Is the Gates Foundation Taking Advocacy Too Far?

Last week, the New York Times published this article questioning if the Gates Foundation's support of Education Reform has taken advocacy too far.

The article points out:

•  Mr. Gates is creating entirely new advocacy groups. It is bankrolling many of the Washington analysts who interpret education issues for journalists and giving grants to some media organizations.

• Then there are the less well-known advocacy grants to civil rights groups like the Education Equality Project and Education Trust that try to influence policy, to research institutes that study the policies’ effectiveness, and to Education Week and public radio and television stations that cover education policies.

• Over the next five or six years, Mr. Golston said, the foundation expects to pour $3.5 billion more into education, up to 15 percent of it on advocacy.

At one point, these actions are accused of being "Orwellian."  For those of you, like me, that did not read James Orwell's 1984 it refers to "being destructive to the welfare of a free society."

This got me thinking:

DOES GATES' ADVOCACY GO TOO FAR?

The last time I had a class covering advocacy was in high school. Admittily, I'm really a neophyte on this subject, but I am a concerned citizen of our nation.

They way I see it,  large oil companies have lobbied government for years in ways that have resulted in environmental and political outcomes that I do not agree with.

• Is this financial power and influence in our government now okay because I peronally agree with what Gates is accomplishing and see it as a ray of hope in changing our education system? 

• Is this a case where two wrongs don't make a right? 

• If the same amount of money was coming from multiple sources, still with the same views, would that make it less scrutinized.  

• At what point is financial support of advocacy okay and at what point is it not okay?

So, I don't have any big takeways this week, except that I wish I could now go back and take that college course on advocacy that I am sure I avoided.

You comments welcome!

Teacher Gifts With Meaning

Here is a reposting from part of my page on Giving Gifts.  Thought it was good timing with the end of the school year approaching. 

KIVA
I have wanted to give a microloan as a gift for years and have yet to do it.  This is the year!  I like this gift for two reasons.  One, the recipient gets to shop for the loan they want to give.  Secondly, when the loan is paid back, your recipient gets to loan the money again, and again.

Note:  In another post on this blog there are several negative articles regarding microfinancing, but I am standing behind it's value when done ethically and with integrity.


 12 Small Things
To purchase physical gifts from fair trade/socially responsible vendors check out this site.  It was suggested by a friend of mine who is hired by foreign governments to increase the business of fair trade items to benefit their local communities. 

Global Goods Partner 

My friend, mentioned above, was also hired by this company to do trainings with women in some of the countries this site supports.

Trade As One
I liked this site because it gives you background on the communities benefiting from your purchase. It not only has a selection of nice gifts, but also alternatives to items you buy for yourself probably not fair trade, like soccer balls.

Nest 

A beautiful site and is a nonprofit organization that empowers female artists and artisans around the world. Using a unique combination of interest-free microfinance loans, mentoring from established designers, as well as a market in which to sell their crafts, Nest helps its loan recipients create successful small businesses.

Global Exchange Fair Trade
You can google "fair trade gifts" and get numerous suggested.  This was one that looked particularly good.

What Makes a Vibrant Community?

Last week I went to an event on the seven aspects of vibrant communities at the Santa Barbara Foundation.  What does vibrant communities mean?  Vibrant communities are places where:

1. ARTS AND CULTURAL EXPRESSION are encouraged and celebrated

2. LIVING & DYING WITH DIGNITY are community values

3. LIFELONG LEARNING is encouraged and available

4. SAFETY is both a community and a personal responsibility

5. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT is considered a duty

6. SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH is cultivated

7. PROTECTION OF OUR ENVIRONMENT and HISTORICAL PLACES is a shared value that benefits human health and our local economies.

This is the briefest of overviews.  More information on defining vibrant communities is available on the Santa Barbara Foundation web page.

So what does this mean to you and me?

Takeway #1:

It takes all kinds of efforts from people like you and me to make our community vibrant.  In fact, the foundation states that the “correct” approach can, and should, emerge from all sectors (nonprofits, faith community, business, informal alliances, families, etc) and from people who hold very different points of view.   

This means that our varied passions all add up to something that is greater than it's parts.  My passion is early childhood education.  My husband's passion is providing support to families with cancer.  I have a friend whose passion is nature and preservation and some of my friends give their time, talent and treasure to the art museum.  No matter what your area of philanthropic passion, your contribution is important in creating a truly vibrant community.

Takeaway #2

This type of vision and leadership always inspires me to help make our community stronger and gives me hope that its possible.  It helps me see the big picture and where my efforts fit in more clearly.

Takeaway #3

I like that this is a framework and leaves room for the “it depends” mentioned in my last post.  It is designed to evolve over time as community issues shift.

I need to give the disclaimer that I am doing a small marketing contract for the Santa Barbara Foundation.  However, my contract does not relate to this post and I have been a follower and admirer of the foundation, as a community member, for several years.

The Real Solution is "It Depends"

Last week I went to see the Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen speak on global poverty.  I thought, "Noble prize economist' and 'global poverty' now this guy is going to have some answers."  I sat there squirming in my seat for 45 minutes waiting for some concrete solutions when he called me on the carpet.  The entire point of his talk was how westerners feel compelled to create a formula for everything and the real solution is "it depends."

Despite my discomfort with his vagueness, the more I thought about it, the more I knew he was right.  Solutions depend on many things:

• getting a child ready for kindergarten depends on the particular set of risks that child faces 
• deciding how to fortify food in developing countries with vital nutrients depends on the food system of each country, 
• how much an organization should spend on overhead depends on the desired outcomes.

I also realized it tied into the takeaway from my last post which was to ask more questions about the challenges the nonprofits you support face.  We expect nonprofits to have created the formula for helping, and especially a formula that involves no overhead, and we are let down when their formula doesn't work perfectly.  Reality is, within their own cause the solution for helping depends on many things.

In fact, there is a yearly meeting in Santa Barbara with local foundations and nonprofits called State of the Sector.  At last year's State of the Sector, facilitator Ken Saxon emphasized that funders wanted to have more straight talk with nonprofits.  His point was, "For every real conversation not being had, there’s a cost... and that means real costs for the people organizations serve – and that’s unacceptable."  Saxon's point was funders honestly wanted to know more about a nonprofit's challenges, not in a punitive way, but as a concerned partner that wants to help find solutions.

You can be that concerned partner that wants to help find solutions.  Most likely you know someone on the board of your favorite nonprofit, maybe you even know the Executive Director.  Call them up and ask them to coffee or the next time you are at a social event with them take the time to ask them meaningful questions.  In order to find real solutions we have to be open to "it depends" and not just settle for some formulaic response.