Each year, the nation celebrates the signing of The Declaration of Independence. This document states the nation’s values, our responsibility for them, and to one another. Currently, 85% of America’s people experience the well-being that comes from access to equality, and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as set forth in the Declaration of Independence.
The goal of The Declaration Initiative (TDI) is to raise a national sense of urgency to assist communities across the U.S. to enable the remaining 15% to arrive at parity for personal well-being with the American middle income population by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of our founding document.
To achieve this goal, TDI began in October 2010, with the launch of a twenty-month planning period. Supported by the wisdom and experience of a National Leadership Council and a Strategic Action Council, TDI is establishing a working strategy to identify and engage leaders from across the philanthropic sector, the lowest income communities, the non-profit sector, technology, and media. Together we will work to collect and deploy the most successful approaches to enabling people to permanently end multi-generational poverty in the US. TDI recruits interested people from conservative, centrist and liberal-progressive beliefs, and a wide range of ages, races and ethnic groups who share the goal.
Specifically, TDI aims to address destructive conditions like infant mortality, maternal death in childbirth, severe pre-K language deficits, failure to read by age nine, high school drop outs, teen pregnancies, incarceration, and early death. For the poorest 15%, these conditions are often trans-generational, occur at many times the rate experienced at middle-income levels, and effectively preclude access to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. TDI believes the nation is ready to take on this task with a shared sense of purpose.
Over the next fifteen years, the work of TDI will engage the poorest of America’s population in working with local resources to address these conditions creating permanent change with more consistent access to levels of well-being experienced by middle income Americans.
TDI envisions a marketplace of ideas where donors and community leaders consider and select from among a number of programs that productively address the most destructive conditions. Many of these evidence-based programs are not widely accessible to those most needing them. They should and could be if Americans had the will to create availability and commit ourselves, community by community, to help ensure their success.
A national purpose would encourage current work on donor’s intent to continue and preserve American philanthropy’s rich diversity while still imaginatively using resources to fulfill the founders’ aspirations for access to opportunities for all.
TDI's challenge to the nation is two-fold:
- To encourage all of kinds of donors to attack a critical condition challenging the health of our democracy as we did in the 19th and 20th centuries in eradicating child labor, hookworm, and polio. In the 21st century, we have 70,000 foundations and 2 million nonprofits and an additional 75-85% of our population are contributors.1 We can use the imaginative programs philanthropy has developed in the last 30 years. This is an opportunity for fresh partnerships.
- To engage lowest income communities in exploring how the convergence of destructive conditions works, how best to connect to networks of programs that unlink and reduce these conditions, and seek these communities’ willingness to engage with local donors in seeking new futures for themselves and their neighbors, starting with raising the first contributions to the local TDI effort from their own community resources.
All Americans stand to benefit from the achievement of the mission of TDI. Georgetown economist Harry Holzer and a team of colleagues provide research indicating that costs to the U.S. associated with childhood poverty alone total about half a TRILLION dollars per year, or the equivalent of nearly 4 percent of GDP.2 This represents substantial potential savings for the federal budget in a time when deficit reduction is everyone’s job.
Achieving the mission of TDI would enable the nation to see the talents of the poorest 15% available as assets to strengthen our society and economy in the highly competitive 21st century.
Finally, the success of TDI would also reassert America’s leadership in defining full democracy at a time when democratic ideals urgently need reinforcement globally. As the oldest modern democracy, America would show courage in embarking on this mission for 2026. Our work on it would recall the moral ambition that first launched aspirations for freedom, equality, and justice for all.
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The Project Team
Dr. Claire Gaudiani
Co-Leader
Claire Gaudiani is an Adjunct Professor in the Wagner School of Public Service of New York University. She is a specialist in the history and economics of American philanthropy and author of The Greater Good (2003), Generosity Rules! (2007) and Generosity Unbound (2010). She has just finished the history of social entrepreneurship in America from 1778-1938 and shows how women built the social profit sector. It will be published by Public Affairs Press in the fall of 2011. She is the former president of Connecticut College (1987-2001), and former research scholar at the Yale University School of Law (2001-2003). She currently serves on the boards of the Henry Luce Foundation, the Council for Economic Education, and MBIA, Inc. She is the recipient of the Henry Rosso Medal for Distinguished Service to Philanthropy from Indiana University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She holds a PhD in French Literature from Indiana University and has been awarded ten honorary doctorates.
