The Daily Tell

President Obama announced a new campaign Monday to move U.S. students to the top of global achievement standards in science, technology, education and mathematics education over the next decade through a combination of private, nonprofit and government partnerships.

The new initiative, called "Educate to Innovate," will include $260 million in new programs designed to generate and maintain student interest in STEM subjects.

"Reaffirming and strengthening America’s role as the world’s engine of scientific discovery and technological innovation is essential to meeting the challenges of this century," said Obama.

Programs will include public-private partnerships to generate media messaging, interactive games, hands-on learning and volunteer efforts to spark student enthusiasm; pledges by U.S. leaders in science and mathematics to champion STEM education in the public square; and an annual science fair at the White House to showcase student winners in national science, technology and robotics competitions.

According to Obama, the three main objectives of this campaign and other White House STEM initiatives will be to enable critical thinking through increases in student math and science literacy, to improve the quality of teaching in order to improve U.S. competitiveness with other countries and to expand education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups such as women and minorities.

"The Department of Education takes the STEM competitive priority very seriously – and states should as well," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Prior to this new campaign, the Obama administration made moves to emphasize math and science education by giving states that commit to improving their science and math programs a competitive advantage in the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" school grant scheme. Other requirements for grant funding include ties between teacher pay and student test scores, adoption of international merit standards, improvement for the lowest-performing schools, long-term student tracking systems and expansions of the number of charter schools states allow to form each year.

The Northwest Area Foundation recognizes that poverty is a critical issue in its area, as well as across the country. But instead of simply handing out money, the foundation has decided to invest in programs that have been shown to reduce poverty through building prosperity and widening access to opportunity.

The foundation recently announced that it will commit $2.04 million to fund 14 grants to such programs, throughout an eight-state region.

"We believe the best way to reduce poverty is to ensure fair access to meaningful opportunity," said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation. "That change begins with making sure people can build their financial assets, but it also means building on the human potential that resides in every low-income community. These grants support a diverse array of outstanding organizations that are hard at work unlocking that potential."

Specifically, $1.565 million was given to nonprofits that support organizations focusing on asset- and wealth-building, with a particular focus on workforce development, small business strategies, and green jobs development.

Another $1.265 million will be granted to intermediary organizations providing local community organizations with technical assistance, training, leadership, networking, and support for small grants.

Among other grants was a combined total of $375,000 given to the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations of Seattle; the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota; the Consensus Council of North Dakota; Rural Dynamics in Montana and South Dakota Voices for Children; all of which will go toward improving public policy solutions.

The most recent poverty estimates from the U.S. Census show that in 2008, approximately 13.2 percent of Americans had an income below the poverty threshold.

New York City has legendary taxi drivers, known for their traffic weaving and speeding; Mayor Bloomberg likely has a keen understanding of the plights of road accidents. It is fitting that the billionaire’s charitable giving organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, recently made a $125 million donation to EMBARQ – The World Resource Institute Center for Sustainable Transport.

EMBARQ is a global network that catalyzes environmentally and financially sustainable transportation solutions to major cities around the world to promote road safety. It includes a network of Centers for Sustainable Transport based in Mexico, Brazil, India, Turkey and the Andean Region.

Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, believes Bloomberg Philanthropies is the ideal global partner for EMBARQ in their efforts to assist the world’s most populated cities. "It is a significant milestone that Bloomberg recognizes the value of sustainable urban mobility in improving road safety and public health," he says.

The partnership programs will focus on integrating sustainable transport and reduced emissions in urban planning. Nancy Kete, director of EMBARQ, believes it is important to prevent accidents before they start; she emphasizes that seat belt and helmet laws, alone, are insufficient. "We’re tackling the problem at the root by considering all of the health and safety benefits associated with mass transit, cycling, walking, clean fuels and vehicles, and vibrant public spaces."

The Bloomberg donation is the largest single donation ever made for international transportation safety developments.

The World Health Organization reports that road accidents kill up to 1.2 million people a year, or 3,000 people a day. Road traffic injuries are predicted to be the fifth leading global cause of death within the next 20 years. Bloomberg’s five-year program will help reduce these trends by focusing on ten low-and middle-income countries that represent nearly half (48 percent) of traffic deaths globally.

"We look forward to collaborating with the other Bloomberg partners," said Claudia Adriazola, EMBARQ’s expert on road safety.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $1.3 million grant to researchers at the University of Arizona to lead an international team in developing a genome variation database that will help farmers improve the immunity of an important African staple crop to viral diseases.

Cassava is a root crop that serves as a primary food source for 750 million people each year, concentrated in Africa and Asia. Academic, industry and government researchers recently completed a first draft of the cassava genome, an essential first step to developing disease resistance. Analysts say farmers in Africa lose one third of their cassava crops each year to viruses.

"We’re excited about the opportunity for cassava breeders to access new tools for improving a staple African crop," said Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation agricultural development program officer Katherine Kahn.

