Events, Activities, News

Sillerman Center Events

Compete for the Sillerman Prize for Innovations in Philanthropy

Upcoming Events

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Past Events

September 22-24, 2009

More Bang for your Buck: Small Foundations Engaging in Social Policy

The Grantmakers for Children Youth and Family (GCYF) Annual Conference in Minneapolis provided a great venue for the Sillerman Center to present its work on foundations engaging in public policy work. The interactive session was attended by representatives of all types of foundations, some infrastructure groups, consultants and others.

The program began with an engaging presnetation by Jason Franklin, consultant to the Sillerman Center, New York University lecturer, NorthStar Fund board member and Assistant Director of the 21st Century School Fund. He spoke about the nuts and bolts of policy engagement and gave a good overview of the mechanics of how foundations can engage in policy work.

The second presenter was Elenore Garton, Senior Researcher at the Sillerman Center and board member of the Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation. She presented a case study of her foundation's engagement in policy work around the issue of family and child homelessness.

The final presentation was given by Rebecca Stone, consultant to the Sillerman Center. Rebecca presented findings from research she has been doing for the Center on small family foundation engagement in policy work. She spoke about the characteristics necessary for a foundation to engage in policy work, and highlighted examples from the eight foundations she studied. The audience was particularly interested in the advice she had gathered from her interviews for how to be successful in policy work.

The audience spent time in small working groups discussing tools and specific strategies that they could employ to move their organizations into doing more successful policy work. Challenges to working in policy, including the difficulty of measuring impact, were discussed. The session beought research and practical applications together in an accessible and useful manner.

September 30, 2009

"Ready by 21": For funders interested in children and youth issues

This discussion, led by Elizabeth Gaines of The Forum for Youth Investment, focused on the role that funders can play in supporting the Massachusetts Ready by 21 Action Plan and how philanthropists can fill in gaps effectively.

The Ready by 21 Action Planning Team recently completed their work to inform a statewide plan for children and youth. Government leaders, United Ways, foundations, program providers and youth have been informed of this plan. It is a comprehensive look at what exists and what is needed for youth in Massachusetts to be successful. The plan lays out strategies and action steps and as implementation begins, it is necessary for all program planners, funders and decision makers to join together to make this plan a reality. This level of collaboration will be an unprecedented example for the rest of the country and has the potential for producing exponential effects on outcomes.

Time was spent discussing such questions as: What are examples of other collaborative efforts occurring in other places? How can funders support the next phase of this groundbreaking work in Massachusetts? What are the challenges to this new way of doing business?

There will be folllow-up to this discussion. Information on this is still to come.

Past Events

June 12, 2009

Teaching Philanthropy Workshop

The Zinner Forum at the Heller School is still reverberating with the enthusiastic philanthropic conversations that took place on June 12th. Bringing together faculty and students of the Sillerman Center, the Campus Compact/Fideltiy Charitable Gift Fund's Students4Giving project, and the Sunshine Lady Foundation's Learning by Giving project enabled the group to study the similarities and differences in the curriculum, students and communities where philanthropic courses are being taught. The teaching of philanthropy is becoming a new academic area of study and a "movement" across the country. One thing that emerged from this organizational meeting for College and University faculty and students was the impact that the study of both the theory and practice of philanthropy has on students. It solidifies their civic values and leadership skill that will carry into the future. This forum pooled knowledge and experience in teaching philanthropy which ultimately will improve our programs and expand the field of philanthropic education. Some of the issues addressed were resources, strategies and best practices, funding sources and vision for this growing network.

June 5, 2009

The Art and Craft of Your Own Philanthropy

Brandeis Alum joined Andy Hahn, Director of the Sillerman Center and Claudia Jacobs and Elenore Garton at the Alumni College 2009 event.

April 30, 2009

Health Care Investing for Foundations: Strategies for Filling the Gaps

Health Care funders were treated to a roundtable breakfast with nationally known health care economist and policy expert, Stuart Altman at the Heller School. Altman who has advised numerous Presidents during the last five decades, spoke bluntly about how frail the safety net is for many people, exacerbated by the economy and the rise in unemployment leaving many without health care coverage. But he remarked that "even solving the health insurance issue won't completely address the problems that are much deeper and broader".

March 11, 2009

Immigration Dinner and Debate

Foundation Trustees and staff, as well as philanthropists interested in or already funding projects that involve immigration, attended a small private dinner co-sponsored by the Sillerman Center and the Associated Grant Makers (AGM) of Boston. The dinner enabled a discussion with the featured speakers of the Annual Zinner Distinguished Lecture Series event "After the Crossing: Implications of Alternative Policy Responses to Illegal Immigration". Rinku Sen and Steven Camarota were available before the debate, which began at 7:30 pm in the Zinner Forum at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

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Images taken at the Teaching Philanthropy Workshop held at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management