How to Tell Stories About Complex Issues

Annie Neimand of Stanford Social Innovation Review

October 22, 2018 | How tos

Storytelling is one of the greatest tools we have for engaging communities on complex social and environmental issues, in ways that can drive belief and behavior change. People are far more likely to remember information if it reaches them in the form of a story. Good stories also have an incredible ability to reduce counterarguing on divisive issues. And when people are transported by a great story, they remember the events in the story and feel like the experiences were their own. As a result, the story has the power to influence future beliefs on related issues.

2018’s Most Diverse Cities in America – WalletHub Study

WalletHub

October 22, 2018 | News

With immigration policy remaining a hot-button issue in 2018’s political landscape, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Most Diverse Cities in America.  To determine the places in the U.S. with the most mixed demographics, WalletHub compared the profiles of more than 500 of the largest cities across five major diversity categories: socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household and religious.  Most Diverse Cities… Read more »

Breaking the Ignorance Ceiling

Tom Ahern

October 22, 2018 | How tos

Why this book screamed to be made In the US, as of 2017, there were something like 1.3 million government-sanctioned charitable organizations. It’s a growing sector: at current rates, about 47,000 new US charities are born each year.[1] Is that a lot or a little, for a nation of some 330 million? I say it’s a lot. After all, the same population gets by with… Read more »

Texas Children’s Hospital’s Trauma and Grief Center receives $1 million VOCA grant to support the Santa Fe Strong Resiliency Center

Texas Children’s Trauma and Grief Center

October 22, 2018 | Giving Around Texas

Texas Children’s Trauma and Grief Center is excited to announce it is the recipient of a $1 million grant from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund to support the recently-created Santa Fe Strong Resiliency Center. Earlier this year, experts from Texas Children’s Trauma and Grief Center partnered with the Gulf Coast Center, and others in the Santa Fe community, to create the Santa… Read more »

9th Annual Over the Edge Event at Embassy Suites to Benefit Special Olympics

Special Olympics Texas

October 22, 2018 | Events

Special Olympics Texas today unveiled details surrounding its upcoming 9th Annual Over the Edge event, which is set to take place once again at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Houston on Saturday, November 17, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Raising funds to support the organization’s more than 59,000 athletes, Over the Edge will provide an adrenaline rush for a good cause… Read more »

Supervisory and Management Certificate

San Antonio Area Foundation

October 22, 2018 | Education

A five-month series of nine focused, in-depth sessions will culminate in earning a supervisory and management certificate. The San Antonio Area Foundation, in partnership with the H-E-B School of Business and Administration at the University of the Incarnate Word, offers a professional, non-academic certificate for mid-level and/or first-time nonprofit managers. This 30-hour program is designed to equip nonprofit staff with the management and supervisory… Read more »

Funding Alert

The Department of State Health Services (DSHS)

October 22, 2018 | Grants Available

Funding News and Grant Tips   Nonprofit Employees and Managers Define Success as Helping Others http://dshs.texas.gov/fic/al29-10-2.aspx#A   Most Wealthy Individuals Don’t Make Bequests http://dshs.texas.gov/fic/al29-10-2.aspx#B     Public Funding Opportunities   Advanced Leadership Training for Professionals: 2018-12 http://dshs.texas.gov/fic/al29-10-2.aspx#C   FY 19 Farm to School Grant http://dshs.texas.gov/fic/al29-10-2.aspx#D HEALing Communities Study: Developing and Testing an Integrated Approach to Address the Opioid Crisis (Research Sites) (UM1 – Clinical… Read more »

GeSI Is Welcoming Arm and Dell as New Members

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)

October 22, 2018 | Corporate Responsibility

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative is pleased to welcome Arm and Dell amongst its membership of leading companies and organisations from the technology industry.  In joining GeSI, Arm and Dell will play an active role in a wide variety of activities in the digital sustainability area, bringing value to the Initiative and expert, powerful voices from the ICT industry to the GeSI platform.  “We are… Read more »

Overcoming the Divisiveness That Surrounds Us

Nell Edgington

October 12, 2018 | Strong Communities

Over the past few weeks I’ve found myself worn down by the state of our country. The divisiveness, the anger, the coming apart instead of coming together is increasingly hard to take. And I know many of you feel the same. It seems that as time marches on we increasingly find ourselves battling the differences between each other, rather than recognizing that there is… Read more »

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science elected new officers and six new board members at its annual meeting held Sept. 20

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

October 12, 2018 | News

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science elected new officers and six new board members at its annual meeting held Sept. 20. Mac McFarland, CEO of GenOn Energy, will serve as chair of the board of directors for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. McFarland succeeds Hernan Saenz, who served as chair for the 2016-2018 fiscal years. Joining McFarland as board officers are Karen Katz (former… Read more »

