Mitchell Kapor Foundation Weblog

Our partner organization, Level Playing Field Institute,  is seeking internship  providers for its undergraduate IDEAL Scholars.  IDEAL undergraduates are top-notch students at UC Berkeley, and they understand the value of gaining meaningful work experience to supplement their education. IDEAL Scholars are interested in placements in the fields of business, communications, government, healthcare, education, social justice, law, research, and tech.

Internships should be between 8-10 weeks long, and LPFI prefers that organizations provide interns with a stipend ($3,000 per summer).  For organizations unable to compensate Scholars, limited funding is available. Your participation could provide an enriching summer experience for your organization and these scholars as well; not to mention the opportunity to get some much-needed work done.

If you have a summer internship opportunity for one or more IDEAL Scholars for this summer of 2010, please contact Sumaiya Talukdar, LPFI’s Scholarship and Internship Coordinator.  You can email her at sumaiya AT lpfi DOT org or by phone at 415-946-3047.

Find out more information regarding the types of internships Scholars are looking for and how to offer Scholars internships at LPFI’s internship page.

photo source: http://lpfi.org

Would you believe it possible for a 100 percent graduation rate of black male seniors at a high school?  Those of you who are familiar with the achievement gap that exists between black males and their peers are probably shaking your head in skepticism.  Would you think I’m absolutely crazy if I told you that not only is it possible, but that the same group of graduates has a 100 percent acceptance rate for college?

That is exactly what the graduating class of Urban Prep, an African-American all-male charter school in Chicago, did.  On a daily basis these scholars face intense adversity and social oppression, yet they have maintained a level of focus and dedication to set the precedent of excellence as the first senior class in the school’s history.

Urban Prep’s success is worth applauding.  It serves as an example for educators, policy makers, the greater community, and, most importantly, black males everywhere.  Furthermore, we should take note that accomplishing both goals are realistically possible despite the unyielding challenges associated with increasing the percentage of black males who are: a) college ready and b) college bound.

Urban Prep has creatively developed a method that gets black boys to college.  However, their creativity is molded to fit the construct of their own organization, a charter school. Yet, success is success.  So how do we replicate the same statistical success, or close to it, for black males in the Bay Area?  Like the black youth in Chicago, young black men from the San Francisco Bay Area suffer from a multitude of social and educational issues that contribute to a road less traveled towards higher education.  The lack of opportunity and success of young black men from the Bay Area is a problem that the College Bound Brotherhood seeks to address.

Those who are unfamiliar with “The Brotherhood” should know that our primary focus is establishing a stronger college-going culture by supporting organizations committed to aiding and fostering educational opportunities for black youth.  Last year, the Brotherhood supported and collaborated with 11 non-profit organizations throughout the Bay Area.  Our inaugural year concluded with a wonderful ceremony honoring graduating seniors from those grant recipient organizations.

As The Brotherhood transitions into its second year, we are actively building upon lessons from our first year and view Urban Prep as further inspiration in developing a college bound movement in the Bay Area.  Statistically speaking, increasing the number of college bound black men is an uphill battle; only 26.9 percent of all graduating black males  met UC/CSU A-G requirements in 2008 (Source: California Department of Education). But if the story of Urban Prep demonstrates anything, it’s that the job can definitely be done.  In order for the college bound movement here in the Bay Area to reach its full potential there must be a collaborative effort from organizations, community members and leaders, and all individuals that have a genuine concern for the plight and educational development of black males. That’s what we’re working ton build.

photo source: www.lashawnbarber.com

Rockwood is accepting nominations again for its 9-month Fellowship for California Leaders of Color, a multi-session leadership program for nonprofit leaders of color committed to:

1. Creating and sustaining compelling visions for their organizations
2. Inspiring and aligning others to work effectively towards common goals
3. Dealing more effectively with leadership and organizational challenges
4. Engaging with a powerful learning community of leaders of color throughout the state.

Rockwood’s criteria for enrollment in the Fellowship include a cohort of leaders who:

1. Are positioned in the state of California to help demonstrate new and better ways to lead and work together
2. Demonstrate personal/professional readiness to learn new leadership skills – including coaching, feedback, communication, and personal sustainability.
3. Manage and lead small to mid sized organizations (under $2 million budget)
4. Interest in and ability to partner with organizations outside their region in California
5. Are based in the Greater California Bay Area

The bulk of the fellowship costs are covered by Community Leadership Project funds, but each participant must contribute $500 for their participation in the program.

To nominate yourself or another leader to be a 2010-2011 Fellow, please email fellowship@rockwoodleadership.org the name, title, organization of the individual, and a brief description why you are nominating them. Nominees who meet the program criteria, will be sent an application.  Nominations are due, Wednesday, April 7, 2010.  Applications are due May 7, 2010.

A list of last year’s fellows can be found by clicking HERE.

Photo source: http://creativedifference.wordpress.com

As a former college basketball player, I understand the difficulty associated with juggling academics and athletics.   It’s no cakewalk–one drives the other.  The young men and women who have taken on the challenge of participating in athletics while simultaneously obtaining their degree are commonly referred to as “student-athletes”.  Sadly, due to the immense commitment involved with playing Division 1 Sports, the reality for many student athletes is that they are athletes first.  For most, meeting the obligations of both worlds is a rigorous balancing act.  Consequently, a good percentage of athletes, mostly black, are leaving their respective institutions without a degree.

