Save the Date-Annual Member Meeting

The Social Justice Fund annual member meeting is coming up the weekend of May 3-4 in Seattle.  More details coming soon!

New Social Justice Fund Executive Director: John-Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas

We are proud to announce that we've hired John-Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas as Executive Director of the Social Justice Fund. He can be reached on our contacts page (select "Email John-Paul"). A short biography follows.

John-PaulJohn-Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas has worked as a community organizer and educator since he was a child in Guatemala. As young adult, he worked in meatpacking to put himself through school, and it was there he began his work in the U.S. as a community organizer and educator.

Most recently, John-Paul was the Program Manager/Lead at the Northwest Area Foundation in St Paul, MN where he managed an 8-state multimillion-dollar portfolio focused on public policy, product development and building the capacity of rural Latinos, immigrants, migrants and other disenfranchised communities.

Before joining NWAF, John-Paul served as director of the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs (IDLA) where, he was instrumental in establishing the New Iowans Initiative and the passage of the 2004 Iowa Interpreters Bill which set a course for instituting qualification mechanisms for interpreters working in social service agencies, health organizations and the judicial system. Other government appointments include chair of the Iowa Commission on Latino Affairs, member of the Statewide Educational Equity Committee for the Iowa Department of Education, chair of the Governors Task force on Minority Health, the Iowa Food Security Council, and the Disproportionate Minority Confinement Committee.

Prior to IDLA, John-Paul was the National Training and Technical Assistance director at the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, the Executive Director of the Institute for the Support of Latino/a Families and Communities and adjunct faculty at the University of Iowa.

John-Paul’s experience also includes:

• Governor’s Commission on Latino Affairs (Iowa), Chair
• University of Iowa School of Social Work, Adjunct Faculty
• West Liberty, Iowa School District, At-Risk Youth Program/Multicultural/Non-sexist/Equity Education Coordinator

John-Paul has developed, coordinated, and presented training and technical assistance for public service and private institutions across the United States, Mexico, Canada and Central America. He has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Iowa, and is completing his doctorate in cultural competence education and training at the same institution. He received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from St. Mary University in Leavenworth, Kansas, and a bachelor’s degree in international relations/multiculturalism from St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kansas.

Volunteer Opportunities at the Social Justice Fund NW!

We are looking for volunteers who can spare 3-5 hours to help out in the office. We could use help from YOU to:

• Help prepare mailings
• File grantee and grantseeker information
• Write Justice Journal Articles

Please contact Office Manager Zeke Spier for more information.

Community Announcements

Jo Ann Bowman: 2007 Recipient of Jeanette Rankin Award

Jo Ann Bowman

The Jeanette Rankin Award is given to a lifelong activist who has provided extraordinary service to the Social Justice Fund region of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon.

Born in Baltimore and raised as the 4th child in a family of ten siblings, growing up during the early 60’s when African Americans were fighting for equity has shaped her career goals since leaving home.
She joined the US Navy and became one of the first women ever to serve aboard an American warship: the USS Samuel Gompers, sailing from Africa to the Philippines. Upon completion of her tour of duty, she moved to California and worked in the commercial real estate field but found herself looking forward to her weekend and evening activities, leading community trainings, registering voters and assisting in a food kitchen at the park on the weekends.

On New Year’s Day 1990, driving a U-Haul truck up I-5, alone through an ice storm, Jo Ann arrived in Portland. On January 2nd, she was spreading her resume throughout town and quickly settled into a job as Director of Development and Marketing for the Black United Fund of Oregon.

In 1993 Multnomah County Chair Beverly Stein ask her to serve on her staff where she was responsible for connecting community members to their government and reaching out and engaging people of color communities. Jo Ann ran for the office of State Representative in 1996. She was elected and served in the Oregon Legislature for three terms. Bowman saw her role as a public servant and used this position to engage people of color and other disenfranchised community members to participate in the legislative process and to educate legislators on the devastating impact of mandatory minimum laws were having on youth, especially youth of color

Jo Ann Bowman currently serves as the Executive Director of Oregon Action, a statewide multiracial membership organization that works on issues of racial, social and economic justice. Since 2004, Jo Ann has created many leadership development programs that have produced remarkable new leaders who now have the skills to advocate for their own best interest. Oregon Action’s members determine what campaigns the organization takes on and trains leaders to lead the effort. In 2004 we registered over 44,000 new voters and turned-out over 60,000 to participate in the election. We plan to duplicate this successful program in 2008.

Bowman currently serves on the board of several organizations including: Vice President, US Action; President, Coalition for a Livable Future; President, NW Constitutional Rights Center and serves as an engaged mentor to community youth. Bowman is a member of the Social Justice Fund and serves as co-chair of the Social Justice Fund’s Basic grant committee.

WA & OR Nonprofit Survey Results Show Trend in Increased Giving

The Collins Group partnered with Executive Alliance in Washington and Technical Assistance for Community Services in Oregon, to survey nonprofits in each state. The surveys found that in both states although there is a trend in increased giving, increased operational costs are forcing many nonprofits to cut back services. To read the executive summaries of the 2005 Washington and Oregon Northwest Nonprofit Resources Survey and find out more about trends and concerns in the nonprofit sector, please visit www.collinsgroup.com.

Microsoft's New Matching Program: Time is Money

A longtime advocate of employee volunteerism, Microsoft is now joining the ranks of companies like Safeco, Starbucks, Group Health and UBS that donate money to nonprofits based on employee volunteer hours. Effective October 3, 2005, when employees donate a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer time, Microsoft will match that volunteer time at a rate of $17 per hour.

If you are a Microsoft employee, learn more here. Not a Microsoft employee? Ask your employer's HR department if they have a similar program. You may be able to make the impact of your volunteer service even greater!

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

We are proud to release a short working paper on mission-based investments by Rick Cohen. In A Call for Mission-Based Investing by America's Private Foundations, Cohen presents solid arguments for a different kind of foundation investment strategy, the kind that invests directly in the organizations and nonprofit sectors in which they make grants. Following the investments made in the forms of program related investments, recoverable grants, working capital, and tax increment financing; Cohen outlines successful community development field examples of mission-based investing.

Click here for more information.