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  • A Conversation about History, Race and the Meaning of True Diversity with Ja’Ron Smith

    Editor’s Note: Philanthropy Roundtable’s True Diversity initiative offers an equality-based, holistic framework for embracing diversity. We support efforts that value every person as a unique individual and empower charitable organizations with the freedom and flexibility to advance their missions. Learn more at TrueDiversity.org. 

    Cleveland, Ohio native Ja’Ron Smith and Washington, D.C.-raised Chris Pilkerton are two men of different races and backgrounds united by their faith and purpose to help the underserved. They both rose to become policy advisors to President Trump, where they advanced solutions for economic mobility of Black, white and all Americans. In a new book titled “Underserved: Harnessing the Principles of Lincoln’s Vision for Reconstruction for Today’s Forgotten Communities,” they offer a prescription for rebuilding underserved communities by drawing upon President Abraham Lincoln’s vision for reconstructing the nation after the Civil War. 

    I spoke with Smith, a policy expert on regulatory affairs, economic mobility, social justice, finance, banking and housing and urban development about his personal experience, new book and how he views true diversity.  

    The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.    


    Q. Tell us about your background and how it shaped your approach to work and life. 

    Smith: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in a lower middle-class community. My early years were similar to that of many people: parents struggling with drug addiction and alcoholism. My parents were both blue-collar workers and their parents were poor. They did what they needed to do to survive.  

    My dad sent me to a Catholic high school. That education gave me my first experience with religion and created an environment to help me. I wasn’t a good student until age 14 or 15. Despite their addiction, I was anchored with two parents that loved me and a grandparent that loved me, which made me a resilient person and gave me the courage to be curious. As I set out to be my best self, I had to do service projects to graduate and that’s where the passion developed for helping people. 

    My generation was the first generation to start going to college. 

    My background planted the seed of wanting to help change our community and empower people. From that experience you learn that people go into drugs and self-destructive behavior based off trauma or traumatic experiences. It can be hard to try to figure out how to become your best self and put food on the table.  

    I attended Howard University and during college interned in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill, which got me interested in politics and policy as a way to positively impact people. 


    Q. Coming out of your background and work at the highest levels of government, why did you decide to write this book? 

    Smith: I wrote this book along with my colleague, Chris Pilkerton, because working together in the White House, we realized there were so many challenges in underserved communities. Because of the pandemic, we weren’t able to finish some of the work we had begun on issues ranging from criminal justice reforms to workforce development. It became apparent that the work we were trying to accomplish was more important than ever. Some communities will be set back even further because of COVID. 

    My north star and mission has been figuring out solutions for underserved communities. When I came back to D.C. in 2008, I gave my life to God and He has positioned me through relationships to accomplish this mission. We talk about our faith journeys in this book, but this book provides a blueprint to complete our unfinished work.   


    Q. “Underserved” focuses on the post-reconstruction era in the United States. There was so much opportunity for Black folks: in politics by becoming legislators, starting businesses and creating economic centers, creating a new middle class and creating greater Black wealth. What didn’t happen following Reconstruction that led to issues we’re still dealing with today?  

    Smith: Abraham Lincoln grew up on a prairie, he grew up poor, was self-educated and he learned the importance of earning a living for yourself and being able to leverage that to empower oneself through economic empowerment.  

    Lincoln’s vision for Reconstruction highlights that economic empowerment … is a core part of America. America is a capitalist country; the whole notion of capitalism is based on the concept of mutuality and mutual benefit. It has lifted so many underserved communities around the world in ways that other systems haven’t. The challenge is that slavery raised the question of whether capitalism was exploitative. Capitalism doesn’t have to be.  

    Unfortunately, Andrew Johnson worked with the privileged class of the South (former plantation owners) and the creation of Black Codes created a dual system that Black Americans lived in for about 60 years until the Civil Rights Movement. Despite all of that, Black Americans in segregated communities were still able to foster economic empowerment and build robust communities. But the government and racist factions tore that apart. That has happened several times. In our book, we mention the Freedman’s Bureau, race riots and Black Wall Street. 

    Ultimately, you still did not have a breakthrough with those communities. Laws from the ‘30s created redlining and concentrated poverty and race. Then the presence of Great Society programs at the same time as the post-Integration movement led to Black flight. Upper class and middle-class Blacks left those communities. When affluent people–doctors and lawyers–left the community, those left behind were left with no real role models or high earners which led to concentrated impoverished communities. It’s similar in some white communities too. The reason we called the book “Underserved” is because we talk about poverty in white communities as well.  

