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Inauguration 2009
January 20, 2009
Inauguration 2009
Obama's Ascent Prompts New Desire Among Young People to Get Involved
Barack Obama has only been in office for a few hours, but he has already spurred teenagers to want to get involved in public service, according to a new study released by the Girl Scout Research Institute.
In the institute’s survey of 2,309 girls and 975 boys, aged 13 to 17, nearly half (49 percent) said the election had increased their interest in politics, and 44 percent reported that it had inspired an interest in social and political activism. The majority (71 percent) of those surveyed said they plan to vote when they are old enough.
The election also heightened young people’s awareness of gender and racial barriers, but at the same time appeared to lift their confidence in their ability to overcome such obstacles. While one- third of those polled believed that Barack Obama was held to a higher standard because of his race, 48 percent thought that race ultimately helped him in the election.
On the subject of gender, 43 percent of girls strongly agreed that “girls have to work harder than boys in order to gain positions of leadership,” as compared with 25 percent who did so a year ago.
Despite this, 59 percent of the girls said the election had increased their confidence in their ability to achieve their goals, and 41 percent said the election had increased their desire to be a leader.
Inauguration 2009
Inauguration Photos from Around the Nonprofit World
Nonprofit groups and Chronicle journalists have been sharing their photos from volunteer activities to mark the Martin Luther King holiday and today’s inauguration activities on the Chronicle‘s Flickr group.
Help us add to the slideshow by joining the group and uploading your own photos.
Inauguration 2009
Community Service Gets Big Play on White House Site
It didn’t take long for President Barack Obama’s staff to remake the official White House Web site.
The site, which debuted at 12:01 p.m. as Mr. Obama was preparing to take his oath of office, includes details of his administration’s agenda — including a page outlining his goals for promoting volunteer service.
Among Mr. Obama’s goals: doubling the size of the Peace Corps, requiring all middle and high school students to volunteer at least 50 hours per year and all college students to spend 100 hours per year volunteering, and to create a federal office that would oversee social entrepreneurship.
“During the election, people all across the country talked about feeling a new sense of civic engagement and got involved in politics for the first time,” the Web site says. “Now, President Obama and Vice President Biden are counting on Americans from all walks of life to serve the nation and help address the problems we face — and they’re committed to building the infrastructure and providing the resources that will make it possible.”
Inauguration 2009
Obama Calls for 'New Era of Responsiblity'
President Barack Obama, in his inaugural address, echoed a common theme from his transition — a call to serve. In addition, he urged Americans to join together to remake the country.
Mr. Obama said in his address that Americans can not sit idle through the recession and called upon them to take responsibility for the nation’s future.
“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task,” he said.
What does this message mean for nonprofit groups? What should the Obama administration do to help charities? To help spur your thoughts, read what many experts on the nonprofit world told us were their priorities for Mr. Obama.
Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
Inauguration 2009
Inauguration Inspires Call to Service
Several hundred people gathered Monday at Simon Elementary School in Washington to participate in a service project as part of pre-inauguration activities on Martin Luther King Day.
Participants reflect on the project —and talk about why they believe volunteerism is on the rise — in this video report.
Inauguration 2009
Nonprofit Leaders Raise a Glass to New Administration
About 300 nonprofit officials and members of the Washington elite rubbed shoulders last night at a swanky Washington nightclub to celebrate the start of the Obama administration — and enjoy free alcohol.
The aptly named party — “Cocktails we can believe in” — was an invitation-only event sponsored by TechnoServe, a international aid charity, and three nonprofit consulting and communications companies.
Leaders from Global Voices, the Association of Small Foundations, and other nonprofit groups mingled with art curators and members of the news media, like Matthew Bishop, co-author of Philanthrocapitalism.
Several party-goers were dressed in tuxedos and gowns, apparently ready to make a quick exit to even more-upscale gatherings: pre-inaugural galas.
