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2020-04-01
Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University;
This report presents an updated review of progress toward economic inclusion in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. It summarizes the changes between data reported by Dr. Mark White of the Center for Regional Analysisat George Mason University and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness in Addressing EconomicInclusion in Grand Rapids (2016) and the most recently available data obtained from public sources — primarily comparing data from 2014 to 2018. Data are displayed in various geographic groupings and disaggregated by demographic characteristics for comparison. This report, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), is intended to aid ongoing strategy development for promoting inclusive growth in the Grand Rapids area.
2020-01-01
Indego Africa;
The 2018-2019 Annual & Social Impact Report, which reflects data collected between June-July 2019, marks Indego's twelfth social impact assessment.The first Social Impact Assessment conducted in March 2008, established baseline data to measure future growth and consisted of response data from 44 women from two of Indego Africa's partner cooperatives in Rwanda. This year's report includes the results of comprehensive interviews with artisans across of our partner cooperatives in two countries, Rwanda and Ghana. As we grow and scale as an organization, this data serves as a powerful tool to ensure that our programs are fully and successfully serving the needs of our artisan partners. While this report focuses on metrics collected from our annual Social Impact Assessment, we have also included data from program-specific surveys conducted at the beginning and end of each of our education program semesters.How it worksIndego's field team in Rwanda traveled to of our partner cooperatives to gather quantitative and qualitative metrics from women. Our field team in Ghana also collected social impact data, surveying artisans across artisan groups.The 75-question survey gathers data across a range of development indicators, including income, education, and quality of life. The questions track year-over-year changes in the demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal information of our artisan partners.Results obtained from the surveys are presented and compared for each question at an aggregate level by combining the results from Rwanda and Ghana.Historical data gathered in Rwandan Francs and Ghanaian Cedis was converted to U.S. Dollars utilizing the average FX rate for each year.
2020-07-01
African Women's Development Fund;
Available statistics indicates that, women form about 35.1% of the agricultural work force in Ghana, and account for 70% of production of subsistence crops. Also, about 90% of the labour force in the marketing of farm produce are women, yet they have limited access to and control over land and other resources necessary for economic development. Thus, the unequal access of women to productive resources such as land has largely led to a worsening poverty situation among many women resulting in increasing illiteracy rate, less access to health and education services with its associated unpaid care work. This Article examines the issue of women land rights in Ghana, focusing on legal literacy as integral to women ability to access land. The first part of this Article operationalizes basic fundamental concepts germane to the discussions. The second part mirrors down on a general overview of land tenure, contextualizing legal frameworks on land rights in Ghana. It then turns to explore the conundrum of socio-cultural issues affecting women land rights in the country. The Article then moves further to lay out the WiLDAF innovative approach in promoting women legal literacy on land rights and finally narrows in on lessons and best practices for future legal literacy and women's land rights in Ghana. Key concepts are operationalized to situate the discussion.
2020-10-01
ABT Associates, Inc.;
As the economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded in 2020, nonprofit institutions have stepped up to provide shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, and health care for those in need. Afinancially strong nonprofit organization that can provide this support through economic downturns does not happen by itself, however. It takes planning, investment, skill and hard work. As funders, policymakers, and practitioners consider how to foster financially strong nonprofit institutions that can help with the current and future crises, it is worth reflecting on the effectiveness of past efforts to support the growth of nonprofit institutions.In the early 2000s, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (MacArthur) launched one such effort. MacArthur sought to support the growth and sustainability of a group of nonprofit affordable housing developers through program-related investments (PRIs) that provided long-term flexible equity-like capital. This report summarizes the results of Abt Associates' evaluation of this initiative. Among other conclusions, Abt found that these investments played an important role in helping the developers survive and even thrive during the last major economic upheaval, the Great Recession. The flexible financing provided by the PRIs helped the nonprofit developers achieve larger scale, improve financial and staff capacity, and react creatively to changes in economic and social conditions.