    Lincoln saw the importance of investing in poor white communities as well as Black communities. His assassination cut short this work which could have helped in the Jim Crow South where poor whites were pitted against poor Blacks. A century later, the race and class warfare was something Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about during the Civil Rights era. 


    Q: Can you talk about the role of the church, particularly of the Black church, then and also today in driving outcomes that go toward economic opportunities?  

    Smith: First of all, the movement to free the slaves was undergirded by the Great Awakening, which created the abolitionist movement. The emergence of the Republican Party was anchored in religion. When we went into Reconstruction, many of the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) that were launched were financed by religious organizations and invested in training preachers. The early leaders who went to Congress, like Hiram Revels, were ministers and the church became a safe place for individuals in the Black community to mobilize, organize and educate themselves.  

    New Black churches emerged out of that. Different denominations undergirded the Civil Rights Movement. The church has historically for the Black community been an anchor for change in our communities. However, over the last 40 years—and not just in the Black community—institutions overall including the church have lost the trust of the community. 

    Throughout America, people are less religious. Some people on the right blame taking prayer out of public schools, but it goes back to the methodology of trust. Some churches–not all of them–haven’t been the anchor that they used to be because trust is not there in the community. You might have a number of different churches in any underserved community. They are not all places that people go to or frequent. After being in seminary, I learned that in many cases churches have become more of a social club rather than an anchoring or change agent for society.  

    We need that anchoring because the church and faith community’s help in figuring out who you are as a person is extremely important in behavioral health. So many communities have dealt with the trauma of the pandemic and historic trauma. Being able to navigate the nuances of life is hard when you come from broken families. That’s a mission I have been on. We need the church and civil society more than ever.   

    Aside from the Black households, in which you see 70% are single-parent households, 50% of white households are single parent or divorced households.  


    Q: How can True Diversity or other equality-based, holistic frameworks for embracing diversity contribute to economic mobility?  

    Smith: Different perspectives help you to be competitive. Many other countries don’t necessarily have the model of diversity that America has and if we’re in a global competition of ideas, we are far ahead of people by celebrating our shared diversity. Celebrating that we are a melting pot is in the American DNA. We became a place where people came from all different walks of life to be able to participate in the American experience, which is based on individuality, ideas, freedom and liberty. That undergirds everything.  

    Companies and organizations that decide not to be intentional about thought diversity are losing the opportunity to benefit from that market share. But it has to be genuine, it has to be intentional. It cannot be virtue signaling. What the workplace is  trying to do is to harness our best asset which is the diversity of opinions and backgrounds. No one has the same experience. We celebrate that uniqueness that you can bring to the table and that uniqueness drives different ideas that an organization would never have thought about.  

    I’m not sure that designating a role for Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is right. If you have a C-suite, a better approach is having more COOs from different perspectives, more CFOs and CEOs. If you lean into being intentional about bringing in the best talent from diverse perspectives, you will get individuals in leadership roles who will commit to bringing other individuals with diverse perspectives along. For me working at the White House (and every organization I’ve been in), I’ve been able to identify individuals with different backgrounds that other leaders may have overlooked and they’ve ended up adding value.  

    It hasn’t been based on race but comparative advantage. Everyone brings different skills to a situation and it’s figuring out what comparative advantages individuals have that can make us more competitive. You want businesses or organizations to be intentional about what their talent needs are and to lean into those, not just check demographic boxes.  

    In the current landscape, DEI has become a talking point instead of looking at the most unique capabilities people bring to the table and what we can learn from them. We put blanket approaches in place that are not effective, when the unique qualities that people have because of their backgrounds is what we should focus on. 

    Click here to learn more about True Diversity.    

  • American Habits and the Case for Practical Federalism

    Philanthropy Roundtable recently sat down with Ray Nothstine, senior editor of American Habits, a new publication by State Policy Network’s (SPN) Center for Practical Federalism that makes the “intellectual and moral case for federalism and its practical applications to today’s challenges.” Through sharing the inspirational stories of everyday Americans who get involved in their local communities, American Habits hopes to encourage citizens and policymakers to solve more problems through local and state solutions. 

    The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.   


    Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and SPN’s American Habits? 

