The American public is divided in its attitudes toward important national issues, and historic allegiances have shifted. This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each piece represents the…

"In this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed." ~ Abraham Lincoln This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each piece…

The Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra performs at the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy along with the Voices of Inspiration Chorus and three young vocalists from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts on March 23, 2015. This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series…

Banksy's Elephant in a Room. Ignore it at your peril. This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each piece represents the views of its author(s) and not the views of the Council. 1.…

The East Bay Community Foundation has kept the Council abreast of the latest in regards to the recent tragedy in Oakland. Included in their response is a strategic move to address the safety and affordability of spaces for the artist community in Oakland. The City of Oakland and surrounding…

In 2017, HR is expected to adapt to keep up with the changing business environment and evolving employee expectations. This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each piece represents the…

Pepper is a robot companion from the Japanese company SoftBank. This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each piece represents the views of its author(s) and not the views of the Council…

On December 1, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) released their fourth mutual evaluation of the United States anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework.* The report analyzes the United States’ level of compliance with…

Social enterprises help ensure the economy works for everyone because they have a proven benefit to include people who have the toughest time getting jobs due to their histories of homelessness, incarceration, mental health challenges, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as limited education…

My great aunt, Georgeanna Gibbs Browne, born in 1876 in Philadelphia, was a victim of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Her upbringing was church-going and “upper crust.” Newspaper clippings describe her twirling across dance floors at summer soirees and charity balls. Old medical journals…

How did we get it so wrong? (Photo Credit: Marco Verch / CC-BY-SA-4.0) This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each piece represents the views of its author(s) and not the views of the…

During my seven-year tenure as superintendent of Guilford County Schools, I was committed to listening to and learning from others. I listened to parents, teachers and students to understand what we could do in order to make our schools better for each child. Much of that listening and learning…

At the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, we’ve been talking about how to deal with minor successors being named on a fund. We started looking into it after reading a discussion about it on the Philanthropy Exchange. It’s a tricky situation: If your fund adviser is underage, they may not…

Today is World AIDS Day — a time for people all over the globe to remember those we have lost to HIV and to recommit ourselves to ending the AIDS epidemic once and for all. On this day, the Council on Foundations salutes the many individuals and organizations united in the fight against HIV and…

Hundreds of stories are amplified by the minute during #GivingTuesday. The global and social movement captures the hearts, minds, and spirits of many who look to philanthropy on this day. On the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday puts the focus back on the giving season by…

A tumultuous election season in the U.S. has come to an unexpected end, and Americans are reeling from a surprising turn of events that reflects Brexit and other populist trends. While it’s unclear exactly how a Trump administration will affect America’s role in international development and…