Inauguration 2009
Volunteers Prepare Care Packages For U.S Soldiers
As part of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, more than 10,000 volunteers descended on Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington to make care packages for U.S. military personnel overseas.
At the event, which was the largest service effort in the city, hundreds of volunteer managers were needed to organize the crowds.
One of them, Alice McAlexander, from Abilene, Tx., motivated about 50 volunteers who were sitting in the stadium seats and waiting to get to work. Standing in front of them on the roof of a dugout, she gave the Obama campaign’s well-known cheer.
“Fired up?” she said through a megaphone.
“Ready to go” responded the volunteers, who hailed from as far away as Florida and California.
She then taught the crowd the “Obama dance,” a Macarena-esque move to get people excited — and warmed up in the cold weather.
Ms. McAlexander, who worked for the Obama campaign in Virginia, said that President-elect Barack Obama wanted to harness the grass-roots energy from his campaign and turn it into volunteer spirit for his presidency.
After some last minute-instructions, the volunteers filed into huge white tent on the stadium field. Inside the “snake pit,” as Ms. McAlexander called it, volunteers were given plastic bags. They then walked past rows of tables. and other volunteers dropped toiletries into their bags. As one volunteer said, it was trick-or-treating for the troops.
Future first lady Michelle Obama filled some bags in the morning, and in the afternoon, Washington Mayor Adrian M. Fenty congratulated the volunteers for filling 85,000 bags, exceeding the goal by 10,000.
The event, which was sponsored by the mayor’s office, the Target Corporation, and Operation Gratitude, a California charity, attracted many people who had come to Washington for the inauguration of Mr. Obama.
Will Muskatt drove from Charlotte, N.C., to see the festivities and support the military at the stadium event.
He said as a black American, “I wanted to show my excitement for Obama and support Dr. King.”
Photos of the event will be online at The Chronicle’s Flickr group.
Inauguration 2009
Foundations Sponsor Pre-Inaugural Service Ball
Atlantic Philanthropies and the Musk Foundation for the first time sponsored a pre-inaugural ball last night to celebrate “change in Washington, the rise of new media, and a renewed commitment to service and the environment.”
The Huffington Post Pre-Inaugural Ball, held Monday night at the Newseum in Washington, had as its theme a “countdown to a new day.”
Gara LaMarche, president of Atlantic Philanthropies, says his group was encouraged to see the mass outpouring of citizen action that took place during the recent presidential campaigns, particularly in the Obama campaign, and the way it drew a connection between service and advocacy.
“The idea of celebrating that and lifting that up in all the inaugural events appealed to us,” he says. “I thought it would be a good thing to do.” Atlantic Philanthropies contributed $135,000 toward the event.
Mr. LaMarche says his organization, which supports groups working for immigration reform, national health and restoration of civil liberties, is very optimistic about some policy changes that could occur under the Obama administration.
“In many, many areas of concern to us there are opportunities for progressive policy action, as a foundation that is very engaged in advocacy, we are anxious to push the ball forward,” he says.
The evening had a strong focus on service. Attendees were encouraged to go to kiosks around the event and make a personal commitment to service.
The event also focused a great deal on new media and the impact it has had on how people get their information and interact with one another.
Large screens around the venue flashed facts about new news media, as well as a live blog from the event. Guests seemed to be texting on blackberries and iphones as much as they spoke to one another, as people were encouraged to Twitter about the event, update their Facebook statuses, upload photos from their phones, and blog through the Huffinton Post.
There was also plenty of celebrity watching. Ben Affleck, Larry David, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Guest, Sharon Stone, Ron Howard, and Richard Schiff were just a few of the well-known performers at the event.
The end of the evening featured performances by Cheryl Crow, Will-I-am and Sting, as Arriana Huffington led the filled-to-capacity crowd in a countdown to midnight.
— Sue Hoye
Inauguration 2009
Inauguration 2009: What it Means to Nonprofit Groups
What message will Barack Obama deliver to the nonprofit world today when he takes the oath of office?