2020-07-01
ABT Associates, Inc.;
As the economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded in 2020, nonprofit institutions have stepped up to provide shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, and health care for those in need. A financially strong nonprofit organization that can provide this support through economic downturns does not happen by itself, however. It takes planning, investment, skill and hard work. As funders, policymakers, and practitioners consider how to foster financially strong nonprofit institutions that can help with the current and future crises, it is worth reflecting on the effectiveness of past efforts to support the growth of nonprofit institutions.In the early 2000s, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (MacArthur) launched an effort to support the growth and sustainability of a group of nonprofit affordable housing developers through program-related investments (PRIs) that provided long-term flexible equity-like capital. This brief summarizes the results of Abt Associates' evaluation of this initiative. Among other findings, Abt found that these investments played an important role in helping the developers survive and even thrive during the last major economic upheaval, the Great Recession. The flexible financing provided by the PRIs helped the nonprofit developers achieve larger scale, improve financial and staff capacity, and react creatively to changes in economic and social conditions.
2020-01-08
Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings;
The new year 2020 marks the beginning of a promising decade for Africa. Through at least the first half of the decade, economic growth across Africa will continue to outperform that of other regions, with the continent continuing to be home to seven of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies. Collective action among African and global policymakers to improve the livelihoods of all under the blueprint of the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union's Agenda 2063 is representative of the shared energy and excitement around Africa's potential. With business environments improving, regional integration centered around the African Continental Free Trade Agreement progressing, and the transformational technologies of Fourth Industrial Revolution spreading, never before has the region been better primed for trade, investment, and mutually beneficial partnerships. The recent, unprecedented interest of an increasingly diversified group of external partners for engagement with Africa highlights this potential. Despite the continent's promise, though, obstacles to success linger, as job creation still has not caught up with the growing youth labor force, gaps in good and inclusive governance remain, and climate change as well as state fragility threaten to reverse the hard-fought-for gains of recent decades.This special edition of Foresight Africa highlights the triumphs of past years as well as strategies from our experts to tackle forthcoming, but surmountable, obstacles to a prosperous continent by 2030.
2020-04-01
Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University;
This report presents an updated review of progress toward economic inclusion in the Grand Rapids, Mich.area. It summarizes the changes between data reported by Dr. Mark White of the Center for Regional Analysisat George Mason University and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness in Addressing Economic Inclusion in Grand Rapids (2016) and the most recently available data obtained from public sources — primarily comparing data from 2014 to 2018. Data are displayed in various geographic groupings and disaggregated by demographic characteristics for comparison. This report, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), is intended to aid ongoing strategy development for promoting inclusive growth in the Grand Rapids area.
2020-08-31
CARE Norway;
The Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Program (GEWEP) II was implemented over four years from March 2016 through February 2020. GEWEP II worked with and for poor women and girls in some of the world's most fragile states: Burundi, DRC, Mali, Myanmar, Niger and Rwanda. By the end of the program period, GEWEP IIreached more than 1 161 869women and girls, mainly through Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). Norad has supported VSLAs since they were first piloted by CARE in Niger in 1991. Since then, Norad has supported over 49 722 groups encompassing more than 1 150 625 women. This includes GEWEP II and previous programming, which GEWEP II builds on. During GEWEP II, more than 16 070 new groups were established. This is a key method for providing financial services to poor women and girls, and an important contribution towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9, which all mention access to financial services.This report includes results on outcome and output level, of which the outcome level results were presented in detail in the GEWEP II Result Report submitted in May 2019. The table below summarizes the results at outcome level, for the global indicators that were collected across all program countries. These indicators were collected at the population level in the intervention zones. Overall, there has been positive change in the perception and attitude to women's economic, political and social empowerment in the intervention zones. On a national level, there has been positive changes in legislation, but implementation remains a challenge. A few indicators saw negative change. In Burundi, the percentage of women who state they are able to influence decisions went down from baseline, although it is still high at 88%. In Niger, the patriarchy remains strong, but despite challenges in changing men's attitudes, women have reported increased participation and social inclusion. The indicator focusing on women's sole decision-making saw little progress as the program worked more towards joint decision making.
