Re-Aligning Opportunities for Justice: A Cross-Sector Approach for Philanthropy (18 Jun 2012)

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:30:00 GMT

Public Policy Platform

Philanthropy has a unique opportunity to influence the transformation of the criminal justice system in California. Philanthropic efforts underway, such as reforming public education, alleviating poverty and homelessness and improving public health are deeply connected to an epidemic of mass incarceration in our state.

Regardless of a funder’s emphasis on criminal justice, realignment impacts a range of grantmaking areas, including housing and homelessness, women and children, education, workforce and health and safety.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its prison overcrowding over a two-year timeline. In response, a realignment plan (AB 109) was signed into law, shifting funding and responsibility for the custody, treatment and supervision of individuals convicted of specified nonviolent crimes from the state to counties. If successful, reform could prompt the adoption of best practices that support prevention-based solutions to reducing recidivism and strengthening communities across the state.

With insights from key public sector leaders, the conversation will entail a critical discussion about California’s approach to reducing prison overcrowding, strengthening community-based reentry services and addressing the rate of incarceration in the state and county. Confirmed speakers include:

Diane Cummins, Special Advisor, Office of Governor Jerry Brown
Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; and
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles County, Second District.

Participants will also learn about Funders for Safety and Justice in California--a new funders group focused on ways philanthropy can complement and enhance opportunities to shift from mass incarceration to mass prevention--founded by a group of state and national funders, including the Rosenberg Foundation, the Women's Foundation of California, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and others. Additional nonprofit and public sector leaders will participate in the conversation.

This program is presented in partnership with:

Presenters:

Lee Baca
Sheriff, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff Lee Baca, elected chief law enforcement officer of Los Angeles County in 1998, commands the largest Sheriff’s Department in the United States, with a budget of $2.5 billion and a staff of nearly 18,000 sworn and professional staff, who compromise the law enforcement providers for more than four million people. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department manages the nation’s largest local jail system, housing 20,000 inmates. Baca developed Education-Based Incarceration (EBI) to address the high rate of offender recidivism in Los Angeles County, which uses evidence-based strategies to deliver education and life skills that provide hope and opportunity to offenders who want to live a better life and become contributing members of their communities.

Baca operates one of law enforcement’s largest prevention and intervention programs in the nation and coordinates Mutual Aid Emergency Services for California Region I, which includes the County of Orange. Additionally, he is the founder of Public Trust Policing, which includes diverse advisory councils and a Clergy Council of leaders from every faith community. Baca operates 16 nonprofit youth centers and 10 regional training centers for at-risk youth and provides 27 deputies to 240 elementary and middle schools to teach children about positive solutions to the problems of drugs and gangs. A United States Marine Corps Reserve veteran, he earned his doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

Hon. Mark Ridley-Thomas
Supervisor, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Second District
Since elected in 2008 to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Hon. Mark Ridley-Thomas has promoted the district’s interest on a variety of fronts, including transportation, job creation/retention and local hiring and health policy. His advocacy has helped secure an equitable share of funding for public-private partnership health clinics in underserved areas. Prior to his election to the Board, Ridley-Thomas served the 26th District in the California State Senate. He chaired the California Legislative Black Caucus in 2008 and led the Caucus in cooperative efforts with counterparts in the Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander Legislative Caucuses. Ridley-Thomas served on the Los Angeles City Council for nearly a dozen years, departing as Council President pro Tempore, and later served two terms in the California State Assembly, where he chaired the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

Ridley-Thomas is regarded as the leading advocate of neighborhood participation in government decision-making. As founder of the Empowerment Congress, focused on neighborhood-based civic engagement, he is considered the founder of the Neighborhood Council movement. Ridley-Thomas served previously as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles. He holds a master’s degree in Religious Studies from Immaculate Heart College and a Ph.D. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California.

Timothy Silard
President, Rosenberg Foundation
Timothy Silard has served as president of the Rosenburg Foundation since 2008, where he has led the development of criminal justice reform as a core grantmaking focus. Working with grant partners, the Foundation is developing a new initiative to reduce the number of incarcerated women in California as an entry point for broader sentencing reforms, front-end alternatives to incarceration and reentry strategies. In addition, the Foundation is creating a statewide network of county-based reentry councils around the state, and is supporting a new constituency-building initiative around children and youth exposed to violence, among other efforts. Silard has also helped create a public/private partnership between criminal justice funders and the U.S. Department of Justice, which is now institutionalized into working groups with quarterly strategy meetings in Washington, D.C.

Silard is recognized as an expert in racial justice, sentencing reform and urban policy and as an advocate for children and youth. He joined the Rosenberg Foundation from the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, where he served as chief of policy, developing reforms in criminal justice, civil rights and immigrants' rights. Silard was also a leader of San Francisco's nationally replicated approach to addressing commercial sexual exploitation, which won the Ford Foundation's Innovations in American Government Award. He was previously HOPE VI Director for the Corporation for National Service, where he served on the Community Enterprise Board and the White House Urban Policy Working Group. Earlier in his career, Silard served as a Skadden Fellow at the Income Rights Project and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa.

Date:
Monday, June 18, 2012

Time:
11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Lunch is included.

Location:
Center for Healthy Communities
1000 N. Alameda St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Who May Attend:
Current SCG members and grantmakers eligible for SCG membership. For eligibility requirements, click here.

Fees:
Free for current SCG members
$50 for eligible non-members

Registration:
Register online. Space is limited; please rsvp no later than Thursday, June 14, 2012.

Fundamentals of Effective Grantmaking 2012 (11 Oct 2012)

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:00:00 GMT

SCG Signature Program

Save the Date: Fundamentals of Effective Grantmaking

An opportunity to learn core grantmaking skills from seasoned professionals and network with their peers.

Dates:

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Friday, October 12, 2012

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Registration:

Registration will open summer 2012.

Southern California Grantmakers SCG Programs and Events

Re-Aligning Opportunities for Justice: A Cross-Sector Approach for Philanthropy (18 Jun 2012)

Fundamentals of Effective Grantmaking 2012 (11 Oct 2012)