We’ll be posting updates on this historic event throughout the day on this blog and on our Twitter feed.
But we want to hear from you: Tell us how you expect the new administration to affect your organization and what you would like to see accomplished in Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office.
Post your comments on this blog and contribute your photos to our Flickr group.
January 19, 2009
Inauguration 2009
Politicians, Celebrities, and Nonprofit Leaders Promote Obama’s Call for New Era of Community Service
Politicians, celebrities, and nonprofit leaders—speaking to more than 1,200 people in Washington—today urged Americans to take up President-elect Barack Obama’s call for a new era of community service.
Speakers at the breakfast gathering, which kicked off a national day of service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., said Mr. Obama’s presidency would give new momentum to the effort to get more people involved in solving the country’s problems.
“We have a champion in the White House,” said Alan Khazei, chief executive of Be the Change, a civic-engagement group in Boston that helped start ServiceNation, a coalition of more than 120 organizations that organized the breakfast.
“We all must double down now and seize this moment,” he said. “Otherwise it may pass us by.”
Mr. Obama asked people to volunteer on the King holiday, but also to make a commitment to work regularly to improve their communities.
Martin Luther King III, the slain civil-rights leader’s son, endorsed that idea at the breakfast. “The goal is to keep that service going through the year,” said Mr. King, chief executive of Realizing the Dream, a community- and youth-development group in Atlanta. He said his father often said that anybody could serve their country—“you don’t have to have a Ph.D. to serve.”
Indeed, Mr. Obama’s endorsement of the national day of service fueled immense interest. The Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal national-service agency, reported that people organized a record number of more than 12,000 projects across the country — double last year’s number.
Arne Duncan, Mr. Obama’s choice for education secretary, represented the incoming administration at the breakfast. He said it was “crucial” that Congress adopt legislation to expand national service programs this year, which Mr. Obama has already pledged to sign.
Mr. Khazei, Mr. King, and others also urged Congress to adopt the Serve America Act—which has been introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah and Sen Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts—within the next 100 days.
The legislation would more than triple participation in year-long national-service programs like AmeriCorps, to 250,000, by 2013.
It would also create several new service programs and provide money to help nonprofit groups charities recruit volunteers and spread innovative projects.
ServiceNation and other nonprofit leaders were hoping that legislation would become part of the economic-stimulus plan Congress and the Obama administration will work on over the next few weeks to help pull the nation out of recession. House Democrats proposed a stimulus plan last week that did not include the measure, although it did call for $200-million in new spending on AmeriCorps.
Speakers at the event included Maria Shriver, wife of California’s Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (who urged other states to follow California’s lead and create a cabinet-level post for volunteerism); and three Democratic members of Congress—John Lewis of Georgia and Doris Matsui and George Miller of California.
Celebrity endorsements came from Demi Moore and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, film actors who showed a Web video they created featuring entertainers pledging to take action to improve the world—for example, by buying a hybrid car, using less plastic, smiling more, or helping to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
Another film actor, Tobey Maguire, said he had started a ServiceNation “ambassador’s council” to recruit Hollywood starts to promote community service.
After the breakfast, several hundred people, including Mr. Maguire, headed to a project to paint and beautify nearby Simon Elementary School. The results will be unveiled on Tuesday night at a live broadcast by MTV, the cable television network, at an official inaugural ball for young people.
So many people wanted to volunteer at the school that organizers had to cut off applications and send people elsewhere. Cathy Cronen, 63, a nurse from suburban Portland, was among those who made it in. In town to visit her daughter during the inauguration festivities, she said she volunteered specifically because she wanted to honor Mr. Obama’s request.
“This is part of what Barack Obama is calling us to do,” she said. And, as the President-elect suggested, she plans to follow up by committing to a regular community-service project—volunteering to tutor or mentor school children.
Copyright © 2009 The Chronicle of Philanthropy