March 22nd, 2013
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January 21st, 2013
This article first appeared on the Huffington Post.
This weekend, in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service, more than 1,200 people from New York to Knoxville to San Francisco symbolically invited Dr. King to Shabbat dinner.
Initiated by Repair the World–a national organization that mobilizes American Jews to address global and local needs through volunteering and service–the dinners were part of the Points of Light’s Sunday Supper campaign, designed to inspire dialogue and action on key issues affecting our communities. Read More »
October 25th, 2012
Hope, as it turns out, is alive and well in Tulsa, Oklahoma!
On Tuesday, October 16, 2012, almost 300 professionals working with more than 90 Tulsa-area nonprofits gathered on the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Schusterman Center campus for a common purpose: to learn about Hope Theory and its application to the mission of their respective organizations.
The theme of this event was “A Common Language for Collective Impact” and the grounding premise was simple—individually, nonprofit organizations provide a safety net for at-risk clients experiencing poverty, abuse, neglect and other hardships. We wanted to explore ways in which these individual agencies can come together to collectively enhance social change.
Hope Theory provides a common language that becomes the glue for our communities. There are main components of hope:
- Goals: Our behavior is determined by goals we desire;
- Pathways to achieving goals; and
- Agency: Commitment, Determination, Motivation to follow pathways. Read More »
October 5th, 2012
In June, the Jerusalem Post reported that the child abuse rates in Israel had surpassed the rates in the U.S. According to the article, “While part of the rise in reporting of child abuse cases in Israel stems from greater awareness among professionals and society as to what constitutes abuse and how to report it … it has more to do with an alarming increase in violence throughout Israeli society in general.”
The source of the data for the article was the Haruv Institute, established by the Schusterman Foundation-Israel in 2007, with the mission to enhance the knowledge-base and develop advanced educational programs for professionals and allied care-givers who work with abused and neglected children and their families. The Institute aims to find solutions to the myriad challenges facing professionals who work with this population.
Many of Israel’s top experts in the field are affiliated with Haruv, and their research and expertise inform its agenda and activities. Haruv has also trained professionals in other countries, including China. In September, Haruv joined with University of Oklahoma-Tulsa to host a two-day conference for leading experts in the U.S., with a focus on identifying areas of potential collaboration. Read More »
July 12th, 2012
Meet the new cohort of Change Makers working to improve the quality of life in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
LAURA BREWER
As Senior Managing Director of the Teach For America Tulsa Summer Institute, Laura and her team trained 650 new corps members and delivered summer school instruction for thousands of TPS students. LEARN MORE
SUSAN HARRIS
In her role as Senior Vice President of Education and Workforce for the Tulsa Metro Chamber, Susan directs Partners in Education, Oklahoma Scholars, and the College Access Career Readiness programs, among others. LEARN MORE
CHAN HELLMAN
Chan founded the Center of Applied Research for Nonprofit Organizations at OU-Tulsa with a goal to identify and enhance human strengths that make life worth living for all members of our community. A current focus of the Center’s work is to promote nonprofit organizations as pathways of hope. LEARN MORE
June 24th, 2012
By MICHAEL SMITH
Tulsa World Scene Writer
Published: 6/24/2012
Lee Hirsch, director of the acclaimed documentary “Bully,” which is playing at Circle Cinema, will speak at the theater on Monday night (June 25th).
Hirsch will introduce his film about bullying in America’s schools at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the theater at 12 S. Lewis Ave. Following the film, about 8:15 p.m., he will lead a discussion of the picture and answer questions.
The theater has been showing the documentary for several weeks, with free tickets available to educators and students. The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation is sponsoring Hirsch’s visit to Tulsa.
April 11th, 2012
Join us in signing a pledge of unity for Tulsa. A pledge against racism and violence. A pledge for healing and peace.
Sign the pledge today at www.TulsaUnites.com
April 11th, 2012
For the past eight years, our Foundation has been honored to partner with two incredible community organizations to make Valentine’s Day a special day for members of our community who are experiencing hard times. The Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless provides an average of 400 people with shelter and services each day, and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma works with 450 partner programs to distribute enough food to prepare more than 70,000 meals each week.
This year, we wanted to offer a window into the remarkable experience of sharing food with the people who need and showing love in celebration of our common humanity. After all, hunger and homelessness are global issues with local impact. Every day, in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our own backyards, people are going without food and shelter. There is so much we can do individually and collectively to help. Read More »
March 21st, 2012
Cross-posted from The Huffington Post. Michael Kaiser is the President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
I have written before about the Kennedy Center’s comprehensive arts education program: Any Given Child. This program assesses the arts education opportunities in a given community (offered by schools, arts organizations, community groups and others) and designs a comprehensive kindergarten through eighth grade sequence that utilizes all of these opportunities in a format consistent with the school curriculum in that community. It is a new approach that is affordable and gives each student (any given child) a less haphazard arts education than is available in most communities.
This is a relatively new program. I developed the concept in 2008, with support from the Ford Foundation, and executives from my able Education Department—Darrell Ayers and Barbara Shepherd—took the concept and ran with it. They began implementation in Sacramento, California just two years ago. Since Kevin Johnson, the dynamic mayor of Sacramento, agreed to make his city the first Any Given Child site, six other communities have adopted the program: Springfield, Missouri; Portland, Oregon; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Austin, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada and Sarasota, Florida.
February 14th, 2012
Across the nation, people are rebooting Valentine’s Day as Generosity Day. They are taking the pledge to make the day about love by forgoing the greeting cards in favor of giving back. In just three easy steps, you can honor your loved ones with a $14 gift that will keep on giving. Read More »