• OSI Board member featured in Baltimore Business Journal

    This week, the Baltimore Business Journal featured an interview with Alicia Wilson, vice president for community affairs at Sagamore Development and a recent addition to OSI-Baltimore’s Advisory Board. Wilson, who is overseeing the establishment of a new training program for hospitality jobs at the new Rye Street Tavern in Port Covington, said she is committed […]

  • August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day

    (see full size posters here and here.) Thursday, August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day, a global event held each year to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have met with death or permanent injury as a result of drug overdose. Overdose Day spreads the message […]

  • OSI-funded Summer Youth Leadership Institute wraps up

    This summer, OSI-Baltimore, with support from BGE, partnered with Johns Hopkins Center for Adolescent Health and YouthWorks to fund a Summer Youth Leadership Institute for Baltimore City Public Schools students. During the 5-week program, students examined aspects of school climate, attended workshops on financial literacy, public speaking, and workforce readiness skills. Eighty students had the […]

  • City Schools releases Blueprint for Success, includes restorative practices

    This week, Baltimore City Public Schools released its Blueprint for Success, a framework outlining how the district will create a comprehensive approach to ensure all students -– no matter where they live in Baltimore City — will have access to high-performing schools. The blueprint focuses on three key areas: literacy, staff leadership and student wholeness. OSI-Baltimore […]

  • OSI hosts young leaders from the UK

    This week, Legacy International brought young leaders from the U.K.’s Jo Cox Memorial Young Leaders Exchange Program to the U.S. to learn about combating discrimination and violence and promoting tolerance and inclusion in their communities. The group’s tour, which runs from August 14-28, began in New York, with stops in Philadelphia and the OSI-Baltimore offices […]

  • Two new schools open as part of OSI-supported 21st Century Schools initiative

    This morning, Mayor Catherine Pugh, City Council President Jack Young, Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, and City Schools CEO Sonja Santelises joined Baltimore City students, residents, and education advocates to celebrate the opening of Fort Worthington Elementary/Middle School, the first of several schools to be modernized, rebuilt, or constructed as part of the 21st Century School Buildings […]

  • Next up in OSI’s Talking About Race series: A Conversation with Paul Butler

    On October 3, 2017, as part of OSI-Baltimore’s Talking About Race series, OSI Criminal and Juvenile Justice Director Tara Huffman hosts a conversation with Georgetown Law Professor and former federal prosecutor Paul Butler, author of the new book, “Chokehold: Policing Black Men.” The New York Times describes “Chokehold” as “the most readable and provocative account […]

  • OSI Fellow, Board Member among BBJ’s 40 under 40

    The Baltimore Business Journal (BBJ) recently announced its 2017 40 Under 40 honorees. Among them are one of OSI-Baltimore’s newest Advisory Board members, Alicia Wilson, and 2009 Community Fellow, Sarah Hemminger. Wilson, who is Vice President of Community Affairs and Legal Advisor to Sagamore Development Company, joined the Board earlier this year. Hemminger’s organization, Thread, […]

  • OSI’s Draft Restorative Practices Plan Available For Public Review

    OSI-Baltimore is pleased to make a draft version of its Baltimore City Schools Restorative Practices Plan available for public review. Restorative practices are a set of tools and strategies that draws on the belief that open, respectful communication helps reduce conflict. And, when conflict does occur, restorative practices encourage students to focus on the harm caused and on […]

  • Fellows gather to discuss organizing, activism, and art

    The 2016 cohort of OSI-Baltimore Fellows held its monthly gathering today to hear from current Fellows Jermaine Bell and J.C. Faulk. Bell, whose works with Exit the Apple to support the work of black artists. Reflecting on the struggle to create sustainable models for artists, he said “Capitalism makes art feel less important.” Faulk discussed the […]