Spending money well builds public trust

November 19, 2010 – 1:34 pm

As our newly elected Governor and other representatives prepare for the coming year, and the highly partisan public debate about government spending rages, those of us working at the community level know that the fight over cutting or increasing taxes does not tell the whole story.  We know that business as usual is neither possible [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Now is the time to invest in innovation

November 11, 2010 – 10:50 am

While a flurry of different interpretations of last week’s election results clog the airwaves, one thing seems pretty clear from coast to coast – voters are in no mood to spend more taxpayer dollars.  And it’s hard to see anything but shrinkage in the size of government as a result. From my point of view [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Election Day 2010: An open letter to the incoming Governor of the State of California

November 2, 2010 – 12:08 pm

Dear Governor-Elect: Congratulations, and please get some rest.  We’ll need all the energy you have for the next four years. When Governor Schwarzenegger was first sworn in as Governor in November 2003, Californians faced an unemployment rate of 6.6% — 5.4% when he was reelected in January 2007. You take the oath of office with [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Leveraging change where the market has failed

October 18, 2010 – 3:06 pm

No matter what your position on crime, whether law and order or reform and rehabilitation – just about everyone knows that if we don’t get people to work after they serve their sentences, we are unlikely to change the unfortunate and costly reality that the US has 5 % of the world’s population and 24% [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Sneak Preview – REDF Goes to Work for Thousands of Californians

September 28, 2010 – 12:13 pm

When I got my first job as a teenager in New York City, I applied for my work permit at a huge, old administration building way downtown. While I stood on line, I had time to think about my grandparents who had lived nearby after immigrating to the US. My grandfather worked as a tenement [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Request for Qualifications now open – apply to join REDF’s Portfolio

September 20, 2010 – 10:48 am

Today REDF takes the first step toward achieving the goals of our new 2011-2015 Strategy, which will be formally announced at our September 30 Benefit.   Over the coming years we will work together to build a transformative, widely-replicable model of social enterprise that employs low income people with barriers to employment. Today we also publicly [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Fresno: a city summits and the Street Saints keep on

September 16, 2010 – 3:03 pm

I was excited about meeting Fresno’s Mayor, Ashley Swearingen, for breakfast Monday morning. I’d heard that she was an emerging leader to watch in California’s political constellation. And I knew she was a Republican who was interested in how to include low-income people and communities in her ambitious goals to develop Fresno’s economy – one [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

The next big thing

September 8, 2010 – 10:58 am

Dropping my son and daughter at college for their respective Freshman years, I not only experienced the unique mixture of sadness, pride, and elation that accompanies these fraught moments; but also spent some time thinking about the job market that will await them next summer, and four years from now. I thought about how the [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Be the best of whatever you are

August 25, 2010 – 3:29 pm

There’s been some controversy this week about the transparency of the selection process of the Social Innovation Fund.  I will hold my thoughts on that for now, except to say that since we received our grant award, we have spent all of our time focused on how to use these precious resources to create as [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

All people need the chance to work

August 17, 2010 – 3:12 pm

REDF is gearing up fast to meet the terms of the Social Innovation Fund award we received last month, with plans to issue a first-time ever (for REDF) Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify outstanding nonprofits in California to consider for our portfolio. Watch our website for imminent announcements about the timeline and requirements. Meanwhile, [...]

By Carla Javits | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
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