Weekend Wrap-up: Presidential Philanthropy, Haiti News, and Upcoming Events

And just like that, another week in March has passed. As a heads-up, this weekend marks the start of Daylight Savings in the U.S.—remember to “Spring Forward” on Saturday night.

In national news, I learned yesterday, from the Associated Press, that President Obama will donate a portion of his Nobel Prize award to two education organizations that were highlighted in Pathways to Student Success. College Summit, featured on pg. 39, and the Posse Foundation, featured on pg. 51, will both receive $125,000. Additionally, $100,000 will be donated to AfriCare, an HIV/AIDS program funding organization mentioned in Lifting the Burden of Malaria, within the World Relief Promising Practice, on pg. 22. World Relief was the first to develop the Care Group Model in Mozambique, which AfriCare and other NGOs replicated to deliver key health messages to large populations.

In world news, Jonathan Katz of the Associated Press released an article, Billions for Haiti, a criticism for every dollar, which tells a story of dissatisfaction and frustration among officials in the Haitian government on how international aid money is being used. Haitian officials argue that bypassing the Haitian government in favor of U.S.- or Haiti-based aid organizations further weakens the country and cripples the effect of long-term rebuilding efforts. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General of Peacekeeping Operations, Edmond Mulet, is quoted as saying that foreign and Haiti-based NGO’s are doing “little things with little impact.” The long-held fears and distrust of the Haitian government, held not only by the Haitian people but also by its neighbors in the Dominican Republic—not to mention the history of global distrust—are all factors that affect long-term recovery. Back in January, we posted a blog on Jump Starting the Recovery with Solutions for the Long Term, in which we mentioned an initial donors conference in Montreal.  On March 31st, the International Donors’ Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti will take place at the United Nations in New York, which will involve officials of the United States, the United Nations, and the Government of Haiti, among others.

Speaking of upcoming events, here are a few local events happening next week on Penn’s campus:

• Dan Pallotta, founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, author of Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential and blogger for the Harvard Business Review, will be speaking on Monday, March 15th, at 6pm, in Huntsman Hall, Room F-95 at the Wharton Graduate School of Business. Dan recently wrote an article titled, Haiti Is a Marketing Lesson, which is worth a read. You can follow him on twitter: @danpallotta. (Thanks to Eric Ashton of the School of Social Policy & Practice, Nonprofit/NGO Leadership Program, for the heads-up on this event.)

• Carol McLaughlin, our research director, is lecturing for Kathleen Noonan’s course on Achieving Evidence-Based Health Policy on Tuesday, March 16th.
• Kat Rosqueta, our executive director, is moderating panel at the Wharton Social Impact Conference, Friday, March 19th. Panelists include: Ken Berger, CEO / President, Charity Navigator; Kanika Bahl, VP, Country Operations, Clinton Foundation; Laura Herman, Managing Director, Foundation Strategy Group; Fay Twersky, Director of Impact Planning & Improvement, Gates Foundation.
• The Penn Museum’s International Classroom program has rescheduled a fundraising event, Help for Haiti: Beyond Media Coverage, An Evening of Philanthropy and Learning, for Friday, March 19th from 6:30-8:30pm. The event will focus on learning about Haitian history and culture with speakers from Explorer Sans Frontières and Haitian Professionals of Philadelphia (HPP). If you refer to the comments on our first post on the crisis in Haiti, Haiti: How Can I Help?, you can find details by Yve-Car Momperousse, Board Chair of the HPP and one of the speakers at this event, on how to get involved locally in Philadelphia. Two CHIP members, Autumn Walden and Carol McLaughlin, had the pleasure of “tweeting up” with Yve-Car last week.