How do Supreme Court decisions and elections impact opportunities to improve the lives of children and families? The new environment provides the chance for charitable foundations to assess the policy and program landscape and look for new windows of opportunity to work strategically and collaboratively to improve the lives of children and families.
Funder Conversations and Examples
With contributions from Erin Dougherty Lynch. Tell us what Haaland v. Brackeen was about. What was the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision? Earlier this summer, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Haaland v. Brackeen, in which it affirmed the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Congress passed ICWA in 1978…
With contributions from Emily Martin. Tell us what 303 Creative v. Elenis was about. 303 Creative is a lawsuit manufactured by the extremist Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to undermine the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA). The Southern Poverty Law Center has categorized ADF as a hate group. Like many state and local anti-discrimination laws, CADA protects…
With contributions from Emily Martin. Tell us what SFFA v. Harvard/UNC was about. Students for Fair Admission (SFFA) sued Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) alleging that their consideration of race in admissions decisions violates Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (which prohibits federally funded programs and activities, including universities,…
With contributions from Kirti Datla. Tell us what Sackett v. EPA was about. The Sackett case is, at bottom, a case about the scope of the Clean Water Act, and specifically the extent to which it protects wetlands. of the Act’s programs apply to what the Act calls “navigable waters.” The Act, somewhat unhelpfully, defines…
The 2022 election results bring change, new opportunities, and different challenges. Join us as we learn about the policy landscape at both the national and state levels. We’ll discuss how potential policy changes could affect children and the varieties of roles funders can play to advance, defend against, or communicate better about policy. Speakers: Bruce…
After the 2020 elections, it is time to reflect on what funders can do to progress policy changes. This Roundtable webinar covers policy actions at both the federal and state levels and includes opportunities for funders to discuss with their peers the most effective ways to create policy and systems change. During this interactive webinar,…
Watch the webinar here! Policy research, public will building, message development, grassroots and grasstops engagement. Funders have lots of tools in their toolkit! Join funder colleagues to discuss a range of advocacy and systems change strategies used to ensure more children, families and communities thrive. We’ll discuss strategies and lessons learned from a variety of…
Policy and Advocacy Starting Place: Building Public Will Contributed by: Cornelia Grumman, Education Director, Robert R. McCormick Foundation Public will-building strategies are an essential component of systemic reform of early education, and an integral part of our Education Program grantmaking strategy at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. We’ve approached this from a few angles. First, we work…
Policy and Advocacy Starting Place: Training Community Policy Advocates Contributed by: Bia Vieira, Chief Strategist, Programs, The Women’s Foundation of California 17 years ago, The Women’s Foundation of California realized that if we were ever really going to make positive change on behalf of cisgender and transgender women, non-binary and genderqueer people and transgender men and…
Policy and Advocacy Starting Place: Data Analysis Capacity Contributed by: Noah Berger, Director of Policy Advocacy and Reform, The Annie E. Casey Foundation The Annie E. Casey Foundation is committed to building a brighter future for the nation’s children by developing solutions that strengthen families, build paths to economic opportunity and transform struggling communities into…
Policy and Advocacy Starting Place: Coalition Building Contributed by: Nancy Jost, Director of Early Childhood, West Central Initiative For more than 15 years, the West Central Initiative (WCI) has worked to improve early childhood education in 9 counties (Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Pope, Stevens, Traverse, Wilkin) and a native nation (White Earth Nation) in west…
Thursday, March 28 at 2:00 pm eastern RSVP here! How can philanthropy make the case for funding advocacy to end homelessness? Uncertain whether you can fund grantees that lobby? What’s philanthropy’s role in educating new members of Congress on housing and homelessness issues? What does it look like to support local ballot initiative work? Funders…
Join the EITC Funders Network for an annual look at current federal and state EITC policies and what’s to come in the year ahead. February 14 at 1:00 pm eastern Register here. 2018 was a big year for tax credit advocacy on the state level: bills to enact or expand state EITCs moved forward in…
Monday, January 7 3:00-4:15 pm eastern As we jump into the new year, let’s look at policy opportunities that arise from the 2018 elections, including ballot initiative wins on voting rights restoration, money in politics reforms, redistricting, and more. What can we do to continue advancing this work? What policies might get traction in 2019? Learn…
Tuesday, January 29 at 12:00 – 1:15 pm eastern The 2018 election results bring change, new opportunities, and different challenges. Join us as we learn about the policy landscape at both the national and state levels. We’ll discuss how potential policy changes could affect children and the varieties of roles funders can play to advance,…
Related News & Updates
This article from the Alliance for Early Success is an excellent breakdown of state advancement and changes due to the elections.
This journal organized by First Focus highlights the big ideas driving policy discussions that affect children and families in 2023. Ideas include guaranteed health care for children, reclaiming the federal role in education, improving the user experience for families needing government assistance, and more.
If you are interested in the intersection of immigration and child welfare, check out: A Threat to Health & Well-Being: Public Charge’s Expected Impact and How Philanthropy Can Respond GCIR webinar September 26, 2019 If you are curious about innovative funding for policy advocacy, check out: Philanthropy’s New Playbook for Policy Advocacy Urban Institute event…
Many charitable foundations are grappling with how to evaluate advocacy. Just how do you figure out which strategies are truly making a difference? How do you know what works? This teasing out of cause and effect, of evaluating the efficacy of advocacy strategies, is the work of monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). Traditional approaches to…
Funding advocacy can have the feel of going for a wilderness mountain hike on an extremely dark and foggy night. We know there’s much to be gained, potentially, and, there are some potential pitfalls. Is there a map? Might we end up on private property? Get fined? What if the property is guarded by a…
As the partial government shutdown continues, low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities, and people with children are adversely affected. Experts with the National Low Income Housing Coalition point out the shutdown’s impact on rental assistance, housing vouchers, rural housing development, and those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. To learn more, check out this article.
Budgeting for the Next Generation: Does the Budget Process Prioritize Children?
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget looks at how the federal budget impacts the lives of children.
Funder Survey Results
In early 2019, the Roundtable fielded a survey of funders to explore children and family policy priorities and strategies. The results provide insight into some of the ideas most on the minds of funders. We are releasing survey results in a periodic blog post. Policy Opportunities Survey Results — Forms of Policy Advocacy Funding The…
In early 2019, the Roundtable fielded a survey of funders to explore children and family policy priorities and strategies. The results provide insight into some of the ideas most on the minds of funders. We are releasing survey results in a periodic blog post. Policy Opportunities Survey Results — Race and Gender Equity Of the…
In early 2019, the Roundtable fielded a survey of funders to explore children and family policy priorities and strategies. The results provide insight into some of the ideas most on the minds of funders. We are releasing results in a perioidc blog post. Policy Opportunities Survey Results — Issue Areas Of the more than 30…
For the Roundtable’s next conversation, we want to highlight the policy changes that most affect families and the strategies funders are using to support, shape, or defend against these changes. To get a sense of your family-focused philanthropy, policy, and equity priorities in 2019 and 2020, we are surveying our members and asking our affinity…