    Nothstine: My dad was an Air Force pilot. So, I’ve lived a lot of places, which shaped my worldview and experiences. I’m 44, so I hate to admit my age, but I do remember a time during the Cold War when my dad was sitting on alert in case our country had to respond to a potential nuclear attack. I think that played a significant role in shaping my background and likely my deeper interest in the issues of human freedom. And so why do we have this nation-state? Why do we try to preserve freedom? Why is that important? I was at least thinking about those kinds of questions in my head at a young age.  

    I worked for Congressman Gene Taylor (Mississippi) after college at Ole Miss. I always enjoyed reading about political history and some of my first memories [were of the] 1984 presidential campaign. I then started reading scripture more and went to seminary at Asbury Theological Seminary. The late Ellsworth Kalas, an amazing preaching professor, encouraged me to write, so I did. After some time with The Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington, D.C., Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Civitas Institute and the John Locke Foundation, I got involved in SPN and American Habits. 

    American Habits is a project focusing on federalism. We have a center for practical federalism, and SPN is trying to make the case for a culture of self-government and push back against federal overreach. You can equip state lawmakers to do that, but also give people a sense of mission and purpose and not just at the national level, but at the state and local levels. 


    Q: Can you share with us any highlights from the stories you’ve encountered so far? 

    Nothstine: I just interviewed Bill Courtney, founder of Classic American Hardwoods, a manufacturer in Tennessee. Courtney is known more as a football coach though and is depicted in the amazing documentary “Undefeated.” He’s done a lot of great work highlighting people who are getting involved in their local communities. He told the story of a woman named Anne Mahlum, who liked to run to deal with stress. When she was working in Philadelphia, she ran by this homeless center every day. They’d say, “Why do you run off all the time?” And she’d say, “Why do you just sit there all the time?” And she went back to this homeless center a day or two later and said, “I want to start a running club.” So, Bill tells these great stories about people who get involved in their community and that running club is active in 15 or 16 major American cities right now. I think it’s just giving people a sense of purpose, right? A sense of drive, that you can get involved in your local community and make a difference in people’s lives. I think there’s a component to that, which is just so essential today, just getting off your butt and getting involved. That’s a big deal. 


    Q: What role has philanthropy played, in your opinion, in state and local solutions during your career and now during your time at American Habits? 

    Nothstine: From a mission standpoint, philanthropy has played an important role. I think there are opportunities all over the country to get involved to make a difference, not just in policy or D.C., but maybe in cultural aspects where you’re changing local communities and where you can network with individuals who are like-minded. In a way, that facilitates conversations and real action for change. Of course, none of this is possible without the generous donors who care deeply about their communities and country.  


    Q: American Habits seeks to reignite the “capacity for self-government.” How can we restore an understanding and appreciation for self-government and decentralization in our country? 

    Nothstine: It’s a hard question, right? The death of local news has played a role in this in terms of the conversation and the 24-hour news cycle and all these sorts of ideological battles that we hear about are focused on Washington D.C., but it doesn’t have to be that way. 

    And I think one of the ways that we change that is through civic education. So there’s probably a two-pronged effort, certainly some renewal through storytelling at the local and state level, which is something that we’re going to do at American Habits. Also, from a civic education standpoint, it’s discouraging when you see recent survey results, even at Ivy League schools, where young college students don’t know anything about American history or American government.  

    American Habits wants to play a role in changing that. We’re educating people about the history of America but also asking what is the function and purpose of our government? That’s one of the key questions we need to ask ourselves as Americans today. If we aren’t asking that fundamental question, ideological noise is going to win out.  


    Q: Philanthropy Roundtable partners with philanthropists who believe the best way to safeguard the future of our democracy is to promote and defend American ideals. Do you have any advice for those who are looking to advance federalism through philanthropy?  

    Nothstine: One of the things to do from the get-go is to read. I mean, you can read the Federalist Papers. You can read about American history. A lot of us idolize the past sometimes in our movement, but there’s some bad things about the past, right? I think having a comprehensive understanding of American history and American tradition is essential.  

    For example, why did people sacrifice during the American Revolution? What were their motivations? Why did colonists take up arms against the Crown? And how did they understand rights? Those are things we don’t think about enough today. An important component of this is how we understand rights, what does that mean and where do rights come from? All these questions are important for entrepreneurs and philanthropists, to discover and rediscover and to get in that conversation. All these ideas are accessible to Americans and are meant to be accessible.  

    It’s important to be educated on the threats that ideologues want to impose on America. I think just having a willingness to sacrifice is a key component, whether it’s your time, finances or energy. That sacrifice is for these greater ideals and purposes, so that we can offer what we’ve inherited for future generations. The spending that we see in Washington is very depressing, and this inability to put others above yourself, primarily speaking about Washington politicians, is a depressing statement about America right now. 


