Oct. 6th to Oct. 10th
The Bloomfield Journal has an article on ITNNorthCentralConnecticut, an affiliate of ITNAmerica.
The Carrboro Citizen, a local newspaper in Carrboro, North Carolina, notes on its Community Calendar that a festival will be held to benefit Safe Passage, an organization that assists children and families in the Guatemala City garbage dump…Safe Passage is one of Bowdoin College’s “Alternative Spring Break” sites for 2009…The nonprofit is seeking to hire an Educational Director…And, lastly, this Dartmouth University student blogs about her recent trip to Guatemala, where she saw first-hand Safe Passage’s important work.
Vermont Works for Women Executive Director Tiffany Bluemle, whom the Great Bay Foundation funded last year, recently authored a short piece in The Burlington Free Press regarding the importance of supporting the United Way.
The Washington Hancock Community Agency is partnering with the Town of Milbridge (Maine) to fix up homes that need weatherization and repair.
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Yesterday, I noted that starting on Monday I’ll be blogging live from the Social Capital Markets Conference in San Francisco, California. I’m excited to be part of a cadre of bloggers who will be posting thoughts from the event.
This Sunday, the 12th of October, I will board a plane for San Francisco, where I will attend the first ever Social Capital Markets Conference, taking place from October 13th to the 15th at the Fort Mason Center. SoCap08, as it is being called, will bring together over 500 social investors and social entrepreneurs. Notes the event website, “This is a new, first-of-its-kind event designed to bring together the people and organizations with a deep passion to change the world through sustainable business. Investors and entrepreneurs will find themselves working to build this new community, gaining encouragement as they realize that they are not alone, but are a part of something big, important - and rapidly growing.”
I’ll be attending SoCap08 on behalf of the Great Bay Foundation. With ten years of funding nonprofit social enterprise projects in New England states, the Foundation has gained valuable experience and knowledge regarding the flow of capital to entrepreneurial individuals committed to solving social problems and of the importance of supporting business enterprise efforts to achieve social change. SoCap08 will enable me to explore these areas further and to meet and learn from world renowned speakers and panelists. In addition, the event will give me a chance to catch up with field leaders already in the Great Bay Network.
The timing of SoCap08 could not be better for Great Bay. The Foundation is preparing to embark on an exciting new period of growth and development, in which we are seeking to increase our corpus, while expanding both our funding area and the range of philanthropic/investment tools used to achieve social and mission impact.
While I expect my days in San Francisco to be packed full of thought-provoking, inspiring learning and networking sessions and opportunities, I will be making time to blog live from the event, sharing my thoughts and experiences. The many topics highlighted at SoCap08—click here for a full schedule—will be of importance to anyone interested in the flow of capital to organizations dedicated to achieving social change. I hope that you find value in the dispatches, and that you respond with any comments/questions that you might have.
So, please stay tuned for my first post from San Francisco, California…
Sept. 29th to Oct. 3rd
The Bangor Daily News has an article on Alpha One’s recent “Adaptive Fair,” where the organization’s Renegade Wheelchair was on display.
The 4th Annual Walk to D’Feet Hunger & Homelessness was held this week to benefit Amos House, an organization that “supports men, women and children in Rhode Island who are hungry, homeless and in crisis.” And Eileen Hayes, Executive Director of the organization, recently joined over 60 Rhode Island community leaders in a “Poverty Simulation,” sponsored by Social Venture Partners Rhode Island.
Better Shred, a business enterprise of CranstonArc, recently hosted a Recycling Awareness Day.
First Wind, an independent wind power company, has donated a total of $30,000 to four Maine county-based community programs, including the Washington Hancock Community Agency. The programs are affiliated with the State of Maine’s Keep ME Warm Fund.
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Ablevision, profiled in an earlier post, is having its 20th Episode Premier on October 23rd. Stars will arrive via a red carpet, and an after party will follow the showing. Get your tickets today by contacting Triangle, Inc.
Idealware, also profiled in an earlier post, is offering a FREE online seminar entitled “Online Communications on a Shoestring” that will take place on October 29th.
