connected to the market economy; and philanthropic, corporate, and public resources should be "braided" together to achieve scale and impact. It also includes an important statement about the significance of "place-based" strategy by The Honorable Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, along with an illustrative example from Dr. Robert K. Ross President and CEO of the California Endowment, which is in the midst of a ten-year, 14-site, $1 billion place-based campaign in California, and a dozen response essays from a variety of experts across a range of disciplines

Offices of Strategic Partnerships: Helping Philanthropy and Government Work Better Together

· There is a growing interest on the part of philanthropy and government in working together to address problems of common interest. But crosssectoral collaborations are not easy. In response, a new organizational structure – the office of strategic partnerships – is emerging that catalyzes, fosters, and accelerates such partnerships. · These offices help to overcome the barriers of working across sectors by sharing knowledge and information about the sectors, identifying and convening stakeholders to discuss shared solutions, and leveraging resources to support public-problem solving. · Based on interviews and a convening of principals of six of these offices at the city, state, and federal levels, this article1 examines the lessons for making these offices successful in facilitating government-philanthropic partnerships. · In particular, it focuses on the need to determine appropriate roles and expectations, match philanthropic and government interests, find and field the right leadership, and build a record of success that encourages the sustainability of these offices

A biophysical model of prokaryotic diversity in geothermal hot springs

Recent field investigations of photosynthetic bacteria living in geothermal hot spring environments have revealed surprisingly complex ecosystems, with an unexpected level of genetic diversity. One case of particular interest involves the distribution along hot spring thermal gradients of genetically distinct bacterial strains that differ in their preferred temperatures for reproduction and photosynthesis. In such systems, a single variable, temperature, defines the relevant environmental variation. In spite of this, each region along the thermal gradient exhibits multiple strains of photosynthetic bacteria adapted to several distinct thermal optima, rather than the expected single thermal strain adapted to the local environmental temperature. Here we analyze microbiology data from several ecological studies to show that the thermal distribution field data exhibit several universal features independent of location and specific bacterial strain. These include the distribution of optimal temperatures of different thermal strains and the functional dependence of the net population density on temperature. Further, we present a simple population dynamics model of these systems that is highly constrained by biophysical data and by physical features of the environment. This model can explain in detail the observed diversity of different strains of the photosynthetic bacteria. It also reproduces the observed thermal population distributions, as well as certain features of population dynamics observed in laboratory studies of the same organisms

Hypothenar hammer syndrome: Proposed etiology

AbstractPurpose: Finger ischemia caused by embolic occlusion of digital arteries originating from the palmar ulnar artery in a person repetitively striking objects with the heel of the hand has been termed hypothenar hammer syndrome (HHS). Previous reports have attributed the arterial pathology to traumatic injury to normal vessels. A large experience leads us to hypothesize that HHS results from trauma to intrinsically abnormal arteries. Methods: We reviewed the arteriography, histology, and clinical outcome of all patients treated for HHS in a university clinical research center study of hand ischemia, which prospectively enrolled more than 1300 subjects from 1971 to 1998. Results: Twenty-one men had HHS. All had occupational (mechanic, carpenter, etc) or avocational (woodworker) exposure to repetitive palmar trauma. All patients underwent upper-extremity and hand arteriography, unilateral in eight patients (38%) and bilateral in 13 patients (62%). By means of arteriogram, multiple digital artery occlusions were shown in the symptomatic hand, with either segmental ulnar artery occlusion in the palm or characteristic “corkscrew” elongation, with alternating stenoses and ectasia. Similar changes in the contralateral asymptomatic (and less traumatized) hand were shown by means of 12 of 13 bilateral arteriograms (92%). Twenty-one operations, consisting of segmental ulnar artery excision in the palm and vein grafting, were performed on 19 patients. Histology was compatible with fibromuscular dysplasia with superimposed trauma. Patency of arterial repairs at 2 years was 84%. One patient (5%) required amputative debridement of necrotic finger tips. No other tissue loss occurred. There have been no recurrences of ischemia in patients with patent bypass grafts. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the largest reported group of HHS patients. The characteristic angiographic appearance, histologic findings, and striking incidence of bilateral abnormalities in patients with unilateral symptoms lead us to conclude that HHS occurs when persons with preexisting palmar ulnar artery fibrodysplasia experience repetitive palmar trauma. This revised theory for the etiology of HHS explains why HHS does not develop in most patients with repetitive palmar trauma. (J Vasc Surg 2000;31:104-13.