On the chilly Monday morning of March 6, 2017, Associated Grant Makers (AGM) convened a group of 75 representatives and leaders from foundations and other philanthropic institutions to begin the conversation surrounding philanthropy’s relationship to democracy and its role in the current political climate. The program was hosted at the Wimberly Theater in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, a space that is as beautiful as the name is lengthy.

Member Hilary McConnaughey on child care, economic mobility and the opportunities for philanthropy to contribute to meaningful change. 

In nearly half of states across the U.S., child care costs more than college tuition. Having access to affordable child care is a challenge for people across the socio-economic spectrum, but it is especially daunting for low-income families. As part of the T Lab program at Tipping Point Community, a grant-making organization that fights poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area, I recently spent six months immersed in the East Oakland community and learned about the challenges these families face regarding access to affordable child care. Through in-home interviews with many local residents, I learned just how devastating the financial impact of child care can be to a person’s economic mobility. In fact, the logistical and financial burdens that child care puts on low-income families could be considered a key contributor to the country’s cycle of poverty. I’d like to share my findings and invite philanthropy to support reform on this issue. ...

A couple months into my first job in philanthropy at the Skillman Foundation, I was assigned a special project that gave me a closer look at the long-term state takeover of Detroit schools. And as it turns out, Detroit is not alone…