As the Greater Boston regional economy continues to grow, we’re seeing a rapidly expanding gap between the demand for qualified talent and the lack of workers ready to fill in-demand roles. In this latest report, the Boston Foundation’s Project Catapult and SkillWorks collaborated with Monitor Institute by Deloitte to surface and share ways that “next-gen” workforce organizations can work to improve outcomes for workers and employers alike. We will share and discuss the report’s findings and explore how together we can change Greater Boston’s workforce system for the better.
Recognizing the importance of immigrants to Massachusetts and the value of English proficiency for immigrants’ advancement both economically and socially, the Boston Foundation and the Latino Legacy Fund commissioned a study to explore the region’s ESOL landscape and calculate the “return on investment” (ROI) of teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL).
Please join the Boston Foundation for the release of new research by MassINC and Tufts’ Tisch College of Civic Life that examines the health of our Commonwealth’s democratic processes and institutions.
Please join us for the release of the Boston Opportunity Agenda's first annual State of Early Education and Care in Boston - an examination of the supply, demand, affordability and quality of child care in the city of Boston.
As we celebrate Massachusetts STEM Week, join us for a presentation around the status of STEM education and a discussion of the importance of creating opportunities for more students in our Commonwealth to pursue careers in this field.
Join us for the release of the latest report from Success Boston about the impact of transition coaching on the college success of Boston Public Schools graduates. The report focuses on the BPS Classes of 2015 and 2016, and includes outcomes such as college persistence, college GPA, and the renewal of Federal Student Aid applications (FAFSA).
The 2019 Greater Boston Housing Report Card analyzes the relationship of housing production to residential racial segregation, and assesses how presumed best practices at the municipal level may impact the volume and nature of housing production.
Ubiquitous low wages often mask the uneven playing field faced by current and prospective early educators. What does the latest research tell us about the impact of this wage disparity, and how might we develop strategies for disrupting these inequities?
We wrap up the 2018-2019 Early Childhood Coffee and Conversations series with a presentation from Smart from the Start, featuring the work of their partnership, The Family Strength and Wellness Initiative. Thank you to all of out presenters throughout the year, and the hundreds of people who attended these sessions and provided valuable feedback.
The Boston Foundation's Grassroots Strategy in partnership with Boston Indicators and the Greater Boston Immigrant Defense Fund released a detailed report highlighting the impact on Massachusetts of the expansion of Federal effort to restrict or eliminate legal immigration programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status, and changes to humanitarian protection programs for refugees and asylum seekers. Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh provided opening remarks ahead of a robust discussion of the data and the impact on the rights and lives of thousands of Massachusetts residents.
The annual event (held at the Museum of Fine Arts) looks at Boston's education performance along a number of key indicators for Boston students from early education to college and beyond. Along with remarks from the leaders of Boston's public, charter and Catholic schools, this event served as an opportunity to recognize the Reverend Ray Hammond, whose leadership and engagement as the Boston Opportunity Agenda's first board chair has been instrumental in its work.
On May 16, the Boston Foundation and Children's HealthWatch, headquartered at Boston Medical Center, released findings from the new report, "Pathways to Stable Homes." This new, innovative research documents the synergistic combination of policies designed to ensure that working families in each low-income county of Massachusetts are able to pay for rent without sacrificing basic needs. The release also included a panel discussion featuring Mass. state Rep. Marjorie Decker, Horizons for Homeless Children President Kate Barrand, and EMPath Vice President for Policy Ruthie Liberman.
On May 15, the Boston Foundation announced that the Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School in Cambridge, Mass., had won the 2019 Pozen Prize for Innovative Schools. Robert Pozen presented the prize at an event that also included the release of a new report from the Rennie Center on the best practices of the 2018 Pozen winner, the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers.
About 200 people joined us live at WBUR's brand-new CitySpace for a night of powerful sharing by some of Greater Boston's most-talented educators, as they presented TED-style talks on pedagogy, classroom and school management, and the personal side of teaching in Greater Boston in 2019. Click through to get a glimpse at the 8th Annual Boston EdTalks.
