Mitchell Kapor Foundation Weblog

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

Mitch & Freada

Re: Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission:

The Court’s opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt.

Hopefully this decision by the Supreme Court will create the popular and political tsunami needed to pass suitable fair elections and campaign finance limitation legislation.  Nick Nyhart, President of Public Campaign, wrote a compelling response on Huffington Post. Voter Action is even preparing a “Free Speech for People” campaign to push for a constitutional amendment in response (and be sure to spread the word about their awesome call to action video!).

Death sentence for democracy? We’ll see…

Over the past four weeks, my nephew, Michael, has been visiting from North Carolina.  During this first of hopefully many visits to California, he has been a volunteer here at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation learning about the work we do and helping us get some important things done as we move into the next fiscal year.  I’m really proud of the work he has accomplished during this short visit.  He even had an opportunity to volunteer at Glide Memorial to serve lunch along with other colleagues here in our offices.  Hopefully, we send him home with new skills, knowledge, and perspective.  Here is what Michael had to say about his stay here:

“Volunteering at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation has been a very exciting experience. I never really understood the real world and how it’s so fast moving and doesn’t wait for anybody. It’s always on the go, and you have to be ready to move with it, or you’ll get left behind. I didn’t think it would be hard to work in an office job, but little did I know what I was getting myself into. The first couple of days I got to get a feel for the working environment, but soon after that I was put to work. I had to do papers and documents and more papers and documents. It was really hard, but I started getting into the flow of things, and that really helped me get a system and a plan to complete all the things I needed to accomplish. I have had fun meeting the new people at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation. I had a wonderful boss (Cedric Brown) that taught me some real key concepts to help me not just in the office but in the real world as well. I met a wonderful lady (Carmen ) that made me laugh from the first time I met her. She always has a positive attitude and kept a smile on my face all the time. But last but not least, there’s my Aunt (Tiffany Price) who gave me this wonderful opportunity to come down here and spend some time with her and get to see what it is like to live on your on and have to take trains and buses to work. While it’s a lot to do, I finally got the hang of it, and I can say that this will be an experience that I’ll never forget!!”

Thanks, Michael!!!