As we begin a new year, we’d like to toast all of our grantee partners across the South for a very successful 2016. Here are a few of the year’s achievements:
The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute led the successful opposition to a tax-cut plan that would have damaged the state budget and eroded funding for schools and other services. Late in the legislative session, lawmakers...
In the aftermath of a terribly disorienting week, I have spent some time thinking about the things that give me strength. I keep returning to a set of values held by the committed board and staff at the Foundation: equity and inclusion, democracy, justice and respect for all voices, to name a few.
I believe today it is even more important that we work from these values, live by these...
Once a year, the Babcock Foundation travels to a location within our funding footprint to learn from our grantee partners where they work. I always look forward to these trips because they afford us the opportunity to engage with our partners on the ground and meet with some of their constituents and other local residents. To be in their communities, to hear their stories, to see the lay of...
In addition to making grants to organizations across the South, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation achieves positive impact by aligning our financial investments with our mission of moving people and places out of poverty. The Foundation recognizes that climate change has disproportionate impacts on low-wealth people and communities of color across the American South, the nation and...
Over the last few weeks in this blog series, I have explored some themes shared with me by our grantee partners, Foundation staff and board, and other colleagues across the South. Those conversations have been super helpful as I work to learn more about the region.
At the risk of over-summarizing, let me recap some of the themes:
Entrenched challenges, including racism, political...