Changing Faces of Greater Boston tells the fascinating story of our region's evolving racial and ethnic diversity. The result of a remarkable partnership between Boston Indicators and the ethnic research institutes at UMass Boston, the report explores how a global wave of immigration is bringing Boston back to its roots as a city of immigrants.
The Boston Foundation was pleased to award the 5th Annual Deval Patrick Prize for Community Colleges to Northern Essex Community College for the PIES Latinos de NECC program, which helps immigrant students apply their credentials and degrees from overseas to their current programs. Earlier in the day, TBF released a new report, "Uncovering Hidden Talent," which highlighted the impact of paid internships for community college students.
Please join the Boston Foundation, Department of Higher Education Commissioner Carlos Santiago and Board of Higher Education Chair Chris Gabrieli for a forum that will feature the findings of a report from the Working Group that they convened to address the challenges facing private colleges and their students.
Join us as we explore the critical issue of aligning supports and services for young children, drawing on successful models from Greater Boston, and around the country. Researchers from MDRC and the Education Development Center presented some of their research into the importance and power of alignment
The Boston Foundation, SkillWorks, JVS, Resilient Coders and JP Morgan hosted a forum to highlight the release of the new Catapult Papers series of essays on the next generation of workforce development, and to discuss new initiatives to accelerate change in policy around workforce training.
Boston Indicators and the Boston Foundation Health and Wellness program strategy partner with PhilanthropyMA and RIZE Massachusetts for a briefing and conversation on the state's opioid crisis, what is being done to address it, and how private philanthropy can help. The event featured presentations on the scope and cost of the opioid crisis from Boston Indicators and the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation, followed by panels with experts and front-line medical staff.
A new study from the Boston Opportunity Agenda provides insight into the trends in high school that impact post-secondary success. Dr. Robert Balfanz of Johns Hopkins University provided key findings of the report, which focuses on Boston students. BPS Interim Superintendent Laura Perille used the Bolling Building event as an opportunity to unveil six new task forces established to help shape and improve the high school experience in Boston.
A new report examines trends in BPS student achievement over time relative to other large urban school districts, and examines the policies that have shaped the city's success in student achievement.
A new report finding that Boston trails some of its peer cities and the state as a whole in science achievement on the MCAS fostered a robust discussion on how the city of Boston, its schools and its business community could do a better job bringing science into the elementary and middle school grades, and be more effective connecting students and potential STEM fields at the high school level.
In 2012, a new funding formula was devised to allocate the community college budget to the system's 15 schools based on enrollment, retention and positive student outcomes. This report explores the short-lived implementation of the funding formula, discusses its budgetary impacts and draws lessons that inform recommendations for future iterations of the formula.
Please join us for the presentation of a new Boston Indicators report on the challenges facing the upcoming United States Census in 2020. We will discuss Boston's return rate - one of the lowest in the nation - and the ways in which a low return rate can have a detrimental impact on federal funding and political representation in Massachusetts. We will also explore the role that nonprofit organizations can play in helping to ensure that every Bay Stater is counted.
Join us as we release the results of a survey of Lynch Leadership Academy graduates who now lead district, Commonwealth Charter and Catholic schools in Boston. The survey explored leaders' experiences with academic and professional staff development, recruitment and hiring, student support services, budgeting, and other services at their schools. It also investigated their views on whether and how these services can be delivered more effectively.
The Greater Boston economy has been strong, but are the benefits reaching everyone? New analysis from Boston Indicators finds that while many segments of Boston's population have reaped benefits, income inequality persists and higher costs for items like housing are driving the middle class from the city. Learn more by watching this forum, and reading the new report, "Boston Is Booming... But for Whom?"
At this forum, the Boston Foundation released "The Work of Leisure: Behind the Scenes of Massachusetts' Leisure, Hospitality and Tourism Industry" - the first such study in 27 years - which is a detailed report that reveals how ubiquitous this industry really is and how much influence it has. The forum included a presentation of the report and a panel discussion about the implications of its findings.
Is your nonprofit organization looking for a place to hold an event? We welcome community organizations to use our available conference room space free of charge for their meetings during our regular business hours.