    Q: Who are some of your mentors and favorite authors who have helped to shape your worldview? 

    Nothstine: Michael Novak, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has now passed away, was a man of faith and deeply ingrained in theology. A lot of his writings were from the viewpoint of the human person and argued there’s a higher power than the state. That’s an important component for people whatever their faith, that they understand the state is not the highest element of society and is not the highest authority in our lives.  

    Congressman Gene Taylor taught me a very important lesson by the way he treated the Capitol Police, Capital employees, interns and constituents. There was one time he was late for a meeting with the Secretary of the Navy and my job was to go find him in the Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C. I was running around like a chicken with his head cut off looking for him. I eventually found him in the stairwell talking to, I think, a maintenance worker. When we were walking back up to his office, he says, “When I lose an election, these are the people who are still going to be friends with me.” This teaches the importance of humility, which is an essential component for life.  


    Q:  What type of information do you hope to impart to readers with American Habits? 

    Nothstine: One of the goals is to be interesting, because the publication space is crowded. People can go to limitless places to read content. Storytelling is an important aspect of that. We haven’t perfected that yet, but we are on our way to doing that.  

    We also want to be a change agent. We want to equip state and local lawmakers with information to let them know there are avenues where you can push back against federal overreach. You have the Constitution on your side, you have a constituency out there, you have partners in other states, you have the SPN network that helps reach out and say, look, the Constitution matters, and this network of like-minded folks are a resource to you. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and there is training available, content available and there’s a way to equip people with the tools to push back against an anti-American element of centralization that we all must be conscious of today. 

    If you are interested in learning more about organizations that work to protect America’s founding principles, please contact Philanthropy Roundtable Program Director Clarice Smith.  

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  • This Labor Day, Pioneer Institute Highlights Importance of Vocational Training

    As Americans celebrate the achievements of our nation’s workers this Labor Day, Philanthropy Roundtable is proud to support organizations that eliminate barriers to upward mobility, expand opportunity and reward hard work. I recently sat down with Jim Stergios, executive director of Pioneer Institute, a think tank that envisions a nation where people can prosper and society can thrive because of “world-class options in education, health care, transportation and economic opportunity, and where our government is limited, accountable and transparent.” 

    The interview below has been edited for length and clarity. 

    Q: You lead Pioneer Institute (PI), a Massachusetts-based public policy think tank that concentrates on education, health care and economic opportunity. What is your mission and what role do you play in the broader public policy landscape? 

    Stergios: Pioneer’s mission is to advance innovation across multiple states in education, health care and economic opportunity through best-in-class research, advocacy and legal action.  

    Our education team works in multiple states with the goal of preparing students to be good citizens and economically successful. Our strategic focus is on innovations, especially the expansion of public (charter and vocational-technical) and private school choices, not on fixing broken public systems.  

    Our health care strategy focuses on the life sciences. In the last half century, the U.S. shed 40% of its hospital beds, largely because of the rise in outpatient care made possible by massive medical advances. Our life sciences team works in seven states and Washington, D.C., to promote transparent pricing, fend off price controls and expand adoption of pricing strategies that will make cutting-edge treatments more affordable.  

    On economic opportunity, we run on dual tracks, defending Massachusetts’s economic competitiveness and piloting in several states, for now, a program on the catalytic role of immigrant entrepreneurs in the U.S. economy as a way of building an understanding of capitalism. 


    Q: Over the last 30 years, PI has focused on policies that expand opportunities for all people. Where do you see the biggest opening for making gains in this area?  

    Stergios: In these increasingly politically charged times, organizations must focus on research, partnerships and legal strategies. That’s why we started the Pioneer Public Interest Law Center. Its job is to create precedents that will have immediate and lasting impact. Currently, it is focused on equal treatment for special needs students in private schools, enforcement of state obligations to teach U.S. history and civics, and the defense of immigrant entrepreneurs harmed by unnecessary government regulations. 

    Pioneer has seen significant progress in recent years, in Supreme Court cases like Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, where our amicus brief was cited in Justice Alito’s concurring opinion, and Carson v. Makin. Since these decisions, Pioneer’s research and advocacy on the ground in 10 states assisted local activists in securing legislation expanding choice.  


    Q:  While vocational training in schools has fallen out of favor over the last several years, you have focused on it quite a bit, authoring a book on this issue called “Hands-On Achievement: Massachusetts’s National Model Vocational-Technical Schools.” Why have you focused on this topic? 

