The Foundation conducts its strategic planning in 10-year arcs, a process that includes reflection on our work and results, conversations with our grantee and philanthropic partners and efforts to understand emerging trends. We are wrapping up one of these planning processes now.
Looking across our work and recent history, some core lessons about supporting social and economic justice...
A friend of mine often says change is inevitable, but the real trick is figuring out how to influence that change to achieve meaningful results.
Any thoughtful observer of the South recognizes the region is undergoing serious changes. Major shifts in demographics, changes in urban and rural geographies, uneven economic opportunities and new obstacles to the voting booth present real...
I spent much of my youth trying to figure out how to get out of Kentucky. I mostly saw the problems: too many ineffective or even corrupt local officials, too few interesting and accessible jobs, not enough diversity, and environmental challenges from coal mining and suburbanization. I was even apathetic about Kentucky basketball, mostly because everybody else loved it.
The older I got...
We are deeply saddened by the death of Rick Cohen, a journalist, critic and dogged advocate for rural America. Cohen wrote prolifically on a wide range of topics for N onprofit Quarterly , never hesitating to pen often harsh -- but always fair and valuable -- assessments of philanthropy. He researched the grantmaking disparity between rural and urban...
After eight months at the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, I believe we have good reason to be optimistic for the future of the South.
Over that time, I have spoken with people in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Orleans, South Carolina and West Virginia – important battlegrounds in the struggle for economic opportunity and equality. I’ve also been learning from...