Inside Bcf: A Podcast From The Baltimore Community Foundation

BCF's Civic Leadership Fund supports our work as an advocate, fosters new ideas through program initiatives, and allows us to strategically invest in education and neighborhoods in Baltimore. This month, our monthly conversation will focus on our work on civic leadership, and highlight some recent successes.    

BCF is supporting advocacy around the Kirwan Commission. Want to know more about the details of Kirwan and ask questions about it? We invite you to join us Oct. 20 when we sit down with Bebe Verdery of the ACLU of Maryland to discuss Kirwan and what's at stake for Maryland's students. Click here to download slides from the update.

For the last 10 years, the Baker Artist Awards have been an integral part of Baltimore's arts community, providing monetary support for regional artists working in both studio and performing arts. We're sitting down with Melissa McC. Warlow to talk about the awards and the arts in Baltimore.

What makes a school effective? BCF has supported Baltimore Education Research Consortium's work defining five key factors to measure how a school is facilitating learning among students. We're sitting down with Tami Smith, a Goucher College education professor and BERC researcher, to discuss those key factors, and how BERC is working to determine if Baltimore's schools are effective.

Community gardens. Street beautification. Work that brings young and old residents together. These are examples of projects funded by the Neighborhood Grants Program at BCF over the last 25 years. On June 20, we'll discuss this successful grant program during our monthly 20-Minute Update conversation, including information on the current open application period.  

This month, we take a deeper dive into how the state funds schools - and what is on the horizon for a statewide commission examining how to update the school funding formula. BCF's Erika Seth Davies and Kevin Griffin Moreno will start their live Facebook stream at 9 a.m.

A charitable legacy can support the causes people care about for generations to come. Take Oscar Murray, a former B&O Railroad president, as a prime example: his charitable bequest to help the widows of railroad workers still helps the Baltimore community - one hundred years after he died. What does it take to create a charitable legacy? Join BCF's Rosemary Calderalo and Gigi Wirtz to find out.

Join us for a conversation on how BCF has been involved in education advocacy during a very busy session of the Maryland General Assembly.

Ashlee Johnson of The Transportation Alliance discusses transportation issues including Baltimore's new bus plan, smart transit funding and road project accountability.

In 2001, 52 women came together to form the Baltimore Women's Giving Circle at BCF. In the 16 years since, the Circle has grown to over 400 women and has invested nearly $4.5 million in organizations that focus on promoting self-sufficiency for women and their families in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Giving Circle Co-chairs Vivian Manekin and Jodi Dunn will join BCF's Ralph Serpe for this live conversation.

Kevin Griffin Moreno, Interim Director of Community Investment at BCF, will review BCF's public policy priorities for 2017. Ralph Serpe, BCF VP Philanthropy and Chief Development Officer, will moderate. 

BCF is focused on increasing the number of children ready for school in Baltimore, setting a goal to have 90 percent ready for school by 2017. Join Billie Malcolm as she discusses gains made in school readiness at Judy Centers, and how the national conversation about early childhood education makes BCF's work even more relevant today.

Kevin Griffin Moreno discusses BCF approaches arts funding in light of its goals in education and neighborhoods. 

BCF's Neighborhood Grants Program aims to help neighborhoods become and remain safe, vibrant, clean and green. Recently, BCF worked with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to add a new grant program to NGP: Youth Leadership for Change grants. These grants support projects targeted at addressing issues in the community that impact Baltimore youth. Join Dion Cartwright, program officer, as she discusses how this program is engaging youth to make neighborhoods stronger. 

By being intentional and strategic about diversity, equity, and inclusion, BCF is working to become a more effective community investor capable of achieving our vision of a Baltimore with a growing economy, where all have the opportunity to thrive. On the call, BCF's Keisha Leverette and Kevin Griffin Moreno provide an overview of BCF's race, equity and inclusion work. Link: Rodney Foxworth Jr. in Medium 

Completing your charitable giving plan is a complex task. What are the common issues that arise during the process? Ralph Serpe, VP of Devleopment, will sit down with two of BCF's charitable giving experts - Rosemary Calderalo and Keisha Leverette - to discuss some of the common mistakes they see in giving plans and how you can avoid them in your own plan.  

Middle Grades Partnership works with public and private schools to provide exceptional summer programming that halts summer learning loss and addresses issues of race, class and opportunity. Join Wendy Samet, MGP executive director, to hear about MGP's work to bring students together across Baltimore.      

The dust has settled in the Maryland legislature. The bills have been signed (or vetoed). So, what will change in education, neighborhoods, sustainability and transportation as a result? Senior Program Officer Kevin Griffin Moreno looks back on the 2016 legislative session, and explains how BCF's advocacy work influenced legislation.      

Baltimore's Sustainability Plan is getting an update. Join Cheryl Casciani, BCF's director of sustainability and chair of the City's Commission on Sustainability as she reviews eight years of work on sustainability projects like reducing trash in neighborhoods and educating young people about the environment. Casciani will also discuss how a revised plan will address challenges facing Baltimore today.

Why does it take so long to drive to work? When is that next bus coming? These are the questions Baltimoreans ask themselves daily as they deal with one of the most snarled transportation situations in the nation. Join us on March 21, when we'll sit down with Central Maryland Transportation Alliance's Brian O'Malley to discuss why CMTA graded Baltimore and Central Maryland's transportation a "D", and what key issues in the state legislature could change your commute next year. After 10 minutes of overview, we'll take your questions.