Roundtable Discussion on Conflict, and “Work is Good”
02 Oct
Posted by Travis as Grantee Network, Organizations
Yesterday, the Great Bay Foundation hosted a Roundtable Discussion in Braintree, Massachusetts. The day began with a luncheon in which the participants—all members of the Great Bay Network—discussed how we can turn negative aspects of conflict into a creative dynamic for positive change. The discussion topic was inspired by an NPR review of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, “Team of Rivals,” which describes how President Lincoln deliberately selected powerful, outspoken adversaries to generate conflict from which he developed some of his most brilliant strategies. We asked participants whether they could share stories of conflict they have had with boards, team leaders, staff, volunteers, etc. We wondered whether they had been able to turn situations fraught with conflict into positive moves for their organizations? Unsurprisingly, the discussion was enlightening on many levels. Participants discussed intense customer negotiations, and seemingly irreparable disagreements among staff and board members. The group agreed that, in their experiences, conflict is almost always instructive. Through contentious situations, leaders and organizations can become stronger. We’d love to hear how you have resolved a fractious situation.
After lunch, the group visited Employ+Ability Inc., a social enterprise in Braintree that hires adults with developmental disabilities and that has adopted the slogan “Work is Good,” to reflect its philosophy that work plays a positive role in all our lives and especially those with disabilities. The business, led by President and social entrepreneur Jim Middleton, assembles quality hot and cold therapeutic products for medical, sports, first-aid, and safety markets. In addition, the business packages women’s health tests for private labels, and assembles first-aid and diagnostic test kits for companies such as Inverness Medical, U.S. Surgical, and Johnson & Johnson. Employ+Ability puts together 10 million hot and cold packs annually. Its cold pack was recently named the “Official Ice Pack of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution.”
Jim, along with some of his senior staff, gave us a tour of his operations. We met many of the Employ+Ability staff, hard at work in their various positions. Despite the tremendous obstacles that these workers face, it was obvious that they are doing a remarkable job and thrive on the responsibility. The long-term employment provides these men and women with a competitive wage with benefits, which allows them to live independently and support family members.
Sept. 22nd to Sept. 26th
Law enforcement officers have donated over 1,000 pounds of fish to Amos House, which provides meals to the poor in Providence, RI.
As Robert Chambers delivered his remarks at the FertileGround Conference, this blogger offered his thoughts on Bonnie CLAC’s model.
Friends of the Cobscook Community Learning Center are invited to join other volunteers, the staff, and board for a day of trail clearing, painting, and shingling on the CCLC campus from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3.
Author and Colby College professor Lyn Mikel Brown recently visited Catherine McAuley high school to discuss her research on girls’ development and the media. Brown also creates programs for Hardy Girls Healthy Women.
This story has a picture of ITNAmerica Founder Kathy Freund cutting the ribbon to open ITNBluegrass.
A Maine WoodWorks furniture piece is featured in the Fall Edition of Oprah’s At Home Magazine. Check out page 48, or click here for retail information. Maine WoodWorks is a division of Creative Work Systems.
Here is a photo from Triangle, Inc.’s recent Annual Golf and Tennis Classic.
Sept. 15th to Sept. 19th
Robert Chambers, President of Bonnie CLAC, was interviewed this week by Portland’s WCSH 6. As noted in an earlier post, he’ll be the featured speaker at next week’s Fertile Ground Conference ‘08.
The Fundy Audubon Chapter of Maine Audubon will be holding its annual meeting on September 16th at the Cobscook Community Learning Center. The guest speaker will be Will Hopkins, Executive Director of the Cobscook Bay Resource Center.
This blogger discusses the Independent Transportation Network program in Kentucky.
ReCycle North has announced that a merger is pending with The ReStore. The plan is to set up a combined reuse and educational operation in central Vermont.
One Day, One Internship, a guide to internship opportunities for college students, profiles Smokey House Center.
Shinae Chun, who runs the Women’s Bureau for the U.S. Department of Labor, has positive things to say about the modular home construction program operated by Vermont Works for Women.
Week of Sept. 8th to Sept. 12th
The Enterprise has a story on Brockton (Massachusetts) High School students who have participated in Artists For Humanity’s programs and are now earning income off their artwork.
