Communities – Page 50 – Knight Foundation

Program Area: Communities

Sandra Shea is the managing editor, Opinion, for the Philadelphia Media Network. Below, she writes about the Philadelphia Media Network’s experience with On the Table in 2017. Today, Knight Foundation is announcing a $2 million re-investment in the On the Table initiative to connect neighbors over mealtime conversations in cities.

We live in a new era of change and instability. We have grown used to disturbing terms like “alternative facts” and “fake news;” been exposed to policies and rhetoric that create division and fear, and have had to scrutinize our identity as a nation and a democracy.   Amid this uncertainty, there are a few things I am sure of: we can always find truth in people’s stories. We can always find strength in conversations with each other. We can always solve our problems if we are at the table, together.   

That’s why we at Philadelphia Media Network were excited to participate in “On the Table” and why it felt like it came at just the right time. The timing was also good because not long before, we began examining ways we could develop deeper relationships with our audience, and listen to them more deeply.

We invited five different groups – for breakfast, lunch and dinner – and invited editors and reporters to participate and help moderate the conversations. We had done initial screening and selected topics based on participants’ interests, but tried to let the people shape the conversations.  

Our editors and reporters found the conversations at each table illuminating. Many reporters followed up with some participants as sources for stories, and editors were inspired to think about these kinds of gatherings as a way to connect with our audience. What was most meaningful was watching how each group, made up of diverse individuals representing a broad spectrum of opinions and outlooks, found ways to listen to each other, and to connect.

I can’t help thinking that this program is the beginning of a new chapter in our democracy – one that shaped by the act of listening, and written by the people in every neighborhood across the city and beyond.

MIAMI – Feb. 26, 2018 – On the Table, a national initiative which in 2017 brought 40,000 residents in 10 cities together in mealtime conversations to talk about ways to address pressing community issues, will return to communities across the country with $2 million in new funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The support will renew the initiative for another two years, through 2019.

On the Table replicates an annual civic engagement initiative of the same name developed by The Chicago Community Trust in 2013. The initiative was expanded by Knight Foundation in 2017, with community foundations in cities across the country leading the effort.

“On the Table is a surging effort to reinvent public dialogue. In its first year, the national effort brought together thousands of people to meet and discuss difficult and sometimes contentious issues face-to-face. Participants worked to build connections and consensus, identify solutions to local challenges, and use these results to influence decision-makers. In its next phase, we hope to see these conversations translate to deeper local action,” said Lilly Weinberg, Knight Foundation director for community foundations.

In 2018, On the Table initiative will involve community foundations in 10 cities where Knight invests: Akron Community Foundation (Akron, Ohio); Foundation for the Carolinas (Charlotte, North Carolina); Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley (Columbus, Georgia); Legacy Foundation (Gary, Indiana); Blue Grass Community Foundation (Lexington, Kentucky); Community Foundation of Central Georgia (Macon); The Miami Foundation (Miami); Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties (Palm Beach, Florida); Philadelphia Foundation (Philadelphia); and Silicon Valley Community Foundation (San Jose, California).

Each city will schedule one day when they will convene thousands of residents to share both a meal and ideas on how to make their city a better place to live and work, while identifying opportunities to address local challenges such as affordable housing, climate change, race relations, and urban design and public space improvements. Data and insights from On the Table help to inform many strategic plans and grant-making for both community foundations and city governments. Data is also shared with local decision-makers, organizations and residents to encourage them to collaborate on actions that can improve the quality of life in their city.

In its first year, On the Table participants created a national network of people who are working to make communities stronger and more successful. The conversations sparked new community collaboration across sectors, informed city planning efforts, and facilitated participants moving ideas to action through projects in their community.

Blue Grass Community Foundation will kick off the 2018 effort in Lexington, Kentucky on March 28. Follow Knight Foundation and #knightcities on Twitter for updates about On the Table conversations in other cities throughout the year. Other dates include:

  • Akron, Ohio: Oct. 3, 2018
  • Charlotte, North Carolina: Oct. 24, 2018 
  • Columbus, Georgia: Oct. 23, 2018
  • Gary, Indiana: Sept. 26, 2018
  • Macon, Georgia: Oct. 17, 2018
  • Miami, Florida: Oct. 23, 2018
  • Palm Beach County, Florida: Oct. 24, 2018
  • Philadelphia: Nov. 8, 2018
  • Silicon Valley: Oct. 23, 2018

Support for On the Table forms one part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to help cities attract and keep talented people, expand economic opportunity and create a culture of engagement. The foundation believes that successful communities are equitable, inclusive and participatory.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit http://knightfoundation.org.

