Civic Leadership Archives - Page 10 of 11 - Cambridge Community Foundation

Lori Lander: The Power of Convening

Staff Editor2022-10-06T20:58:38-04:00June 22nd, 2018|Civic Leadership, Press Release|

When Lori Lander was fresh out of college, she helped create a program to engage young adults in Miami’s urban challenges. That program hooked her on the power of convening and civic engagement, and today, Cambridge benefits. Lander, who is on our board of directors and co-chairs our Program and Special Initiatives Committee, is a powerful advocate for community building in Cambridge. She is one of the founders of Cambridge’s MLK Day of Service. This year, in its eighth year, the event drew more than 3,200 people of all ages and from all walks of life to work on projects that benefit others, in honor of Dr. King. Lori also hosts monthly conversations about urgent issues in Cambridge, in her living room! “I care deeply about how to get people active and engaged in their community,” said Lori. “It’s what Tip O’Neill said… 'All Politics is Local’. We’re all responsible for the community we live in and we need to engage to become the community we want it to be.” The monthly Breakfast Gatherings at Lori Lander’s house started in 2010 when she was thinking about how to coordinate the MLK Day of Service. She invited people she knew

Join Us at Cambridge Forum & Join Us in Giving

Staff Editor2018-07-27T15:55:33-04:00March 8th, 2018|Civic Leadership, Press Release, Shared Prosperity|

“THE DREAM MACHINE: the journey from undocumented to deported” with author, Professor Dan-El Padilla Peralta and other panelists, including Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern & CCF President Geeta Pradhan Friday, March 9 at 7 pm First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge JOIN US FOR THIS FORUM & JOIN US IN GIVING TO THE CAMBRIDGE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND FOR IMMIGRANTS Princeton professor and author of “UNDOCUMENTED”, Dan-El Padilla Peralta shares the story of his own American dream. Arriving in the US from the Dominican Republic at the age of four, he lived in a NYC homeless shelter as an undocumented immigrant before eventually graduating from an Ivy league school at the top of his class. Dan-el received his MPhil from the University of Oxford and his PhD in classics from Stanford University. In addition to his successful academic career, Padilla Peralta is an activist on immigration issues and will speak about the implications of the DACA decision not just for immigrants, but for all Americans. Do we not have a moral responsibility to stand with the undocumented in our communities? Join us for this important discussion. Doors open at 6.30 pm. This event is free and open to all. www.cambridgeforum.org

Inequality and Wealth Redistribution

Staff Editor2018-07-27T15:55:33-04:00March 3rd, 2018|Civic Leadership, Press Release, Shared Prosperity|

Conversations on the Edge: Inequality and Wealth Redistribution Thursday March 15, 2018 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM Cambridge Center for Adult Education 56 Brattle Street Cambridge, MA 02138 ATTEND

CONVERSATIONS ON THE EDGE

Staff Editor2018-02-07T16:43:46-05:00January 17th, 2018|Civic Leadership, Press Release|

Immigration Thursday, January 18 – 6:00PM-7:30PM Spiegel Auditorium, 56 Brattle St. Cambridge, MA What do we mean when we say, “America is a nation of immigrants”? According to the Migration Policy Institute, immigrants make up over 13% of the United States population, with some sources citing hundreds of thousands of new arrivals each year. In this conversation, grassroots organizers and legal experts will explore issues that affect immigrants in the United States today, including current and potential protective policies for immigrants and refugees, immigration reform, paths to citizenship, and how local organizations can empower immigrants to participate in their local communities and civic life. Join us for a welcome reception with refreshments and light snacks at 5:30pm. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS Please note: This event is almost sold-out. If you plan on attending, please reserve your spot at the link above! The Cambridge Center for Adult Education has a long history as a beacon for learning and discussion on topics of import. This series is presented in partnership with the Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) and Cambridge Community Television (CCTV). Panelists Eva Millona | Executive Director, MIRA: Eva A. Millona is Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition

Driving Change

Staff Editor2017-11-30T00:54:34-05:00November 29th, 2017|Civic Leadership, Press Release|

The Fall 2017 issue of our Newsletter probes a major city report on urgent needs in Cambridge, presents a program helping immigrant children stranded in the legal system, and celebrates the gift of Maurice Anderson responding to urgent community needs. We are delighted to introduce seven new board members, and the members of the Professional Advisors Council. Read more here: [download id="4927"]

Giving Tuesday

Staff Editor2017-11-30T00:54:34-05:00November 27th, 2017|Civic Leadership|

November 27, 2017 Dear Cambridge Friends, What do you want for your community? For many, the answer is the same as what we all want for our children and loved ones: good health, an education that will support them in their work and lives, and the means to fulfill their dreams. For too many, those goals are just beyond their grasp. 15% of our community now lives in poverty, and they are making hard choices every day. That’s why the Cambridge Community Foundation was established over one hundred years ago, and why we continue granting over $1.3 million annually creating opportunity, hope, and shared prosperity. Through the power and impact of collective giving , your gift directly supports a civic agenda benefitting everyone in Cambridge and nonprofits that build lasting relationships with communities one person at a time. This year, an anonymous donor is offering $25,000 to support the Foundation’s civic leadership agenda. Join your neighbors with a gift for Cambridge. Your gift will promote a caring and compassionate city, and support our community’s foundation – Cambridge Community Foundation. Sincerely, Geeta Pradhan President