The Downeast Business Alliance (a division of the Washington Hancock Community Agency) has received a grant from the Maine Community Foundation to conduct assessments of farmers markets in Ellsworth and Machias, “in an effort to help them improve marketing strategies, increase attendance and attract new vendors.”
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In other news, Paul Light, Professor at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, has a new book that we couldn’t order fast enough: “The Search for Social Entrepreneurship”. I’ll be writing more about this book in a future post.
Lastly, you might find the live discussions currently taking place at Social Edge of some interest. Identifying (and Developing) Top Talent asks, “What sets some social entrepreneurs apart?” Design for Social Impact investigates how design thinking can benefit social entrepreneurs. A third discussion thread explores the world of hybrid nonprofit social ventures.
We are especially delighted to highlight AbleVision, an innovative, award-winning video program written and produced entirely by individuals with physical and mental disabilities.
A program of Great Bay grantee Triangle, Inc. (Malden, Massachusetts), AbleVision was created in 2003 in partnership with Malden Access Television. AbleVision’s main purpose is to act as a voice for the disabled community. The program is comprised of over fifty participants that operate both field and television studio equipment. By working in a team as a television production crew, the participants learn technical skills, think creatively, and gain independence and self-esteem. The crew seeks to educate and empower its audience by portraying individuals with disabilities in a positive and capable manner. AbleVision’s episodes (16 in total) are shown on over forty Massachusetts local access stations, in seven states nationwide, as well as online. To watch all 16 of the episodes visit AbleVision’s You Tube site.
According to Executive Producer Alisa Brugnoli, “[AbleVision] is important because it demonstrates that everyone has their own unique talents and abilities and we are all capable of accomplishing great things.”
Not surprisingly, AbleVision has received a number of accolades. In 2004, the program received a “Best Practice Award” from Massachusetts APSE. Awards in 2007 included “Best Diversity Empowerment Video” and “Rika Welsh Community Impact Award” from Northeast Alliance for Community Media, as well as the “Heroes of Access Award” from Malden Access Television. That same year, AbleVision was heralded by the Special Olympics Committee of Massachusetts for its extensive coverage of the Malden Day Games. Recently, AbleVision won the “Access-Able” category for the “Hometown Video Festival,” a national video contest open to all access centers.
So, what does the future hold for AbleVision? “In the future,” said Brugnoli, “we hope to increase our viewership and bring our message to more communities across the nation. We are also hoping to collaborate with other media outlets as well as becoming a leader in the disabled community.”
For more information on AbleVision and its parent organization Triangle, Inc., visit www.ablevision.org and www.triangle-inc.org, respectively.
Week of Sept. 1st to Sept. 5th
Robert Chambers, co-founder and president of Bonnie CLAC (car loans and counseling) will be the keynote speaker at the FertileGround Conference 08: The Mystery of Sustainability on September 22-23 at the Spruce Point Inn in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
The creators of Zoey’s Room, a program operated by Platform Shoes Forum, have launched a new online demo for children ages 9 to 12 intended to motivate them to make better nutritional choices and to get outside and be active.
ReCycle North’s deconstruction team is at it again. This time a four-person crew is taking apart a building to make way for a middle school basketball court….On a related note, the organization’s building materials will be used to construct a mini-golf course for the “South End Art Hop” this coming weekend in Burlington, VT….And meet Anna Urban, a 2007 Wesleyan University graduate who now designs and builds home products from recycled, used and trashed material for Waste-Not-Products, a ReCycle North program.
Triangle, Inc. will hold its 16th annual Golf/Tennis Classic on September 11th. The event helps raise awareness for Triangle’s many services and programs.
Week of Aug. 25th to Aug. 29th
Bonnie CLAC is profiled in Sentinel Source.com’s “Making a Difference” weekly feature. The organization is also referenced in a Nashua Telegraph article on New Hampshire residents’ struggles with credit card debt.
ITNAmerica recently announced the launch of its ITNGreaterLA affiliate.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins recently toured Maine small businesses that have benefited from the Downeast Business Alliance’s “Incubator Without Walls” program. The Downeast Business Alliance is a division of the Washington Hancock Community Agency.
Secure Document Business Magazine highlights the launch of Cranston Arc’s Better Shred business.
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