President’s Speech Urges Foundations to Support Young Children and Black Men

President Obama’s unusual pitch in his State of the Union address seeking to get foundations more involved in supporting education for young children and increased economic opportunities for young black men is drawing praise from the nonprofit world.

But nonprofit leaders said charities cannot be expected to solve those problems alone. Congress, they said, must follow through with increased spending in those areas.

“The sector’s capacity and resources are dwarfed by the might of the federal government,” said Diana Aviv president of Independent Sector, a national nonprofit association. “The best we can do is fill in the gaps.”

The president’s push for an increased minimum wage, pay equality for women, and early-childhood education should be welcome by nonprofit groups that work in those causes, Ms. Aviv said.

While the president noted business and government leaders among the guests in the House gallery Tuesday evening, Ms. Aviv said she wished a nonprofit leader had also been spotlighted.

“One of the messages that would have been great to hear is that there are three legs to the stool,” she said.

Developing Strategies

In the speech, Obama called for foundations’ assistance to work on a plan to “help more young men of color facing tough odds stay on track and reach their full potential.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation welcomed that focus and said it was working with 25 community organizations in Mississippi to help young black men complete their education and find jobs.

Mr. Obama also said he would convene a coalition of philanthropists, elected officials, and business leaders to develop strategies to improve early-childhood education.

The prospect of such a coalition was “pretty exciting,” according to Kris Perry, executive director at the First Five Years Fund, which supports pre-kindergarten education, but she said she needed to learn more about how it would work.

Ms. Perry noted that it was the second straight year Obama has pushed for a greater emphasis on the subject in his State of the Union address. Last year, his call for increased funding for programs like Head Start that provide schooling for young children fell victim to across-the-board budget cuts that reduced the program’s budget by 5.3 percent.

“Even though there was a commitment on [Obama’s] part, the government came to a grinding halt,” Ms. Perry said.

Ms. Perry is confident that President Obama’s emphasis on early-childhood education can result in additional funding, even in an era of tight budgets and political gridlock.

“Early-childhood education is on the top, top, top of everybody’s must-do policy list,” she said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the parties to come together and agree on something.”

Dig deeper: Read what foundations are doing to support minority men and boys.