Press Release

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects and partnerships in the NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2016.  Included in this announcement is an Art Works award of $25,000 to Cambridge Community Foundation. “As the community foundation of the City of Cambridge, we are delighted to receive this funding,” said Geeta Pradhan, president and CEO of the Foundation. “The goal of our project is to ensure that Central Square can continue to be both a vibrant cultural destination and a place where every part of Cambridge comes together. This grant creates a wonderful opportunity for us to partner with neighborhoods, businesses and the cultural community.” The Cambridge project, titled Cambridge Connects, will bring together artists and community leaders to tell stories that describe what kind of community local residents want Cambridge to be. The focus is on five neighborhoods including the Port, Cambridgeport, Riverside and Mid-Cambridge, as well as the Central Square District. It will use a variety of forms storytellers find compelling to place local residents in a dynamic and changing city. The work is designed to inform the Cambridge Community Foundation’s future work

A network of more than 52 local nonprofit organizations in Cambridge that recently joined to create the Cambridge Nonprofit Coalition has announced the hiring of a coordinator to develop the Coalition’s institutional profile and impact. Elena Sokolow-Kaufman comes to her new role from Mass Mentoring Partnership, where she served as senior manager of government relations and field resources. She was formerly with United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, where she served as director of community impact. Sokolow-Kaufman is a graduate of Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs Master’s Program in Bloomington, IN, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College in New York. In her new role, which is half-time, she will be based at the Cambridge Community Foundation and report to the steering committee of the Coalition. The Coalition grew out of a series of community-wide meetings over two years that focused on issues related to providing services to residents of the City of Cambridge. The goal of the new network is to build strong partnerships, meet changing needs, close the opportunity gap and improve the quality of life for local residents. “This is an exciting opportunity for the nonprofit organizations serving the people

Grants will expand and enhance science education for Massachusetts schools CAMBRIDGE, MA—Programming robots to record weather data. Fabricating mechanical parts with a 3D mill. Speaking with astronauts on the International Space Station. These are among the projects that will come to life in Massachusetts public and charter schools in 2015, thanks to Cambridge Community Foundation and Biogen Idec Foundation’s second annual Ignite the Power of STEM competitive grant program. Cambridge Community Foundation, which administers the program, selected 18 grants out of 54 applicants from across the state. Biogen Idec Foundation funded the program, totaling $84,520. The program represents a special partnership between business and the local community. The Ignite the Power of STEM grants support innovative programs that increase science literacy, encourage youth to pursue scientific careers, create classroom excitement and provide hands-on learning experiences in science, technology, engineering and math. Applicant schools had to be represented at the 2014 Massachusetts STEM Summit to be eligible. “I am impressed with the diversity of school programs and creative spirit in their grant applications. Most important are the collaborative efforts they represented. Congratulations to students, teachers, and schools, and thanks to Biogen Idec Foundation for breathing financial life into such STEM