Unite For Puerto Rico

Staff Editor2017-11-30T00:54:39-05:00September 29th, 2017|Civic Leadership|

September 29, 2017 Dear friends, I write to ask for your help with the relief efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Massachusetts has the 5th largest population of Puerto Ricans in the continental United States, and many call Cambridge home. The effects of the devastating hurricane will be felt in Puerto Rico, and in the Commonwealth as people migrate to Massachusetts. The Cambridge Community Foundation will be directing gifts to UNICEF USA's Hurricane Relief in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico, both of which will provide critical support to our neighbors in Puerto Rico. Gifts to UNICEF will provide immediate relief in Puerto Rico. Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico will work to quickly aggregate philanthropic capital from corporations, foundations and individual donors and deploy those resources to well vetted and effective relief, recovery and resettlement organizations on a grassroots level. Gifts may be made online here. If you wish to direct a gift from a donor advised fund, please contact Usha Pasi at 617.576.9966. We thank you for your compassion at this time of great need. Geeta Pradhan President

DACA: Our history, our values, our future

Staff Editor2017-11-30T00:54:39-05:00September 25th, 2017|Civic Leadership|

Across the world, the image of America is one of abundant diversity, expansive opportunity, and remarkable inclusion. Indeed, that is what has made this country the nation we know today. Waves of immigrants seeking a better life fled their homelands to make America their home.… those waves of immigrants were our ancestors. Some came here seeking freedom from tyranny, from religious and other persecution, and from poverty. Some were brought here forcibly on slave ships, while others came here to pursue education or work in the most advanced sectors of the global economy. With grit, resilience, and hard work they made a better life for themselves and their children. Somewhat obscured in the current conversation, is the reality that the migration we know from the founding of the nation mirrors what we see today. The Indian Tribes or Native Americans were here earlier. And as waves of immigrants came in, we built a country with our rules, our customs, our laws. We legitimized ourselves! Today, every community from Charlottesville to Cambridge, and Long Beach to New York offers a richness of cultural diversity and vitality. According to wallethub.com, Cambridge ranks 31st among mid-sized cities in its diversity ranking

What Does Cambridge Mean To You?

Staff Editor2017-11-30T00:54:39-05:00September 19th, 2017|Civic Leadership|

What Does Cambridge Mean to You? September 15 was a chance to reinvent a precious commodity—the Cambridge parking space—as a way to get to know members of our community in a fresh and creative way. Over 120 spaces around the city were reimagined as extensions of organizations, some quite familiar, some newly visible. Cambridge Community Foundation set up shop on Mass Ave close to CCTV (which hauled a sofa and sound equipment out of its office and went to work interviewing folks right there in public). The Foundation used a question we have explored before: What Does Cambridge Mean to You? And invited passersby to tell us their thoughts. We met tourists in town from South Carolina, new students at local universities, friends we know from Cambridge city government and residents savoring what turned out to be a beautiful early fall day. It seemed such a Cantabrigian concept although it is, in fact, an international event. Here are a few images gathered through the day. Meanwhile we at the Foundation are already mulling how to celebrate Parking Day next year.

Boomtown/Hometown Report

Staff Editor2024-10-09T16:41:46-04:00March 1st, 2017|Civic Leadership, Press Release, Shared Prosperity|

Read the Report Can Cambridge retain its culture of diversity and opportunity in a dynamic innovation economy? Foundation calls for an agenda for ‘Shared Prosperity’ March 1 2017 A new report by Cambridge Community Foundation charts the impact of trends in housing, education and income disparity that threaten the city’s prized culture of diversity and inclusion, even as its enviable role in a regional innovation economy drives soaring levels of prosperity. A review of relevant data raises questions about whether this growth actually benefits city residents–or whether a growing financial disconnect means many residents can no longer afford the city they live in. Fully 78 percent of current low-income households in Cambridge are “cost burdened,” spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Over half spend over 50 percent of total income on housing. They qualify as “severely cost burdened.” In 2015, Just 4 percent of the city’s rental housing stock was affordable for a family with two workers earning $75,000 a year in total – in a community with a median annual household income of just over $79,000. The cost of buying a home is inevitably further out of reach: just 2 percent of single-family

June 2018

Lori Lander: The Power of Convening

March 2018

Join Us at Cambridge Forum & Join Us in Giving

Inequality and Wealth Redistribution

January 2018

CONVERSATIONS ON THE EDGE

November 2017

Driving Change

Giving Tuesday

September 2017

Unite For Puerto Rico

DACA: Our history, our values, our future

What Does Cambridge Mean To You?

March 2017

Boomtown/Hometown Report

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