According to researchers, one virus called CBSD is particularly harmful to cassava crops, and has become a major threat to food security in parts of East Africa. Researchers will therefore concentrate on improving the crop’s resistance to the CBSD virus.

The project will be coordinated by Steve Rounsely, an associate professor at the University of Arizona’s School of Plant Sciences. The research team will include scientists from the University of Maryland, the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and private biotechnology firm 454 Life Sciences.

"With the first cassava genome in hand, we can cheaply and quickly sequence other varieties that will give us thousands of little signposts – mile markers if you like – that will help us identify key genes for increasing the plant’s resistance to the virus," said Rounsley.

The cassava genome grant comes from the Gates Foundation’s Agricultural Development Initiative. The Agricultural Development Initiative is a program that works to improve the productivity of small farmers by providing links to markets, providing access to inputs and financing agricultural research.

A new grant of $1.5 million will help sustain the network of 20 university-based centers across Russia and raise The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s cumulative support for a network of Russian scientific research and education centers to more than $31.6 million, it announced.

The centers are part of the Program on Basic Research and Higher Education, a joint effort of the United States Civilian Research and Development Foundation and the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, with support from MacArthur and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Launched in 1998 to assist in rebuilding the scientific workforce following the Soviet era, the program has helped state universities integrate teaching and research, modernize scientific equipment, train a new generation of scientists in Russian higher education, enhance international linkages, and benefit from technology commercialization.

"Russia has made tremendous strides in strengthening higher education," said John Slocum, Co-Chair of MacArthur’s Higher Education Initiative in Russia. "The MacArthur Foundation is pleased to work closely with Russian universities to help develop a generation of scholars who can produce groundbreaking research to address Russian and global concerns."

Since 2003 more than 400 young scientists have received teaching and research fellowships and the new $1.5 million grant will support the final phase of the program, which is designed to protect and enhance the investments MacArthur and its U.S. and Russian partners have made in the initiative as the Russian government takes on more responsibility for the funding and development of the network, the MacArthur Foundation said.

MacArthur has awarded more than $140 million in grants for work in Russia since 1992, with The Program on Basic Research and Higher Education representing the flagship activity of its higher education initiative in Russia.

The Chicago Community Trust named nine Trust Fellows – six emerging leaders and three experienced leaders from organizations spanning the nonprofit sector – for 2010.

"At a time when innovation is vital to keep Chicago competitive in this global economy, each of these Trust Fellows represents the next generation of nonprofit leadership," said Terry Mazany, president and chief executive officer of the Trust. "Each Fellow not only has enormous talent and passion, but the imagination and agility required to adapt to these ever-changing times. We are excited to see the leadership that they bring to their field and to the Chicago metropolitan area."

The fellowship is designed to elevate the careers of Chicago’s nonprofit leaders. The experienced leaders receive up to $60,000 and emerging leaders receive up to $30,000 to fund their professional development plans, including current salary and benefits for time off, costs related to academic courses, learning from other practitioners and other associated expenses.

In only the fellowship’s second year, nearly 100 applications were received by the Trust with the nine recipients selected "because of their enthusiasm and exuberant energy toward their career and field," according to the Trust.

The nine recipients of the fellowships were: Eric Delli Bovi, director of external affairs for Old Town School of Folk Music (Emerging); Carolina Duque, executive director of Mano a Mano (Emerging); Sol Flores, executive director of La Casa Norte (Emerging); Samir Goswami, policy director for Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (Experienced); Soo Ji Min, executive director of Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (Emerging); Meade Palidofsky, is artistic director of Storycatchers Theatre (Experienced); John W. Pfeiffer, executive director of Inspiration Corporation (Experienced); Rosa Yemina Ortiz, development manager of Hispanic Housing Development Corporation (Emerging); and Laura Zumdahl, associate executive director of Cabrini Green Legal Aid (Emerging).

A new supercomputer run under a partnership between IBM and Brown University will be used to tackle "grand challenges" facing the state of Rhode Island, including health, education, energy and climate change.

The multimillion dollar supercomputer will be the most powerful computing system in the state, according to developers, and will be hosted at the university. Brown and IBM will hold a series of discussions between global scientific experts over the next several months to discuss potential research topics for the supercomputer.

"Combined, the supercomputer and the symposia allow us to begin to tackle our state’s most sobering challenges, thus allowing for economic growth and stability through productivity, innovation and competitiveness," said Brown vice president for research Clyde Briant.

The supercomputer can perform more than 14 trillion calculations per second, making it 50 times faster than anything previously available at Brown. University faculty and researchers say that the new computing partnership will allow them to conduct research projects with large, intricate datasets on campus, thus increasing potential for interdisciplinary projects and funding for major initiatives.

Potential research areas for the supercomputer include analyses of the terrain of planetary bodies such as Mars; studies of the web of animal life and ecosystems; genomic studies for the development of drugs for specific diseases such as cancer; and inquiries into the mechanics of human and animal movement.