2020-02-01
The Pew Charitable Trusts;
This report from the Pew Charitable Trusts highlights practices for state programs aimed at expanding broadband access to un- and underserved areas.Based on interviews with more than three hundred representatives of state broadband programs, Internet service providers, local governments, and broadband coalitions, the report identified five promising and mutually reinforcing practices: stakeholder outreach and engagement at both the state and local levels; a policy framework with well-defined goals that connects broadband to other policy priorities; planning and capacity building in support of broadband infrastructure projects; funding and operations through grant programs, with an emphasis on accountability and data collection; and program evaluation and evolution to ensure that lessons learned inform the next iteration of goals and activities. The study explores how nine states — California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin — have adapted and implemented different combinations of those practices to close gaps in broadband access.
2020-01-17
FSG;
Employers of frontline talent face an unprecedented opportunity to advance racial equity as a source of competitive advantage. The United States is experiencing dramatic demographic shifts, its workforce is becoming increasingly racially diverse, and the nature of work is fundamentally changing due to automation. Approximately nine million of the country's 24 million frontline employees—entry-level employees who engage closely with customers—are people of color who represent a reservoir of talent, innovative ideas, and multicultural competency that are increasingly sources of competitive advantage.At a time when there are rising societal expectations for companies to embrace a more active role in society and lead with an ambitious corporate purpose, employers face an unprecedented opportunity to advance racial equity as a source of competitive advantage by intentionally finding ways to advance the careers and enhance the experience of employees of color.Advancing Frontline Employees of Color, written in partnership with PolicyLink, identifies 23 evidence-based practices for advancing racial equity and fostering working environments where all people feel valued and can thrive.
2020-04-20
Tiny Beam Fund;
HIGHLIGHTS: *Using information gathered from visits to field sites and interviews with farmers in 2019, the authors of this report or Guidance Memo document the challenges faced by socially and economically-marginalized women in the Northern Mountainous Region (NMR) of Vietnam who raise local or heritage pigs on small-scales to supplement their family income. *These women have been greatly affected by recent growth in industrial-scale pork production in Vietnam. *Moreover, the African Swine Fever crisis in northern Vietnam in mid/late 2019 threatens to put an end to raising local/heritage breeds on small scales in NMR. *But there is clear evidence that smaller-scale pork production in NMR is viable and is good socially, economically, environmentally, and for animal welfare. *A number of concrete, practical ways to support small-scale producers are suggested, from providing training in pig breeding to simple steps like teaching the small producers to use Facebook to attract customers.
2020-05-12
SeaChange Capital Partners;
The government distinguishes "large" from "small" organizations in many ways, though the most common is whether they have 500 or more employees. Nonprofits deemed "large" under this definition have been completely shut out of the two most important sources of COVID-19-related financial support: the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") and the Federal Reserve's Main Street Lending Program ("MSLP"). This is unfortunate because, while small nonprofits are collectively important, the large ones do most of the work.This is true not only in higher education and hospitals, but in other areas that support the well-being of communities including: shelters, emergency food distribution, mental health, hospice, foster care, nursing homes, and caring for the developmentally disabled. These large nonprofits are systemically important partners to state and local governments, and many are on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. However, unless they receive immediate assistance, some will not make it through the next few months; few, if any, will survive without making drastic cuts to services that will be more vital than ever to our collective health, well-being, and safety during the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath.Given the pressure on their budgets, and the difficulties that states and cities have in raising immediate funds from taxes or the capital markets, only the federal government has the scale of available resources to help large nonprofits. Fortunately, there is no need to develop an entirely new program; PPP and MSLP can be modified to get the job done.