Linetta J. Gilbert
Co-Leader
Linetta J. Gilbert is well-known and highly regarded in the fields of community development and philanthropy. For nine years she served as a Senior Program Officer and Program Officer at the Ford Foundation specializing in programming and grantmaking related to community philanthropy and civic culture in the U.S. and abroad. In this role, she led several initiatives including the Community Philanthropy, Race and Equity in the American South Initiative, the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership, the Gulf Coast Transformation Initiative as well as Ford’s investments in community philanthropy globally. A significant amount of Linetta’s work has focused on expanding the definition of community philanthropy to represent the various pools and types of philanthropic capital to be organized for the betterment of communities. In 2008, Linetta received the Robert W. Scrivner Award for creative grantmaking and the Critical Impact Award from the US Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C.
Melissa Howell, MBA, MA,
Director, Program Design & Development
Melissa Howell is a trained cultural sociologist whose efforts seek to contribute to the strategic and program design of thoughtful and effective philanthropy. As a consultant, she recently completed an assignment with The Ford Foundation and Frontline Solutions researching effective partnerships between the public and private sectors. She began her philanthropy career at The ELMA Philanthropies Services Inc., where, as fellow and then Program Associate, she supported the development of strategies in non-traditional philanthropy, identified grant-making opportunities and monitored grant performance with specific emphasis in education and capacity building throughout Africa. Her professional career spans four countries with management experience in Education, Systems & Program Design, Operations, and Event Management with The Ford Motor Company, Pfizer, and Platform Learning. Melissa holds a Master’s degree in Migration and Diaspora Studies from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and also holds an MBA/BA in Business Administration and a BS in Spanish from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU). She serves as the Chair of the New York Chapter of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), is a certified entrepreneurship teacher and volunteers with organizations around Brooklyn, NY. Melissa is founder of Global Elevation, an NGO that promotes entrepreneurship and youth development through cultural exchange opportunities.
Nichole Martini, MS,
Associate Director, Program & Development
Nichole Martini is a trained strategic fundraiser and has a passion for inspiring the field of philanthropy to affect national change. For three and a half years with Steinway & Sons, she worked with development staff and faculty to support fundraising efforts surrounding the purchase of Steinway pianos for non-profit organizations. At NYU, Nichole conducted research about philanthropy and fundraising surrounding the performing arts and how it affects change. Through this journey, Nichole has discovered that the definition of poverty extends beyond just economics, a definition agreed upon by the objectives of The Declaration Initiative. Nichole holds a Masters of Science degree in Fundraising and Philanthropy from New York University and a Bachelors of Arts in Music from Furman University. She has served as president and vice president for the Fundraising Student Association at NYU where she co-designed and implemented a series of networking events called "Be Interesting" with New York City based non-profits. As a singer and pianist, Nichole volunteers with several arts organizations in New York City; she plans to use her arts knowledge and training to contribute creative approaches to TDI's programmatic work.
The team will be supported through the wisdom and experience of a National Leadership Council and Strategic Action Council.
The National Leadership Council
The National Leadership Council will enable the Declaration Initiative to connect to and receive advice and counsel from individuals who can best facilitate an efficient and effective planning process to assure that the goals of the initiative can be achieved. They will support the joint commitment to philanthropic freedom as well as strategies that enable opportunities for the poorest Americans to pursue life, liberty, and happiness in the US.
Current Members of the National Leadership Council:
- Susan Batten
Executive Director, Association of Black Foundation Executives - Susan Beresford
Former President of the Ford Foundation - Tracy Gary
Director and Founder of Inspired Legacies - Debra Jacobs
President of The Patterson Foundation - Ambassador James Joseph
Leader in Residence, Hart Leadership Program, Duke University - Glen MacDonald
President and Founder of the Wealth and Giving Forum - Joy Moore
Media/Public Relations Consultant - Ruth Wooden
Former President of the Ad Council and Public Agenda
The Strategy Action Council
The Strategy Advisors will assist co-Leaders Linetta Gilbert and Claire Gaudiani in designing the launch of the Declaration Initiative anticipated for July 4th, 2012.
Current members of the Strategic Action Council: TBA
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