logo
  • Nonprofit News
  • Management
    • Boards and Governance
    • Communication
      • Framing & Narratives
    • Ethics
    • Financial Management
    • Fund Development
    • Leadership
    • Technology
  • Philanthropy
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Donor-Advised Funds
    • Foundations
    • Impact Investing
    • Research
    • Workplace Giving
  • Policy
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • Housing
    • Government
    • Taxes
  • Economic Justice
    • Economy Remix
    • Economy Webinars
    • Community Benefits
    • Economic Democracy
    • Environmental Justice
    • Fair Finance
    • Housing Rights
    • Land Justice
    • Poor People’s Rights
    • Tax Fairness
  • Racial Equity
  • Social Movements
    • Community Development
    • Community Organizing
    • Culture Change
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Gender Equality
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Indigenous Rights
    • Labor
    • LGBTQ+
    • Racial Justice
    • Youth Activism
  • About Us
  • Log in
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Webinars
    • Leading Edge Membership
    • Sponsored Webinars
    • Economic Justice
  • Tiny Spark Podcast
  • Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Leading Edge Membership
Donate
Philanthropy

Obama Foundation Scholars Program Grants Students Entry to U. of Chicago

Danielle Holly
March 12, 2018
Share24
Tweet3
Share
Email
27 Shares
By Crimsonmaroon at English Wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

February 28, 2018; Chicago Tribune

Former President Barack Obama announced last week that his burgeoning Obama Foundation will launch a scholarship program that will enable students to receive masters’ degrees from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. The Obama Foundation Scholars Program will cover tuition, travel, and living expenses for 25 students while they work with the foundation in Chicago neighborhoods. While this program is directly aligned with the Foundation’s mission, which includes “equipping civic innovators, young leaders, and everyday citizens with the skills and tools they need to create change in their communities,” the timing of its launch is strategic.

The announcement comes right before the Foundation goes before the city’s planning commission to receive permission to start construction on its $500 million presidential library amid growing community opposition. The library, which is planned to be built in the South Side’s Jackson Park, has been criticized by community leaders, unions, and professors for failing to engage local interests and residents. A letter from University of Chicago professors released last month stated, “We urge the Obama Foundation to explore alternative sites on the South Side that could be developed with more economic benefits, better public transportation, and less cost to taxpayers.” Obama has dismissed the idea of signing a community benefit agreement (CBA), a tool used by residents and businesses in gentrifying communities that large development projects help them versus harm or push them out.

The Foundation has held two large scale public meetings to counter concerns that they’ll ignore community needs and be a force for gentrification and elitism. This new partnership with the University of Chicago, which is designed to recruit public service and community leaders from the area and accelerate their local work, is no doubt meant to be a tangible program to help ameliorate these concerns.

The selection of participating students will be what drives its success as a tool to integrate into and build the South Side community. Currently, those students are being selected by a combination of foundation and university leaders. In order to lift any perception of elitism, the Foundation would be wise to engage local South Side leaders in the selection process as well as among the recipients of the scholarship funds.

While the Foundation’s plans for the South Side will likely move forward, given its popularity among the city’s powerful politicians, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, its ability to garner large-scale community support is still nebulous.—Danielle Holly

Share24
Tweet3
Share
Email
27 Shares

About The Author
Danielle Holly

Danielle Holly is dedicated to strengthening the capacity and leadership of the nonprofit sector through meaningful, value-driven partnerships. Over the past two decades, Danielle has worked with hundreds of nonprofits and companies to support the conception, design and implementation of cross-sector approaches that address community challenges. She is a frequent contributor to several social sector publications on nonprofit capacity building, governance and corporate social responsibility, as well as a member of the NationSwell Council and host of the Pro Bono Perspectives podcast. Currently, Danielle is the CEO of Common Impact, an organization that designs skills-based volunteer, pro bono and corporate community engagement programs. She has served on the Board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network and Net Impact NYC, and most recently as a fellow with the Presidio Cross-Sector Leadership initiative. Danielle lives in Brooklyn, NY and loves to explore the nooks and crannies of NYC’s endless neighborhoods, and end the days cooking with her husband and two children.

Related
A $10 Million Grant from Ford Foundation to One Museum—But Why?
By Ruth McCambridge
December 11, 2019
Libraries, in a Move for Equity, Scrap Late Fees
By Erin Rubin
December 3, 2019
Philanthropy as Reciprocity
By Sarah Kastelic
December 2, 2019
Elite Booth School Offers MBA Scholarships for Nonprofit Professionals
By Ruth McCambridge
November 26, 2019
Four Foundations Commit $20M to Boost Women’s Funds
By Ellen Davis
November 22, 2019
The Future of Real News May Be Nonprofit: Another Convert Rises in Chicago
By Ruth McCambridge
November 21, 2019
other posts by The Author
Employee Dissent Grows at Facebook over Its Stance on Fake...
By Danielle Holly
November 4, 2019
Can Corporate and Employee Activism Survive a Downturn?
By Danielle Holly
October 1, 2019
Jeff Bezos’ Disruptive “No Strings Attached” $100...
By Danielle Holly
August 15, 2019
A Series on Sensemaking Organizations
The Sensemaking Organization: Designing for Complexity
The Sensemaking Mindset: Improvisation over Strategy
Structuring for Sensemaking: The Power of Small Segments
logo
Donate
  • About
  • Contact
  • Newsletters
  • Write for NPQ
  • Advertise
  • Writers
  • Funders
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by GDPR plugin
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.