Philanthropy is society’s passing gear. (Paul Ylvisaker)
Think about it: the hospice movement, the 9/11 emergency call program, the pap smear in cancer treatment, public libraries, the polio vaccine, PBS’s Sesame Street series … among many others, were all started with philanthropic dollars. If invested well, these funds can take the risks, create the models and prove the theories in ways that government dollars just cannot do.
Here are just a few examples of where I have been lucky enough to be part of philanthropy answering the question “What if we could….?”
“What if” we could actually get the news from the news? “What if” we could help to insure a free and vibrant press in America? “What if we could actually get the news from the news?”
As part of Woodcock’s involvement in media reform, family members and I worked with journalist Bill Moyers (at left) and others to net neutrality with very early grants to Free Press.
“What if” we could get both animals AND humans where they need to go, safely?
The Woodcock Foundation (WF) asked this “what if” question and sponsored, along with the Federal Highway Administration, an international competition that called for new designs for cost-efficient, ecologically responsive, safe and flexible wildlife crossings. Called the ARC International Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition, the competition had 39 submissions from around the world, representing over 100 collaborating organizations. Three congressmen co-sponsored a reception on Capitol Hill to display the five finalist models, and Representative Jared Polis (D-CO, now Governor of Colorado), pictured at left, spoke to the new methods, thinking and materials that went into the five designs. You can find out more about the ARC-Solutions organization here. And please enjoy one of the many progeny inspired (in part) by ARC-Solutions effort. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing for moutain lions on Hwy 101 in Los Angeles.
“WHAT IF ” we could we could find a way to fix our nation’s broken food system while also supporting social entrepreneurs and investing in youth?
Woodcock answered this challenge by Investing in Curt Ellis when he was a Food and Community fellow at the Kellogg Foundation, and later supporting his idea for a start-up nonprofit called Food Corps — now an organization boasting over 200 corps members who serve more than 400,000 students in 250 schools, with a near $40 million annual budget.
“WHAT IF” we could tell stories about global climate disruption in a way that is easy to understand for the general public?
A family based in Montana hired me to help them build bridges between journalists, scientists and conservationists, eventually leading the family to fund the University of Montana’s School of Journalism “Crown Reporting Fund,” a mentoring program to promote quality storytelling on climate, communities and conservation in Montana, Alberta and British Columbia. (Pictured left, journalists, scientists and foundation reps on the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains in Montana.)