African-American males playing Division 1 Sports in this country are suffering far worse from this dilemma than any other ethnic group in college athletics.  While the NCAA is capitalizing off of the athletic ability of all athletes involved in high profile sports, there are far too many African-Americans not graduating college and the NCAA is doing very little to fix the issue.

Coinciding with the NCAA Basketball Tournament, The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida released their annual report highlighting the disparity in graduation rates (over six-years) between white and black players on this year’s men’s tournament bound teams.  The study reveals that white Division I basketball male student-athletes graduate at a rate of 84 percent while only 56 percent of black Division I basketball male student-athletes graduate.  Furthermore, the study finds that 79 percent of the men’s tournament teams graduated 70 percent or more of their white athletes, while only 31 percent graduated 70 percent or more of their black players.  To illustrate the severity of this issue, it should be noted that the gap in graduation rates has increased by 22 percentage points from the previous year.

As we meticulously fill out our brackets projecting which team will be crowned 2010 NCAA Champions among the pool of 65, let us not forget that the young men entertaining us are also sacrificing their education.  More importantly, as this gap in graduation rates between white and African-American athletes continues to widen, we can only hope that the NCAA will consider investing at least 1% of the $710 million in revenue that it averages annually (90 percent coming from the tournament) into developing programs and initiatives that focus on ensuring that African-American athletes complete their college degree.

photo source:  http://whitneymcd7.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/march-madness-picks.jpg

I’m excited to welcome Mario Lugay to the Kapor Foundation as the Associate Program Officer. In this role, Mario will be responsible for the Foundation’s national VoICE grantmaking and movement-building work. Mario will also work with Carmen on our electoral empowerment efforts in California communities of color.
Mario has an extensive background in civic engagement and community organizing. He and I first became acquainted through his work with the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP), the national strategy and affinity group for philanthropy professionals involved with elections and other civic issues. Mario initially joined FCCP and the American Dream Fund as Program Associate and, in 2008, became FCCP’s first Program Director, where he served in this national role until January 2010 (and then we promptly snatched him up!).

Prior to that, Mario worked as the National Coordinator of Racial Justice 911: People of Color Against the War, consulted with Listen, Inc. to help bring a delegation of U.S. youth organizers to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and was the Development Coordinator for CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities in the Northwest Bronx. Mario has served on CAAAV’s Strategizing Committee and on the Community Funding Board of the North Star Fund in NYC. A native New Yorker, Mario earned a BA in political science from Columbia University.

We consider it quite a coup to be able to work with Mario. Please join us in welcoming him to the Kapor Foundation team!

It is with enormous respect, gratitude and pride that we announce that our very own, inimitable Cedric Brown has been selected to receive a national honor.  He has been chosen by the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) as the 2010 recipient of the Emerging Leader in Philanthropy Award.

Cedric is being celebrated as an outstanding individual whose innovative leadership promotes philanthropy as a means of social change in Black communities and advances ABFE’s mission.  His award will be officially presented at the Council on Foundations annual meeting in April in Denver.

Cedric worked as the head of the education programs at the Level Playing Field Institute for five years before moving over three years ago to head the Mitchell Kapor Foundation.  It has been a distinct pleasure, honor and learning experience to work with Cedric for these past eight years.

Cedric is building an innovative approach to philanthropy at the Foundation, one which reflects our shared commitment to make the world a fairer place and stewards philanthropic efforts that focus on African American  communities. Please join us in congratulating him on his well-deserved recognition.

Mitch & Freada

I am so pleased to welcome Justin Davis to the Kapor Foundation staff as the program coordinator of the College Bound Brotherhood. In this capacity, Justin will create profiles of community-based organizations for our soon-to-be-launched public database of Bay Area college access programs as well as conduct college outreach to young men in Bay Area middle and high schools. He’ll also assist with grantmaking to Bay Area nonprofits working in this realm.

Justin is a Bay Area native and graduated from Stanford University in 2004 with a BA in Communications. He embraced the title of “student athlete” while at Stanford as a power forward for the men’s basketball team, helping guide them to three PAC-10 titles during his athletic campaign (no hateration allowed, Bears and Bruins)! After graduation, Justin pursued his dream of playing professional basketball in multiple European countries and domestically in the NBA.

Justin believes that many of his opportunities are attributed to the numerous mentors and teachers who believed in him and encouraged him to succeed. While no longer a professional athlete, Justin is very committed to helping young men of color receive the same educational and economic opportunities that he’s had. His interest in education, specifically in urban contexts, developed during his undergraduate senior year while taking graduate courses in education.

Justin aims to eventually develop and institute a national college-level program that focuses on the social and academic development of black student athletes, who historically have the lowest graduation rate of student athletes, to help develop them better prepare for post-collegiate professional careers.

We look forward to working with Justin and immersing him in the world of college access in the Bay Area!