November 10, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Robert K. Ross, chief executive officer of the California Endowment, says like other black Americans, he cried “tears of joyous disbelief” when Barack Obama won the presidency.
But on his blog, Mr. Ross writes that the next president faces daunting problems and that Americans need to help solve them. “If we have never given, we must give. If we already gave, we must give more. If we have never served, we must serve. If we already served, we must serve more. If we are already in the business of transforming hope into change (which is what the nonprofit sector is really about), then we must become even more impassioned, disciplined, and strategic about our work,” he writes.
The foundation leader says that he would like the Obama administration to make expanding health care, especially for children, a priority. “Given the growing ranks of the uninsured due to company downsizing and layoffs in a troubled economy, it’s an issue that he can’t afford to ignore too long,” he writes.
In The Chronicle, read what other nonprofit leaders suggest have to say about how the incoming president can solve the country’s biggest problems and grow philanthropy.
Offer your own suggestions for Mr. Obama on the Government and Politics Watch blog.
