Weekend Link Roundup (September 2-3, 2017)

Our weekly roundup of noteworthy items from and about the social sector. For more links to great content, follow us on Twitter at @pndblog....

Climate Change

Did climate change magnify the destructive power of Hurricane Harvey? Robinson Meyer The Atlantic's Robinson Meyer uncovers a fair amount of evidence which suggests that global warming is making a bad situation worse.

On the Yes! Magazine site, 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben talks with Jacqueline Patterson, director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program about the threat of climate change as a lens to understand many of the injustices confronting the planet.

Collaboration

Which of the following elements of effective collaboration is the most challenging: reaching consensus, bringing diverse perspectives to the table, taking meaningful action? Hop over to the Kauffman Foundation site and cast your vote, then read on to learn how "to apply the principles that matter to move to [a] place where collaboration can happen on a much larger scale." 

Data

Could data science be the key to unlocking the next wave of social change? Elizabeth Good Christopherson, president and chief executive officer of the Rita Allen Foundation, talks with Jake Porway, founder of DataKind, a global network of volunteers skilled in data analysis, coding and visualization, about changes in technology that are influencing the work of his organization and the prospects for accelerated social change.

Disaster Relief

The New York Times has a good roundup of federal assistance for those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Looking for commonsense advice about the best way to donate to Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery efforts? This article by Pam Fessler on the NPR site is a good place to start.

In a post on Slate, Jonathan M. Katz explains why the Red Cross, the default disaster relief recipient for a majority of corporations and individual Americans, won't "save" Houston.

And in a post on the NCRP site, Ginny Goldman, founder and former director of the Texas Organizing Project, the Houston-based affiliate of the Center for Popular Democracy, reminds Americans that "[w]hen camera crews head home and it's time to rebuild Houston, the people on the ground will need organizing capacity and legal support to fight for themselves." 

International Affairs/Development

According to a Better Business Better World report, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals could open up an estimated $12 trillion in market opportunities in four economic systems: food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and well-being. But, writes Nazila Vali, seizing such opportunities will require many more and much stronger partnerships.

Speaking to a small crowd at the Overseas Development Institute in London, Rajiv Shah, the new head of the Rockefeller Foundation, shared the following math: If the top fifteen foundations in the United States pooled their annual giving, their collective contributions would not fill the gap left by President Trump's proposed 30 percent cuts to foreign assistance. Devex's Molly Anders reports on what Shah is doing to position his foundation for the realities of an "America First" world.

Nonprofits

What can a nonprofit board do to make sure its members are evaluated honestly for their effectiveness? In a post on his Nonprofit Management blog, Eugene Fram shares some good advice.

Philanthropy

Prompted by the recent events in Charlottesville, Nellie Mae Education Foundation president and CEO Nick Donohue argues that maybe philanthropy has become to comfortable in its response to, and efforts to combat, white privilege.

And in her monthly commentary, Kiran Ahuja, CEO of Philanthropy NW, echoes that sentiment.

On the Glasspockets blog, Nicole Richards, chief storyteller at Philanthropy Australia, the national industry association for giving Down Under, argues that when it comes to storytelling, philanthropy generally gets a failing grade. 

And the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy has launched a new blog, and it looks like it's going to be a good one. Content coordinator Abby Rolland explains what she and her colleagues hope to accomplish.

That's it for this week. Got something you'd like to share? Drop us a line at mfn@foundationcenter.org.