The recent grant awards of the Sociological Initiatives Foundation reveal a familiar list of discriminatory practices and public policy concerns identified by immigrant communities in the U.S.

The research and community organizing projects supported by the foundation this year will investigate a wide range of issues such as wage theft, discrimination, fraud, workplace safety, and the effects of recent anti-immigrant legislation.

Most of the projects link the research process with a grassroots advocacy campaign and typically involve a number of coalition partners in the effort.

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation was established to support research that furthers social change, including language learning and behavior and its intersection with social and policy questions.

To read the grants list, click here.

EVENTS OF NOTE

February 28, 2012

GMA Foundation clients, the A.C. Ratshesky Foundation, The Lenny Zakim Fund, The Linden Foundation, Mabel Louise Riley Foundation and TD Charitable Foundation will host a breakfast discussion of the role of  intensive family support programs such as the Parent Child Home Program in developing comprehensive approaches to early childhood learning. Continue Reading »

The Jessie B. Cox Trust closed out its year of environmental grantmaking in 2011 with a new appreciation of the challenges of increasing the scale and speed of land conservation in New England.

Most of the projects supported by the Trust feature seasoned environmental organizations working in broad and deep coalitions of nonprofit, business, and government partners.

And while all of the projects supported by the foundation have demonstrated impressive momentum in “increasing the green on the map”, the most important outcomes emerging from the work seem to be in increasing and strengthening the linkages and connectivity between organizations.

It turns out that understanding the ecology of organizations is as important as understanding the ecology of the habitat. Continue Reading »