"We live in an era where computer-enabled research cuts across all research and opens entirely new pursuits and innovations,” said Brown Center for Computation and Visualization director and applied mathematics professor Jan Hesthaven.

Supercomputers are machines on the cutting edge of processing and calculation capacity. The world’s fastest computer is currently the Jaguar, a machine built by Cray and hosted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a national research center run by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Do you wish you could give to a worthy charity this season, but don’t have the funds? No cash means no problem for Facebook users thanks to the latest partnership of Facebook and Chase Community Giving. In an innovative new program, Facebook users have the chance to participate in third-party giving to their favorite charities.

Chase Community Giving is launching this grassroots campaign to inspire what they hope will be a new way of corporate philanthropy. Facebook users, now totaling more than 300 million, can simply add Chase Community Giving as a friend and then vote for which of more than 500,000 small and local nonprofits will receive donations from Chase totaling $5 million.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase says, "The grassroots nature of Facebook will allow us to hear directly which local charities matter most to our communities, hopefully creating an even bigger impact."

Facebook executives are happy to see their social network harnessed for this philanthropic cause. "Chase’s creative approach – crowdsourcing for charity – puts the power of corporate giving directly in the hands of Facebook users," says Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.

More than 500 nonprofits with an operating budget of $10 million or less will be eligible. The charity receiving the most votes will be awarded $1 million, the top five runners-up will receive $100,000 each, and the 100 finalists, including the top winners, will be awarded $25,000 each.

The voting process for round one has already begun and will continue through December 11. In this preliminary round, Facebook users will vote for non-profit organizations they think should receive a portion of Chase’s philanthropy funds.

Then, in round two, the top 100 organizations will have the option to submit a Million Dollar Grant proposal to Facebook users, detailing the difference they would make in their local community with the significant extra resources. Round two voting will be open to facebook users from January 15 to February 1.

This charitable crowdsourcing could be the latest trend in the growing number of online giving techniques companies are using to promote corporate philanthropy.

Building on its mission to "redefine the art of hospitality," the 21c Museum Hotels will work with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) to restore the historic Metropole Hotel of downtown Cincinnati.

The 21c team will restore the Metropole building, recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, following federal standards for historic rehabilitation. The space will become an 8,000-square-foot contemporary art museum open to the public free of charge, with a 160-room hotel and Proof restaurant and bar serving contemporary cuisine made with locally grown ingredients.

The first 21c Museum Hotel – located in Louisville’s West Main Street Historic District – has proved vital to the life of that city and has helped to further raise national recognition for Louisville’s downtown arts and theater district.

Moreover, 21c Museum Hotels was named sixth best hotel in the world and number one hotel in the U.S. in the November issue of Conde Nast Traveler.

21c Museum Hotel officials hope their latest project can revitalize the cultural tourism of Cincinnati. "When we consider locations for 21c Museum Hotels, we focus on how we can enhance the cultural and civic life of the community and encourage tourism," said Steve Wilson, founder and chairman of 21c Museum Hotels.

Cincinnati locals hold high hopes for the restoration project as well. "21c will bring local residents and visitors downtown and provide a major boost for our reputation as a destination for the arts," said Dick Rosenthal, an emeritus trustee of the Contemporary Arts Center.

In addition to helping the artistic life of the community, the museum will create jobs for locals. The restoration will create about 540 construction jobs and about 160 permanent employees with the opening of the hotel, restaurant, and gallery.

The total project cost is an estimated $48 million, and, together, 21cMsuem Hotels and 3CDC will cover 95 percent of the cost.

Wilson says, "21c is a catalyst for art and civic programming and the response from the public has been tremendous. We look forward to being part of Cincinnati’s downtown revitalization."

To help ensure that all students get the educational foundation they need to succeed in high school, in college, and in life, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced that it will invest $335 million to programs and research that can improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement.

A total of $290 million in grants will go toward four Intensive Partnership for Effective Teaching sites that have presented plans to improve teacher effectiveness: the Hillsborough County public school system in Florida, the Memphis city school system in Tennessee, the Pittsburgh public school system in Pennsylvania and a coalition of five public charter schools in Los Angeles.

Each of these programs will develop and implement new ways to improve teacher effectiveness, as measured in student achievement and college readiness.

An additional $45 million grant will go toward the Measures of Effective Teaching project, which researches ways to define effective teaching and identify better evaluative measures.

This $335-million commitment is in response to research indicating that effective teaching is the most critical component of academic achievement.

"We are convinced that in order to dramatically improve education in America, we must first ensure that every student has an effective teacher in every subject, every school year," said Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the foundation. "These communities have shown extraordinary commitment to tackling one of the most important educational issues of our time. We must do everything we can to understand what makes teachers effective and cultivate those qualities across the profession, in every school and classroom, so that all students can benefit."

The Gates Foundation also made another multi-million dollar commitment to improving education, announcing a $300-million initiative to help high-quality Houston public charter schools access financing to expand.