    Stergios: Education reformers usually focus on either charter or private school choice. Massachusetts vocational-technical schools are public schools of choice that were ignored for too long. The commonwealth’s 1993 Education Reform Act required vocational-technical students to pass the same tests as their peers in other public schools to earn a diploma. That, along with a system in which students alternate weekly between academic and vocational education, has created a network of schools that outperform the state’s comprehensive high schools, ensure that students graduate with strong work skills and credentials, and have dropout rates a third of the statewide average.  

    That is especially impressive because Massachusetts’s vocational-technical schools educate more special needs and low-income students than other public schools. No state has gotten vocational-technical education right the way Massachusetts has. These graduates have a choice of pursuing further education or entering jobs that offer family-sustaining wages—without college and the debt that often accompanies it. Importantly, expanding stronger vocational programs in other states will address labor shortages in the trades and technology manufacturing and services sectors. 


    Q:  How have your strategic partnerships helped PI expand vocational and technical school efforts outside of Massachusetts?   

    Stergios: Pioneer is partnering widely to extend the impact of our vocational-technical school work. Through our longstanding partnership with the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, we were able to connect with national industry organizations such as SkillsUSA and Advance CTE.  Working through our chambers of commerce, we developed contacts with peers in our target states (Kentucky, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas). Employers we’ve connected with understand the deficiencies in federally funded workforce development programs. Finally, we work with State Policy Network affiliates to disseminate our work nationally. 

    Pioneer also has hosted webinars on “Hands-On Achievement,” garnering over 14,000 views in our target states, California, Florida, New York and Washington. The book generated national print articles in outlets like The Washington Post, The Washington Times, IndustryWeek, Public News Service, radio coverage, media attention in target states and think tank podcasts and articles. Our mini-documentary, “Training Our Future Workforce: Voc-Tech Success,” was watched over 84,000 times. 


    Q:  The recent Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action in higher education will impact students throughout the country. Why is focusing on K-12 education important in creating opportunities for all students?   
     
    Stergios: Our focus remains on K-12. Much of the racial tension generated by affirmative action results from the failure of our monolithic public schools. Affirmative action in higher education admissions is itself a clear indictment of the success of America’s public K-12 schools. If traditional public schools were doing their job, such an “end of pipe” workaround would never have been necessary. This is, in part, why the vocational-technical model is vitally important. We need more K-12 models that bridge achievement gaps.  


    Q:  What are the ongoing challenges or pitfalls for PI and organizations like yours that aim to address expanding opportunity through education? How are you tackling these issues?   
     
    Stergios: I’m very hopeful about education. In 2000, few would have believed that by 2023, district schools in the U.S. would lose 10% of their market share, as measured by enrollment, to charters and private education models. Instead of responding by improving the product, the two national teachers’ unions are doubling down on divisive, self-serving rhetoric.  

    Pioneer is part of a group of organizations supporting change in states where that is possible. Only the threat of even greater losses in market share will force traditional public schools to change direction and focus on providing educational opportunity to all students. 

     For more information about this organization or others providing Pathways to Opportunity, reach out to Philanthropy Roundtable Program Director Erica Haines.  

  • Denisha Allen (Merriweather) on Why Black Minds Matter


    Philanthropy Roundtable recently sat down with Denisha Allen (Merriweather), founder of Black Minds Matter, a “national movement to celebrate Black minds, support excellence and promote the development of high-quality school options for Black students.” Allen, an American Federation for Children senior fellow, is a champion for school choice and a Florida tax-credit scholarship recipient. Through Black Minds Matter, she hopes to help provide access to an excellent education for every Black student. 

    The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.  

    Q: You founded Black Minds Matter, a project of the American Federation for Children Growth Fund (AFC), in 2020, a time when many Americans were seeking to address social injustices in our country. What led you to create this organization and what role does it serve? 

    Allen: I came to AFC after working at the U.S. Department of Education with Secretary DeVos. I worked with the Trump administration for two years, and then came to AFC as a director of Family Engagement. Then, in 2020, I wrote an op-ed in Real Clear Education about my frustrations in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. Our country was in civil unrest, maybe even the whole world was in civil unrest, and people were looking for ways to challenge racism. I wanted to bring attention to areas that would help Black America attain empowerment and excellence in all aspects of life. And, to me, that meant focusing on education. When I looked at the data, I saw that Black students are not reading on grade level or graduating from high school at the same rates as their white and Asian counterparts. I wanted to focus on changing that.  

