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Catalogue Blog

In the News …

Welcome to Wednesday, Greater Washington! Here comes our weekly news round-up …

To Fight Povery, Invest in Girls — In the upcoming issue of TIME, Nancy Gibbs makes a compelling point: “sometimes freedom and opportunity slip in through the back door, when a quieter subversion of the status quo unleashes change that is just as revolutionary. This is the tantalizing idea for activists concerned with poverty, with disease, with the rise of violent extremism: if you want to change the world, invest in girls.” The numbers are also quite noteworthy: “An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10% to 20%. An extra year of secondary school adds 15% to 25% … And the World Food Programme has found that when girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90% of it in their families.” (On a related note: several of our non-profits are already doing just this!)

The Pride Returns to Capitol Hill — For some promising news, do check out this post on The Hill is Home (a great blog … which also happens to be about my neighborhood) regarding the re-launch of Eastern High School. A parent of two elementary school children, the author “came away convinced” from a recent Information Session. At the new Eastern, “all students will have access to courses in health and medical sciences and law and public policy through innovated Academies; all classrooms are equipped with the latest technology, athletics and extracurricular activities will also be available to all students in newly remodeled facilities.” Buildings and aesthetics are not everything, but they sure can inspire students and neighbors.

Ped/bike safety enforcement stories — For coverage of the recent hearings on pedestrian and bicycle safety enforcement, head over to DCist and Greater Greater Washington, which both provide video of the “many people who had been hit while walking or bicycling, or the families of those killed while walking or bicycling testified at Friday’s hearing on pedestrian and bicycle safety enforcement.” DC boasts the highest bike-commuting rate on the East Coast, which is absolutely to our credit — so let’s make sure that we keep the streets safe for commuters with both two and four wheels. To help the cause, do check out one of our non-profits, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

Donors and Nonprofits Face a Defining Moment in Responding to a Crisis — In the words of a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article: “The economic crisis of the 21st century’s first decade did not cause the apocalypse for American philanthropy that many experts had feared. In fact, charitable donations topped $300-billion during each year of the recession … But now as the second decade opens, we may well face philanthropy’s defining moment.” So what happens in that moment? In sum, individual non-profits have the opportunity to “not relax and retreat but instead must redouble their efforts as active players in shaping how society works,” perhaps by offering “solutions that help close the deficit by offering social programs that deliver better results at a lower cost to taxpayers.”

5 Hard Questions Non-profits Should Ask — Finally, for some good mid-week food for thought, check out this post on Social Velocity and run through the questions. Not all five apply to everyone (case in point: #4). But the idea that we should regularly articulate (and debate) our most difficult questions, is certainly apt.

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