Editor’s note: Dr. Sabrina Tassy-Lewis is executive director of St. Alban’s Child Enrichment Center. The nonprofit has provided early childhood education services to children and families in the Coconut Grove and South Miami communities since 1949. It was among The Miami Foundation’s first grantees and a recipient of our 50th anniversary “Legacy” Signature Grants. Sabrina completed an executive leadership program … Read More
TARELL ALVIN MCCRANEY: HOW HE GOT FROM MIAMI TO “MOONLIGHT”
Tarell Alvin McCraney is a native son of Miami. He’s an artist, a creator and an advocate for the city we all love. The award-winning playwright shared his Miami story with us: the journey from stage to screen, the “spirit of generosity” that got him there and coming home to make sure students today have the same opportunities he did.
AN ACCOMPLISHED MIAMI LEADER TAKES A ROLE ON THE NATIONAL STAGE
Editor’s note: This op-ed by Foundation President Emeritus Ruth Shack originally ran in the Miami Herald on May 5, in honor of Foundation President and CEO Javier Alberto Soto’s appointment as board chair of the Council on Foundations. It is splendid to have been part of the evolution of at least six different Miamis. Our home has grown from a sleepy … Read More
A MIAMI GUY’S CASE FOR CONNECTING THE CITY
Nothing reveals more about you than your story – the sum total of past experiences that shape who you are and what you care about. My story is one defined by a love for Miami. I was born and raised in the Upper Eastside (yes, we natives DO exist), and can still remember the shock every time I came home throughout college. A blighted rail yard was all of a sudden Midtown Miami; Jazz in the Gardens went from an annual neighborhood concert to one of the top music festivals in the country; Brickell had more condos than office towers. My city evolved, and after graduation, I got excited about being a part of this new Miami.
WHY I CHOOSE TO “GIVE KIDS A CHANCE”
As a real estate lawyer whose practice focuses on representing developers of affordable housing, I care deeply about ensuring that children of residents of such housing have access to higher education. Working in this field, I have seen firsthand how cost-burdened families are affected in their daily lives. Many of the families living in low-income housing cannot afford to send their children to college…
HONORING A CHAMPION FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Editor’s note: We were glad to honor Porter W. Anderson, Jr., a great Miamian, for his selfless dedication to the community issues that matter to him, as our 2017 Donor Next Door Honoree. Below is the short piece that appeared in the Donor Next Door Family Album. Porter W. Anderson, Jr. has a passion for people’s physical health, which … Read More
RUTH SHACK HONOREE BUILDS A HUB OF MIAMI CHANGEMAKERS
Rebecca Fishman Lipsey wants to get all Miamians thinking about changemaking – and made it her job to mobilize them. As the executive director of Teach for America in Miami-Dade, she tripled the size of the organization, pushing to close the education achievement gap. Her firm, Radical Partners, accelerates the local social entrepreneurship scene. When thousands of Miamians pledged to … Read More
THE STATE OF BLACK PHILANTHROPY IN GREATER MIAMI
The second annual State of Black Philanthropy conversation defied the notion that philanthropy is exclusively tied to monetary contributions. Rather, much like the Greek etymology of the word (i.e., love of humankind), we exposed a more rich dialogue of philanthropy as an expression of love best demonstrated through intentional acts designed to promote the welfare of black communities.
“I AM AT PEACE KNOWING MY LEGACY WILL OUTLIVE ME AND HELP OTHERS FOREVER”
It started with a question while I was on the way to the airport last summer. Just before I was about to board an airplane my father asked, “Do you have a will?” I looked at him and said, “Why are you asking me this NOW when I am about to get on a plane?” He reminded me that I … Read More
VACANT SPACES COME TO LIFE WITH PUBLIC SPACE CHALLENGE
“This world is but a canvas to our imagination,” Henry David Thoreau wrote, and Public Space Challenge winners have taken him at his word. Where you see an outdoor fountain, they create a roller skating rink. Where you see a busy thoroughfare, they build a pop-up plaza and hold 20 days of events from a puppy brunch to tango lessons.