    Unfortunately, at that moment in the national conversation, there was not a widespread initiative from the Black Lives Matter movement to talk about education and education reform. So, I coined the term Black Minds Matter to highlight that we need to focus on education freedom. We received a tremendous amount of support for what we stood for. And I’m proud that one of our first initiatives was to bring together a network of Black school founders. This was very personal for me because I went to a Black-founded school, and I benefited directly from the school choice movement.   

    Our mission is to nourish Black students with a rich education of their parents’ choice by any means necessary. Our goal is to expand our reach by engaging new audiences. This includes both Republican and Democratic elected officials, HBCU’s and our growing Black Founders Network. We are also committed to expanding our visibility through high quality content that can also be used to generate revenue for our work.  

    Lastly, we want to bring awareness about education freedom to the communities where Black students are most likely to be relegated to poor performing public schools. We have over 430 Black-founded schools in our online directory at www.BlackMindsMatter.net, and 150 Black school founders in our network. We were thrilled to have many of them in attendance at our second annual Black Minds Matter Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.  

    Q: Can you tell us more about your personal connection to the work you are doing? 

    Allen: I went to a private school in Jacksonville, Florida, on scholarship from sixth grade onward. I failed the third grade twice because I couldn’t read. As you can imagine, I had very low self-esteem, and I was lashing out by starting physical fights. My life trajectory was going in the same direction as many of the people in my family who had all dropped out of school. When I switched schools, I went from getting F’s and D’s to getting straight A’s.  When I founded Black Minds Matter, I saw the opportunity to highlight Black-owned schools as a part of that narrative, since school choice had such a transformative impact on my own life. 

    Q: Your website says that nourishing Black minds with a rich education is the first step to breaking generational poverty and societal inequities. What do you mean by societal inequities, and how does education combat this problem? 

    Allen: In America, there’s a class issue and there are a race issues, and sometimes those issues get intermingled and intertwined. But, at the root of both of those conversations is our education system. And the data shows that Black and brown students are performing the worst academically in this country. Just to give you an example, the NWEA just came out with a new study that follows in the same vein as recent NAEP [The Nation’s Report Card] scores. They said students on the whole will need three to four months of additional schooling in order to catch up from recent learning loss.  

    Shockingly, they found Black students will need two additional months to catch up. So, you’re telling me that Black students will need five to six months of additional schooling to make up for learning loss. When the system is pumping out hundreds of thousands of Black students who can’t read or do math into society, they end up in the criminal justice system. We call it the school-to-prison-pipeline. That is a societal inequity. That’s a civil rights issue. Black kids are not able to read. We need to change that. 

    When we look at education in America, we need to ensure that no kid is relegated to poor performing or failing schools because of where they live. Students in poorer neighborhoods are not receiving the same education as students who are going to schools where almost 90% of parents own their homes. We can solve this socio-economic/racial problem if we can create a market where competition is going to create incentives that perform better for students. Education freedom allows parents to choose the best school for their child regardless of school type. I sit on the board for Step Up For Students in Florida – the largest school choice program in the country. In Florida, we’ve seen academic outcomes for students in traditional public schools increase with every expansion of the state’s scholarship program. That’s because everyone is competing for students.  

    Q: Our 2021 Simon-DeVos Prize Winner Bill Oberndorf, chairman of the board of the American Federation for Children, has called access to education the civil rights issue of our time. Do you agree, and if so, why is that the case? 

    Allen: I absolutely do. It is the civil rights issue of our time. One of the goals of Black Minds Matter is to help the public see that school choice and education freedom are a part of the longer struggle for freedom in the United States and have deep historical roots. The conversation has been led by policy folks for so long, which is important. But I really want to make it more approachable and accessible to everyone. When we talk about the history of freedom in America, it is inextricably tied to access to education, from slavery through the Antebellum period all the way up to today. The struggle has always been access to education.  

    One of the ways we are working to showcase the connection between freedom and education is by conducting exhibits that illustrate the extent to which slaves wanted to read. One part of our exhibit showcases findings from archaeologists who found “pit schools” or deep holes in the ground where they also found tablets and pencils for writing. The slaves understood that their freedom was rooted in the ability to read and write, and they risked their lives to try to attain those skills. I always like to say there is freedom of the body and also of the mind, and that has always been the goal of African Americans in this country. They have never been divorced from one another. 

