In Chicago, where homicide is the leading cause of death among African-American boys and men between the ages of 15 and 34, the experience of being the victim of a violent crime — or knowing one — combined with a lack of trust in the ability of the police to protect neighborhoods often motivates young men to carry guns, a report from the...

Americans are highly engaged in the arts and believe strongly that they promote personal well‐being, contribute to our understanding of other cultures, are essential to a well‐rounded education, and that government has an important role to play in funding them. Based  on a survey of more than three thousand Americans, the report, Americans...

Actively engaging local youth and empowering them to design and program a community space can foster economic opportunities and enhance perceptions of neighborhood safety, a report from the Urban Institute finds. Supported by ArtPlace America and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the report, Empowering Young People to Make Their Place: A...

Nearly a third (31 percent) of all Californians and almost half (47 percent) of the state’s workers are "working poor," a report commissioned from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) by the James Irvine Foundation finds. Based on the institute's 2018 California Workers Survey of more than thirty-three hundred California residents,...

A year after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, residents of the island are still struggling with the storm's impact on their housing, finances, and mental and physical health, a survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post finds. Based on face-to-face interviews, the report, Views and Experiences of Puerto Ricans One...

Funder collaboratives require a serious investment of time and resources by participating funders in order to be effective, a case study from the Bridgespan Group finds. The report, Collaborating Towards Kindergarten Readiness at Scale: A Funder Group Case Study (17 pages, PDF), examines how twelve foundations led by the David and Lucile Packard...

While arts funding plays an important role in fostering cultural activity and economic vitality, structural challenges and limitations need to be addressed, a report from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation finds. The report, The Arts: Making Meaning – A Synthesis of Conversations with Creative Leaders (7 pages, PDF), highlights...

A handful of impact investors have begun to create products, raise capital, and make new investments that directly target progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, a report from the Global Impact Investing Network finds. The report, Financing the Sustainable Development Goals: Impact Investing in Action (28 pages, PDF), found that these...

Only two-thirds (69 percent) of schools globally had basic drinking water service in 2016, with nearly 570 million school children having no access to drinking water at all, a report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization’s Joint Monitoring Programme finds. According to the report, Drinking Water,...

Fifty years after the publication of the Kerner Commission report on urban unrest and fifty-three years after California’s McCone Commission report on the 1965 Watts riots, racial disparities in education, housing, employment, and wealth remain pervasive in Los Angeles, a report from Duke University, the New School, and the University of...

An interactive toolkit from the Integrating Technology in Early Literacy (InTEL) project at the New America Foundation and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop provides a snapshot of initiatives across the United States that use technology to connect with vulnerable families and improve educational outcomes. Early Learning in the...

Interest in impact investing is high, and many impact investors would like to see more product options and increase the amount they invest, a report from Calvert Impact Capital finds. Based on a survey of impact investors — 54 percent of whom were current and former investors in Calvert’s Community Investment Note — the report, Translating...

Improvements in contraceptive use were a key factor in the decline in pregnancy risk among adolescent women in the United States between 2007 and 2014, a report from the Guttmacher Institute finds. The report, Changing Patterns of Contraceptive Use and the Decline in Rates of Pregnancy and Birth Among U.S. Adolescents, 2007–2014, estimated...

Native-serving nonprofits often are not evaluated by charity watchdog organizations such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, GuideStar, and CharityWatch — a lack of presence that perpetuates information gaps between groups serving Native communities and potential donors, a report from the First Nations...