CONTACT:

Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]

DETROIT – Feb. 22, 2018 – To ensure Detroit’s residents have the information and access they need to influence civic decision-making, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced $1.5 million in new funding to CitizenDetroit. This funding will enable the organization, an independent nonprofit, to scale its efforts, promoting regular online and in-person dialogues about important civic issues, and producing research to help residents better understand local government and their role in shaping it.

Citizen Detroit started as a project incubated at Wayne State University. Over the past five years, it has engaged roughly 2,000 Detroiters on multiple topics crucial to civic life. The nonpartisan organization educates residents on candidates and policy issues, and encourages them to think critically about elected officials and emerging political topics.

“CitizenDetroit has worked to create important community impact, including the long-term development of residents’ knowledge and skills to critically assess policy decisions and political campaigns,” said Sheila Cockrel, CitizenDetroit’s co-founder and executive director. “With this new support we hope to provide even more residents with quality, actionable information, giving them the tools they need to make informed voting choices and hold elected officials accountable.”

Knight Foundation funding will help propel two of the organization’s program areas: PolicyLab and Civic Exchange. PolicyLab is the research arm of CitizenDetroit; it works to produce information that helps residents make informed decisions and educate them about local issues. Civic Exchange delivers community education experiences to residents, including town halls with candidates and elected officials, dinner and dialogues about local issues, and interactive exercises designed to promote learning and participation. In addition, the organization will use Knight support to build an online platform that will highlight civic information, activities and programs, as a way to reach many more residents.

“When quality information, debate and participation feel accessible and urgent, and when residents feel that their voices matter in civic discourse and in their dialogue with elected officials, community engagement flourishes. CitizenDetroit is working to provide a safe, nonpartisan, welcoming venue to move this goal forward. Expanding their work has the potential to build a more inclusive, successful Detroit,” said Katy Locker, Knight Foundation program director for Detroit.

On Jan. 27, 2018, CitizenDetroit held its first Citizen Assembly with more than 300 participants, including City Hall leaders. At the Assembly, residents developed an action agenda to hold elected and appointed leadership accountable for supporting equity and opportunity for all Detroiters. The agenda will drive CitizenDetroit’s interactions with residents and public officials over the coming year.

In a December 2017 CitizenDetroit participant survey, 91 percent of respondents said that CitizenDetroit was “extremely effective” or “very effective” in helping them critically assess candidates and political platforms. The figure was 86 percent for understanding the roles and responsibilities of local elected offices, 84 percent for developing informed opinions about complex policy issues, and 80 percent for being equipped to engage more deeply in civic life.

“Democracies thrive when citizens can make informed decisions,” said Cockrel. “Residents’ priorities should drive the public agenda. CitizenDetroit is entering into an exciting phase of its existence where we can continue to educate, engage and mobilize citizens in the nonpartisan public policy decision-making of city life.”

Support for CitizenDetroit is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts in Detroit to promote democratic engagement and community information. Since 2008 Knight has pledged more than $100 million to Detroit.

###

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

About Citizen Detroit

Between 2018 and 2021, CitizenDetroit will expand and enhance its programming to reach every city council district and to connect with other organizations and efforts shaping the landscape of citizen participation. The organization will serve as an influential and effective platform for organizing and activating engaged citizens in the democratic process so that Detroit becomes the most civically active city in the country by 2021. For more, visit citizendetroit.org.

Contacts:

Sheila Cockrel, Executive Director, CitizenDetroit, 313-319-9600, [email protected]

Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]

Sheila Cockrel is co-founder and executive director for CitizenDetroit, an independent nonprofit that organizes and activates engaged citizens in the democratic process. Citizen Detroit is receiving $1.5 million in new support from Knight Foundation. 

On Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, several hundred Detroiters of all ages, races and life experiences convened in a union hall near downtown Detroit for CitizenDetroit’s first Citizen Assembly. The Assembly’s mission: to understand how Detroit’s history has shaped its present, and together, agree on the priorities we’ll use to hold our elected officials accountable. After four hours of speakers, thought-provoking exercises and deliberation, 10 priorities were identified. These will be used as progress indicators to assess the actions of elected officials – those in office and those running for office – over the next three years. The priorities include:

  1. All Detroiters will have access to quality education.
  2. We won’t support a development if Detroiters are moved so others can move into their homes.
  3. Our transit system will transport Detroiters to their jobs and appointments.
  4. All neighborhoods will be safe.
  5. We’ll fight economic segregation: every area of Detroit will have a place for people of all incomes.
  6. Those who stayed will have an active voice in shaping their neighborhood redevelopment.
  7. Government actions will be transparent and accountable to residents.
  8. The City will promote and protect residents’ health, well-being and safety.
  9. Jobs and opportunities will be brought close to the neighborhoods whenever possible – and made available first to Detroiters.
  10. Blight removal is critical but we must save every house we can.

Building on this work, CitizenDetroit will produce a scoreboard that tracks how the city is doing across a multitude of measures. At the assembly, many attendees also signed up to be part of a group that will help track progress through CitizenDetroit’s action arm, EngageD. With the support of a three-year grant from Knight Foundation, we will engage in deep civic education that equips Detroit residents to be the most informed and engaged citizens in our country.

CitizenDetroit’s participants include those who have long histories of championing for breakthroughs in civil rights, as well as young adults who are coming of voting age and want to participate more fully in the democratic process. While there is a sense of great hope among them for the future of Detroit, there is also a fear that their voices won’t be heard. CitizenDetroit is committed to creating a space for Detroiters from all walks of life to come together to break bread and discuss the most important issues facing our city.

Detroit is facing a period of great transition since exiting bankruptcy and emergency financial management. A recent Knight Foundation-commissioned report for Detroit Future City, 139 Square Miles, noted: “For the first time in 60 years, the city is moving toward population growth, [and yet] today, 53 percent of Detroit residents live in ‘areas of concentrated poverty.’”

Enhancing the decision-making skills of local residents about their rights as citizens has been and remains necessary to set the agenda for change in the city. When laying out city planning goals at the 2017 Mackinac Policy Conference, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said: “Our principle is this: one city for all of us.” This mandate has set in motion a call for increased attention and dialogue among residents about how decisions are made in the city and who decides. CitizenDetroit serves as a platform for Detroiters to become informed about issues that are important to them and what’s at stake.

President Obama, paraphrasing Louis Brandeis in his farewell address, stated that the most important office in our democracy is that of “citizen.” We believe citizens can and will change the course of policy and the course of the country for the better. We’re bringing the notion of citizen power forward in 2018. We will work with our fellow Detroiters to promote a multilayered and critical understanding of policy issues and candidate platforms. In this way, citizens can make decisions rooted in shared values as our city undergoes an incredible period of transformation.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Feb. 20, 2018 –This summer, American Public Media (APM) will look to expand the horizon of rising entrepreneurs and contribute to business development in St. Paul with the launch of a new and philanthropy-backed innovation center, The Glen Nelson Center, in addition to a startup incubator supported in part by $1 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The Glen Nelson Center will invest in startups aligned with APM’s mission and launch new businesses on the frontier of media and technology. The new center is named in honor of Glen Nelson, M.D. – a longtime supporter, board member and board chair at Minnesota Public Radio and APM – who passed away in 2016. As vice chairman at Medtronic, Dr. Nelson championed efforts to save lives through innovation and was the patron of the “Patent Garden,” honoring the legacies of medical inventors. 

“We are immensely grateful for Marilyn Carlson Nelson and her family’s support of this initiative and its dedication to Glen’s mission,” said Jon McTaggart, president and CEO of American Public Media Group. “This wouldn’t be possible without the scores of friends who made memorial gifts in honor of Glen, along with the support of Newman’s Own Foundation and the Bill Kling Innovation Endowment. The generosity of these individuals and organizations have made the Glen Nelson Center a reality. This center will honor Glen’s commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship that creates social good.” 

APM’s primary goal is to expand our relevance and reach to audiences. The Glen Nelson Center will invest in companies that support this mission and are on the frontier of their field. The center is central to APM’s efforts to lead the changing landscape of media, in addition to ensuring that APM can continue to serve diverse and growing audiences in the most vital of ways. Jeff Freeland Nelson (no relation), a seasoned entrepreneur with 20 years of leadership experience across the for-profit, non-profit and governmental sectors, will lead the Glen Nelson Center.