    Q: The recent Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action in higher education could impact students throughout the country. How do you feel about this decision and why? 
     
    Allen: I think it’s going to be very obvious that we need better options for Black students, and this decision makes that clearer. Black kids are not reading on grade level and removing affirmative action in higher education means Black kids will have to perform even better academically to be accepted into colleges and universities.   

    Q: As you look ahead, what are you most excited about for Black Minds Matter? 

    Allen: I’m always very excited about the Black School Founders network. They are amazing, so to be able to support them and champion the work they do for students is very rewarding. Many of them have models that are worthy of replication. We are going to focus on capacity building and finding ways to support them. I’m also very excited to get more involved in states and districts with the worst academic and life outcomes for Black and brown students, and to advocate for better outcomes in the lowest performing districts in the country. For example, I get excited when I think about a city like Baltimore, where reading and math levels are abysmal. The creation of education savings accounts in that city will help students access better choices. Through projects like this, we are going to close the achievement gap.   

    For more information about this organization or others providing Pathways to Opportunity, reach out to Philanthropy Roundtable Program Director Erica Haines.

  • Celebrating the Legacy of Julius Rosenwald This Juneteenth

    On Monday, the nation will celebrate its newest national holiday, Juneteenth. June 19 commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people were declared free in America.  

    One way to celebrate Juneteenth is through powerful depictions of freedom fighters and their efforts to achieve equality for all. Julius Rosenwald, who rose to become president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, is one philanthropist who comes to mind. Rosenwald, the son of Jewish immigrants, was committed to seeing Blacks improve their lives through education and self-reliance. He helped finance the construction of over 5,300 schools in 15 southern states between 1912 and 1932. His work contributed to the education of more than 600,000 Black students, including poet Maya Angelou and former Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. 

    Rosenwald and freed Blacks such as Booker T. Washington, whom Rosenwald partnered with, understood that education would be the key to uplifting Black people. Their new freedom was just the start of a long road to realizing the pathways to opportunity that our Founding Fathers enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. Through education, Rosenwald and others would help Blacks become economically independent.  

    Yet the challenges they had to overcome were great. In 1880, three out of four (76%) Blacks were illiterate in the South. By 1910, that rate had fallen to one out of three (33.3%). Nevertheless, over 40% of Black men were still illiterate. Rosenwald’s schools taught children and adults alike to read and become productive citizens, leading to tremendous outcomes. A Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago analysis in 2009 found that “The Rosenwald program accounts for at least 30% of the sizable educational gains of Blacks during the 1910s and 1920s.” 


    Creating a National Park to Honor Rosenwald 

    To honor Rosenwald’s legacy, in 2020, Congress directed the U.S. Department of the Interior to study the feasibility of designating sites associated with the life of Julius Rosenwald as a part of the National Park Service. This move stemmed from the work of the Rosenwald Park Campaign, an organization of volunteers dedicated to honoring Julius Rosenwald and protecting the Rosenwald schools by creating a National Historic Park. Philanthropy Roundtable joins hundreds of organizations in supporting this campaign. 

    Some of the very people who are now charged with creating the National Historic Park for the Rosenwald Schools understand firsthand the importance of Rosenwald’s legacy. Robert G. Stanton, the first African-American director of the National Park Service, noted:  

    “I personally experienced the pain and stain of segregation under the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine, attending a dilapidated two-room elementary school. With support from the NAACP, my parents and others filed suit in Federal District Court in 1949 to have a new school built in the community and eventually won the case. They were committed to quality education for their children, as were African-American parents throughout the rural south. We children also possessed what Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune called a ‘thirst for education.’ The Rosenwald Schools gave many African-American children access to educational opportunities that they would not otherwise have had.”

    In an effort to further promote and raise funding for this National Historic Park, the board of the Campaign commissioned a film entitled “Rosenwald: Toward A More Perfect Union,” directed and produced by Charles Poe, co-founder of the Parks Channel, a new social media platform for content about national parks. This film tells “The extraordinary story of a forgotten philanthropist, a Jewish son of immigrants from Chicago who became a champion for Black education in the Jim Crow South.” Recently, it received the award for best documentary short at the People’s Film Festival in Harlem, New York. 

    This film will be shown as part of the Fifteenth Film Festival in the Washington, D.C. area on June 18. Showing this film just before Juneteenth sends a powerful message that, as we remember the end of one of our darkest periods of history, there was a period of hope and inspiration that followed.  

