All posts in College Access

One of my favorite events in philanthropy concluded this past weekend – the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) Annual Conference. Several colleagues from the philanthropic and nonprofit sector, ABFE Fellows (I’m class of 2011), and allies from across the country converged in the city of Chicago to assess our call to action to improve conditions affecting black communities in America. This year’s theme  focused on coupling innovation with investment as a means to delivering greater impact through individual and collective efforts.

Chicago served as a fitting city to hold such a convening as its black community has been plagued by high unemployment rates (top five in the country), low high school graduation rates and highest dropout rates (55% and 42% respectively), and strings of highly publicized acts of violence among black men, women, young adults, and children. I think we can agree that blacks in Chicago are living with and experiencing trauma ad nauseum. (more…)

We’re excited to share our video summary of the 2012 year! Many thanks to everyone involved in making this happen – both the video and the accomplishments of the past year!

To view the list of 2012 grant recipients by program area, click here.
To view the video in our YouTube channel, click here.

Just in case you missed this announcement on our home page, we’re excited to share news of our next iteration!

On a related note, we’ll continue sharing news here on the mkf.org site until our changeover officially happens on May 15th.

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Dear Community:

For the past year, we’ve been keeping you abreast of an ongoing strategic shift here at the Kapor Foundation. We’re very excited to announce that we’ve arrived. As of May 15, 2013, the Kapor Foundation will have a new public face, the Kapor Center for Social Impact. Through a shared vision, set of values, and program activities, we’ll work more closely with Kapor Capital, our sibling venture capital microfirm focused on seed-stage tech startups.

The Kapor Center’s working mission is to “relentlessly pursue  creative strategies that will leverage tech for positive social impact in underrepresented communities, primarily focusing on closing academic, political, health, and economic gaps.” This mission represents our deep belief in the power of information technology as a tool to accelerate social good, and fully aligns with the Kapors’ longtime involvement in the tech industry, stemming back to their days at Lotus Development Corporation in the early 1980s.

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After returning from my first SXSWedu experience – yes, I got digitized – I have now had enough time to digest the digital overload and make sense of all  that I experienced. See, I arrived the Lone Star State capital a SXSW newbie, not knowing what to expect or what exactly to look for. My ignorance soon became dwarfed by an eagerness to consume as much information, materials, and swag as possible.

Each day, I strolled through the wide hallways of the Austin Convention Center and neighboring Hilton with my head on a swivel and ears attuned to what I called “tech talk” – conversations among individuals who are either starting, securing funding for, investing in, or acquiring a startup. Believe you me, there was no other conversation happening unless it was regarding what food truck was worth paying a visit to. Being cognizant of the directional pivot that we as an organization have recently made, I naturally wiggled my way into these annular conversations to become more familiar with what innovators and technologists were thinking.

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Just wanted to loop back around with everyone; we’ve received a few eager inquiries about our2013 grantmaking priorities. As we’ve mentioned before, we’re in store for some major changes as we shift our focus to tech-driven strategies and tools that further social justice/social impact. Once ready, we’ll announce the changes here on our website and Twitter account, so please check back with us in mid-February for updates.

I love that the Presidential Inauguration falls on the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday. Rather than pontificating on the vision and promise that these two leaders represent, I’m simply going to challenge myself to use this day as a jumping off point for the next year of social justice work, as related to Dr. King’s legacy, and the next four years of social impact efforts in the age of President Obama. What can we individually and collectively accomplish in the next year/four years? Let’s go! Best wishes for a powerful, peaceful, and (broadly defined) prosperous 2013.

Photo from theSoulPitt.com

Friday, February 1, 2013 – 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Exhibit Hall, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael

This conference provides training, toolkits, and professional development in college access and success practices to Bay Area nonprofit organizations, community agencies, middle and high school counselors and administrators, organization volunteers, mentors and other adult allies.

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, this event is free. Food and raffle prizes are included.

Conference registration is required by Tuesday, January 22, 2013.
Register by clicking here.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr.  |  www.street-soldiers.org
Co-founder and Executive Director of Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers, author, lecturer, radio talk show host, and community activist

Dr. Francisco Reveles  |  www.l7studio.com/MenteBrava
Chair, Department of Educational Leadership at CSU Sacramento, author, researcher, gang mediator and film maker

CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS (subject to change)
*    Parent Engagement Strategies
*    Successful Transitions to High School
*    Career Pathways: Education with a Purpose
*    Cultivating GRIT and Perseverance
*    Financial Aid Updates and the DREAM Act
*    College Campus Cohorts: Peer Groups for Persistence
*    Leveraging Social Media and Technology
*    DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
*    Engaging African-American and Latino Males
*    Students in Crisis: Tools for non-Crisis Counselors
*    Planning Effective Student/Parent Events
*    Student Voices: “Sometimes everyone needs a push”

CONFERENCE SPONSORS
*    Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership, San Rafael
*    West Contra Costa Public Education Fund, Richmond
*    Anonymous

Akili Terry  is commonly referred to as ‘Brother Akili” by fellow Brotherhood Leadership Advisory Council members. It’s a nickname given to him by his peers as a sign of respect towards his outward demonstration of being black and proud to be college bound.  He embodies an old soul and projects wisdom beyond his years.

Over the past years, the College Bound Brotherhood has been fortunate to work with Akili and see him develop into a leader on the Council and in the community.  But these are not the only places that Akili has demonstrated growth; as a senior at Marin Catholic High School he has emerged as a star student-athlete.

Over the holiday break, Akili helped lead his team to the Division III state football title game. His championship quest and life-path was highlighted in MaxPrep.com, an CBS affiliate featuring prep sports and their stars. To read more about Akili’s  humble journey from West Oakland to Marin, and his balancing act click here.

Great job Akili! Continue your path towards greatness.

photo source: Dennis Lee

“IN THE SPIRIT” AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED
TO COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTORS IN DIVERSE GENRES

Recognizing the Gifted & Giving During 2nd Annual Celebration
Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012 ~ Scottish Rite Auditorium, Oakland, CA

Oakland-based organization In The Spirit will host its second annual awards celebration in honor of civic, community, academic, entertainment, healthcare, media, ministerial and sports leaders who work, reside in, or are otherwise associated with the San Francisco Bay Area.  We want to congratulate Ms. Jacqueline Rushing, Founder and Executive Director of the Young Scholars Program, a College Bound Brotherhood grant partner organization, as she will be recognized at this year’s ceremony for her leadership and commitment to youth excellence. (more…)

This past week in New York the Open Society Foundation hosted its Innovation & Impact Forum for Black Male Achievement, “What Winning Looks Like: Investing in What Works”. This one-day convening took a deep DIVE into the state of black male achievement and its future, and was organized by the hard-working folks at OSF’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement.

The morning kicked off with Mayor Michael Bloomberg taking the stage and candidly expressing why the city of New York was deepening its investment in black male achievement as well as why he was making a personal investment of $30 million (via Bloomberg Philanthropies) in this campaign.
Following Mayor Bloomberg was a panel discussion, which included George Soros, founder of Open Society Foundations; Geoffrey Canada, CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone; Dr. Robert K. Ross, President and CEO of The California Endowment; and Alexis McGill Johnson, Executive Director of American Values Institute. The panelists engaged in a rich dialogue on why this particular issue resonated with them and what they considered as the next steps to improve the outcomes for black males.

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