The first new business launched by the Glen Nelson Center will be Lunar Startups, a shared workspace and new venture incubator. The Glen Nelson Center and Lunar Startups will be based in downtown Saint Paul’s Osborn370, which opened this year to house the next generation of innovators in a vibrant setting within the reimagined former Ecolab headquarters.

Lunar Startups to accelerate high-growth startups with Knight Foundation support

Lunar Startups is a collaboration between the Glen Nelson Center and Osborn370 with support from the Knight Foundation that will incubate and accelerate early-stage, high-growth startups with a strong commitment to entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities. 

“The Glen Nelson Center and Lunar Startups aims to help ensure entrepreneurs across all of our city’s diverse communities have access to the tools and resources they need to contribute to the success of St. Paul,” said Jai Winston, Knight Foundation program director for St. Paul. “The center’s location in downtown will also help to add a new, vibrant hub for ideas to the heart of the city, encouraging further growth and development.”  

Lunar’s collaborative space will inspire a wide-ranging group of startups and give them access to critical resources, such as shared office space, visibility, programming, essential business services, and a powerful mentorship network. Melissa Kjolsing Lynch is the founding managing director of Lunar, as well as the co-founder of tech startup Recovree. Recently named by Minnesota Business as one of the 2018 (Real) Power 50, Melissa previously led the MN Cup, the largest statewide startup competition in the country. 

“The Glen Nelson Center and Lunar Startups have the leadership and vision to be a perfect match for Osborn370 and St. Paul,” said Scott Burns, technology start-up veteran and partner in Osborn370. “The entrepreneurs they seek to nurture will find a vibrant community of innovators in this unique building.” 

Glen Nelson Center and Lunar Startups will occupy one full floor of Osborn370. The 10,000-square-foot space is scheduled to open in summer 2018. For more information on the Glen Nelson Center, visit http://www.glennelson.org. To learn more about Lunar Startups, visit LunarStartups.org.

About American Public Media
American Public Media® is the national programming division of Minnesota Public Radio® and reaches 20 million listeners via 1,000 radio stations nationwide each week. APM is one of the largest producers and distributors of public radio programming in the world, with a portfolio that includes BBC World Service, Marketplace® and the leading classical music programs in the nation. APM offers a diverse array of podcasts featuring the best in food, culture, entertainment, business and investigative journalism. In November 2015, APM launched APM Reports, a long-form reporting group aimed at creating distinct, high-impact journalism in the form of investigations and documentaries. APM Reports’ groundbreaking investigative podcast, In the Dark, which examinedthe 27-year-old cold case of the kidnapping of Jacob Wetterling in central Minnesota, won a George Foster Peabody Award, the highest honor in broadcasting. For more information on APM, visit americanpublicmedia.org.

Source: Data are copyright Nielsen Audio. Data are estimates only.

About Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

About Osborn370 

Osborn370 is building a community of innovators in downtown Saint Paul. The former Ecolab headquarters tower is being transformed into a working environment where companies, organizations and individuals can create and collaborate. Through design, intentional collaborative spaces, critical professional services and lead tenants that set the tone for innovation, Osborn 370 is designed to support large and small entrepreneurial businesses and help them attract and retain the talent they need to power their growth.

Media contacts: 

Kelly Reller, American Public Media, 651-290-1552, [email protected]

Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]

To strengthen technology expertise within government by supporting the nonpartisan Congressional Innovation Fellowship which places technologists in congressional offices.

To engage residents in each residential building downtown in community planning and decision-making, and recruit diverse board members.

The forum’s main sessions will be livestreamed Feb. 20-21 at knightfoundation.org/live.

At a time when trust in media, and institutions in general, is dangerously low, how can news organizations work to rebuild it? What effect does the trend have on people’s engagement in solving local issues? 

Starting Tuesday morning Feb. 20, the Knight Media Forum will tackle these topics and more, as it gathers leaders in philanthropy, media and technology to look at ways to strengthen both local news and communities. The event will be streamed online, and features a range of speakers including Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who recently piloted the news service WikiTribune, and former CBS news anchor Bob Schieffer, who will address how our society can navigate the information overload that surrounds us.