Banks Award $16K in Grant Funds to Houston-Area Financial Literacy Program

CommunityBank of Texas and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas)

October 12, 2018 | Giving Around Texas

CommunityBank of Texas and FHLB Dallas awarded $16,000 in Partnership Grant Program funds to Credit Coalition to help offset operational costs and enable the organization to continue to provide complimentary financial counseling to Houston area residents. (Photo: Business Wire) “Since we don’t charge for our services, this will allow us to make sure we have our resources in place: books, everything we use for… Read more »

Department of Education grant to strengthen transfer infrastructure

Texas State University

October 12, 2018 | Giving Around Texas

University College at Texas State University has received a $2.4 million Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions (DHSI) grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support Project Maestros, with the goal of improving the transfer pipeline for community college students. In addition to strengthening relationships with area community college students, the grant will help Texas State increase matriculation and success rates for new and continuing… Read more »

Don’t Miss Cactus Pear Music Festival’s Nov. 4 Soiree: Albéniz to Weber

Cactus Pear Music Festival

October 12, 2018 | Events

  Our NOVEMBER 4th “Soirée Special” concert is almost here ready to inaugurate our SEVENTH Soirée Season of intimate and exclusive performances. We open our season with an incredible group of musicians: pianist DANIEL ANASTASIO, San Antonio Symphony’s Principal Clarinet ILYA SHTERENBERG, and San Fransisco cellist JONAH KIM who join artistic director and violinist STEPHANIE SANT’AMBROGIO in a program that will take you “from Albéniz to Weber.” From a… Read more »

New integrated, outpatient program created to combat mental illness, homelessness

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)

October 12, 2018 | Giving Around Texas

To help break the cycle of mental illness, addiction and homelessness, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) has launched a new integrated, trauma-informed behavioral health program for treatment and recovery support. The UTHealth Homeless Outpatient Mental Health Expansion Services Program is funded with a $2.5 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department… Read more »

NIJ grant aims to improve forensic dental age estimates of youth

Texas State University

October 12, 2018 | Giving Around Texas

Nicholas Herrmann, an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University, has received a National Institute of Justice award to improve the accuracy of age estimates for unidentified remains of children and adolescents. The project titled, “Investigation of subadult dental age-at-death estimation using transitional analysis and machine learning methods,” was funded for approximately $900,000. Joseph Hefner, an assistant professor in the Department of… Read more »

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Genesis Women's Shelter

October 12, 2018 | Strong Communities

Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support For 33 years, 24 hours a day, Genesis Women’s Shelter has been waiting with lights on and doors open to welcome women and children facing the greatest time of crisis they have ever known. Every year, we see nearly 2,500 women and children turn to Genesis as they make the brave decision to leave their former lives behind, taking… Read more »

Summerlee Foundation Will Fund the 2018 Match

Shumla Archaeological Center

October 12, 2018 | Giving Around Texas

Summerlee Foundation Will Fund the 2018 Match SEPTEMBER 2018   We can barely contain our excitement! The incredible Summerlee Foundation has committed to match all 2018 individual donations to Shumla up to $100,000!   The Summerlee Foundation is a very special organization. Their philosophy is simple: Make grant distributions to organizations that make a measurable difference to animals and Texas history. Their stated goal is to… Read more »

Goal set to collect 225,000 pounds of food by year end

Caring Place

October 12, 2018 | Strong Communities

The Caring Place provides a 10-day supply of food to families in financial crisis through its Food Pantry. The Caring Place is preparing to launch its Hunger Free Holidays Food Drive on October 1, and it will end December 31. With the community’s help, the organization wishes to collect 225,000 pounds of food by the New Year. “The summer was challenging for the Food… Read more »

“In a billion-dollar campaign case,” she wondered, “where do you stick the ‘letter from the Dean’?”

Tom Ahern

October 12, 2018 | How tos

Ummmmmmm…. Good question, Echo. ¶ In our little world [The Case Writers], where we pretty much get to write and design whatever we think is best, working with a group of clients who want exactly that, every “normal” element is questionable. You start each day with this question, “What if everything I think I know is wrong?” ¶ In other words, if something normally… Read more »

Fall Native Plant Sale October 12 & 13

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

October 10, 2018 | Events

What’s in Season: October American witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) We swear we didn’t choose witch hazel because of Halloween — it’s just an added bonus that this striking tree blooms around the same time little kids are donning pointy hats and toting cauldrons and brooms. But Hamamelis virginiana — best known by its fragrant, lime-yellow, crepelike petals — does have a few tricks up its… Read more »