  • Mental Health Awareness Month: How Nonprofits Are Helping Individuals in Need

    In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Philanthropy Roundtable is highlighting the innovative work of civil society in approaching one of the biggest challenges our country faces: mental illness. With one in five Americans experiencing mental illness each year, there is a significant opportunity for philanthropic leadership in helping to address the needs of these vulnerable individuals and provide support for their families.

    The realities of mental illness in America are staggering:

    • 46% of Americans will meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition sometime in their life, and half of those people will develop conditions by the age of 14.
    • About 3-5% of the U.S. adult population has severe or serious mental illness.
    • 30% of adult Americans with serious mental illness receive no treatment (medication or therapy).
    • 10% of Americans with a mental illness are uninsured, with limited access to treatment.
    • Between 11-20% of veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom experience PTSD and/or other mental health conditions.
    • 1 in 5 kids has a diagnosable mental health condition.

    The above realities are even more nuanced when considering that mental health issues contribute to higher rates of homelessness, hunger, substance abuse, domestic violence and other societal issues, including lower education outcomes for the next generation.

    The Roundtable supports philanthropists committed to fostering overall health and well-being, including those working to address the impact mental health issues are having on individuals and communities. We work to connect funders with organizations that provide vulnerable populations access to care and other resources. From foundations such as the Hackett Family Foundation, the Rees-Jones Foundation, the Marcus Foundation and others, philanthropists are approaching mental illness in ways that are having a positive tangible impact on people’s lives.

    While the mental health initiatives philanthropy supports are vast, below is a sampling of the innovative nonprofits and thought leaders who are making a difference in people’s lives all over the country:

    • Headstrong Project: The Headstrong Project is a nonprofit mental health organization providing confidential, barrier-free and stigma-free PTSD treatment to veterans, service members and family connected to their care. Headstrong’s growing clinical network focuses its capabilities across states where unmet mental health needs are highest. On average, Headstrong treats 1,400 clients per month through 275 clinicians in 15 states and Washington, D.C.
    • Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute: The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute provides independent, nonpartisan, data-driven and trusted policy and program guidance to ensure all Texans can obtain effective, efficient behavioral health care when and where they need it. Their vision is to be the national leader in treating all people with mental health needs.
    • Stop Soldier Suicide: Stop Soldier Suicide’s mission is to reduce service member and veteran suicide using enhanced data insights, focused client acquisition and suicide-specific intervention services. Their vision is a nation where service members and veterans have no greater risk for suicide than any other American. In 2020, they served more than 700 service members and veterans and their work has reduced clients’ suicide risk by an average of 27%.
    • Treatment Advocacy Center: The Treatment Advocacy Center is a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating legal and other barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness. The organization promotes laws, policies and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In the past year, the organization was involved in passing 12 priority bills related to mental illness, including a federal bill and bills in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Virginia and Washington.

    Thought leaders and other resources related to approaches to mental health:

    • Dr. Sally Satel reviews Dr. Thomas Insel’s book “Healing: Out Path From Mental Illness to Mental Health” for The Wall Street Journal, discussing how few patients get the care they need.
    • Naomi Schaefer Riley’s op-ed in New York Post entitled “Too Many Children Are at Risk Because of Their Parents’ Mental Illness” discusses mental trauma passed on through generations.
    • DJ Jaffe’s TED Talk at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing evaluates how society may be responsible for misleading government officials into denying violence, rather than taking steps to reduce it with those who are severely mentally ill.
    • The New York Times highlighted the influence of psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey and his research over the past 40 years into involuntary psychiatric treatment policies for people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses
    • A report published by Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Stephen Eide and Adjunct Fellow Carolyn D. Gorman articulates a concept to help those with serious mental health issues before, during and after crisis by focusing on a “Continuum of Care.”
    • Philanthropy Roundtable hosted a webinar discussing the effects of COVID-19 on the national economy and its relation to rising rates of diseases and deaths of despair.
    • Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Stephen Eide wrote a New York Post op-ed entitled “NYC can be a pioneer in the treatment of the seriously mentally ill,” which considers New York City Mayor Eric Adam’s plan for the city to be more proactive in dealing with psychotic individuals.
    • A Manhattan Institute report by Isabel McDevitt, co-founder of Work Works America, writes about the homeless in America who are able and willing to work, but policy fails to address the employment-based solutions that could better serve them.

    If you are interested in learning more about how Philanthropy Roundtable supports donors committed to addressing our nation’s mental health crisis, please contact Esther Larson, program director at Philanthropy Roundtable here.