Woven throughout the sessions is a prompt toward action, as panelists consider how funders and leaders can work to ensure communities are getting the information they need to make decisions, and galvanize people around solutions.

The livestream kicks off at 9:15 a.m. EST Tuesday with a conversation between members of the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy. Under the Aspen Institute, the blue-ribbon panel is looking at the media landscape around the country, starting from the premise that without trust, our democracy cannot function. With members ranging from a PBS producer to Facebook’s product manager for news, the commission will share what it has learned and gather input for its final recommendations. 

The role of technology and what it means for the future of communities will be front and center too. Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, will explore the difficult choices we face as artificial intelligence and algorithms play an increasingly important role in our lives, and how people can and must shape their roles in society. Amy Webb, founder of the Future Today Institute, will talk about the latest tech trends, what to expect in coming years, and how communities might be able to leverage innovation for good. An additional panel will look at how communities might restore respectful dialogue – both online and in person – in this time of partisanship.

A Wednesday morning panel will look at the ways foundations are investing in local news, to ensure that both rural and urban communities are getting the information they need to make important decisions. The support takes many forms, from helping nonprofit news sites like The Texas Tribune get off the ground, to enabling small newsrooms to come together with a solutions journalism focus, as the LOR Foundation did in the Western U.S.

The livestream schedule is below. You can join the conversation online with #infoneeds, and watch live from knightfoundation.org/live.

Tues., Feb. 20, 2018


9:15 A.M.: WELCOME

Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO, Knight Foundation

9:30–10:30 A.M.: KNIGHT COMMISSION ON TRUST, MEDIA AND  DEMOCRACY

Moderator, Jennifer Preston, VP/Journalism at Knight Foundation.

Panel: Co-Chair Tony Marx, president and CEO, The New York Public Library and Commission members Mizell Stewart III, vice president, news and operations, Gannett/USA TODAY Network, Charles Sykes, Talk-show host and author, MSNBC contributor, Nuala O’Connor, president and CEO, Center for Democracy and Technology, Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, Frontline PBS, and Anthea Watson Strong, product manager for news, Facebook. Moderator, Jennifer Preston, VP/Journalism at Knight Foundation.

12:15–1:30 P.M.: THE FUTURE AND WHY IT’S UP TO US

Introduction: Emmett Carson, president and CEO, Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Speaker: Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media 

3 – 4 P.M.: CIVILITY, TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNITY

Moderator: Sam Gill, vice president, communities and impact, Knight Foundation

Panelists: Emily May, co-founder and executive director, Hollaback, Rashad Robinson, executive director, Color Of Change, Frank Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow and Mosbacher Director, Center of Democracy, Stanford University, Lisa Adkins, president and CEO, Blue Grass Community Foundation

4:15 – 5:15 P.M.: OVERLOAD

Introduction: Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO, Knight Foundation

Speaker: Bob Schieffer, former CBS news anchor and host of “Face the Nation”

Wed., Feb. 21, 2018

8:30 – 9:45 A.M.: WHAT’S NEW; WHAT’S NEXT

Amy Webb, founder and CEO, Future Today Institute 

10 – 11 A.M. FOUNDATION PARTNERSHIPS MEETING LOCAL INFORMATION NEEDS

Moderator: Lilly Weinberg, Community Foundations Program Director, Knight Foundation

Panelists: John Thornton, Texas Tribune, LaMonte Guillory, chief communications officer, LOR Foundation, Anne Galloway, founder and editor, VTDigger, Christopher Kaufman-Ilstrup, chief operating officer, VTDigger, David Haas, vice chair, Wyncote Foundation and Sandra Clark, vice president of news and civic dialogue, WHYY

12:30 – 2 P.M.: 

Introduction and conversation: Helene Gayle, president and CEO, The Chicago Community Trust 

Speaker: Jimmy Wales, co-founder, Wikipedia and founder, WikiTribune

To support Charlotte Center City Partners to engage residents in planning and developing the Historic West End.

To support Bartram’s Garden serving as a civic destination for Southwest Philadelphia residents to gather and engage with the reinvestment challenges of their neighborhood and waterfront.

To amplify Knight Foundation’s emerging smart city and community strategy through SXSW’s social media reach.