This Foundation Measures Its Impact by One Number. Is That a Model for Success?
The Lumina Foundation threw virtually all its resources at changing one metric. Now, with its holy grail in sight, it’s making the goal even harder to reach.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
Newfangled Ways to Spark Old-Style Civic Life: 4 Groups Show the Way
These four organizations aim to create the modern-day version of the community group that once bound Americans together. Among their tools: investigative journalism, a bouncy house, and a neighborhood digital platform without Nextdoor’s drama.
By Mark Toner
Contributor
Ditch Grand Strategies and Focus on How Change Really Happens
Philanthropy reflexively tries to solve problems with sweeping plans. Instead, fix what matters most to people — from a broken stoplight to education — to set off a chain reaction of community-driven action.
By Richard Harwood
Contributor
34 Summer Books, Movies, and Podcasts to Mend America’s Divisions
Those working to bring America together — advocates, foundation chiefs, experts, and more — recommend fiction, nonfiction, podcasts, plays, movies, and even an Owen Wilson TV show.
By Nandita Raghuram
Deputy Editor, Opinion
8 Things a Mega-Donor Did Right to Engineer a ‘Miracle’
How $160 million from Netscape pioneer Jim Barksdale — a newcomer to social-change philanthropy — helped make schools in his native Mississippi a source of pride, not shame.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
Public Media Is a Broadly Shared Civic Commons. For Now.
The $1.1 billion cut in federal funding to public broadcasting delivered a blow to democracy and an agency that does a great deal to bridge divides in America.
By Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin
Contributor
‘Pick Your Lane’: Democracy Advocate Danielle Allen’s Advice for Philanthropy
The author, advocate, and nonprofit leader outlines where philanthropy fits in her “double barrel” strategy to strengthen democracy in Washington and nationwide.
By Chronicle Staff
Contributor
Philanthropy’s Trigger Words — and How to Make Your Message Clear
You say ‘equity.’ They hear ‘exclusion.’ Strategies for getting everyone on the same page.
By Matt Watkins
Contributor
Inside the Leadership Success of a Millennial and Boomer Who Share the CEO Seat
Co-leaders of a Louisiana community group share what makes their norm-defying intergenerational partnership a boon for their staff, their community, and their personal growth.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
Recent Op-Ed Misrepresents Pluralists and Deepens Rifts
People rarely fall into tidy ideological boxes, as the authors suggest.