Archive

This week, 2002 Community Fellow, Jacqueline Robarge, was quoted in a Washington Post article about the contrast between resourcing treatment for white opiate addiction vs. criminalizing black drug users. While recent attention and funding for fighting the opioid epidemic has been directed to rural and suburban communities, many urban areas continue to struggle, as they […]

In the coming days, OSI-Baltimore will announce the 20th cohort of our Community Fellows. Over the years, OSI, the Fellows selection committees, and program director Pamela King – who has overseen the program since its founding – have become experts at identifying passionate, committed Baltimoreans with great ideas. The result is a group of 180 Fellows […]

On Friday, as part of a program sponsored by 2016 OSI Community Fellow Deborah Ramsey’s Unified Efforts, which focuses on out-of-school time violence and bullying prevention, one Forest Park High School student became Baltimore City’s Police Commissioner for a Day. Check out the great video of highlights from his day on WBAL. As part of […]

This week, Forbes Magazine profiles two OSI Community Fellows who are working side-by-side to bring people together to talk about racism in Baltimore. J.C. Faulk, a 2016 Fellow who runs An End to Ignorance, a series of workshops that discuss difficult yet impactful topics like racism, sexism and classism, and Sarah Hemminger, a 2009 Community […]

In his great interview with Broadway World, 2014 OSI Community Fellow Brian Francoise, who has been the Director of Community Engagement at the Everyman Theatre for two years, talks about the company’s production of “Intimate Apparel” by Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage, and a free related event called “Confessions of a Designer.” Francoise leads the Everyman’s effort to deepen […]

This Saturday, October 28, the Baltimore Dance Crews Project (BDCP), founded by 2015 OSI Community Fellow Brian Gerardo, will hold its 4th Annual Community Jam at the UA House at Fayette. The event pairs Baltimore students with experienced dance mentors and teams will compete in freestyle dance battles throughout the day. The public is invited […]

On Tuesday, November 14, OSI-Baltimore grantee Living Classrooms and 2014 OSI Community Fellow Renita Seabrook will participate in “Education for liberation: The politics of promise and reform inside and beyond America’s prisons,” hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. This research conference is in anticipation of an upcoming edited volume on prison education and reentry programs in […]

This week, the Baltimore Sun reported that school suspensions in Baltimore City Public Schools have dropped nearly 20% since the 2015-2016 school year. The drop in suspensions and expulsions – from 8,500 two years ago to 6,800 last school year – comes as the district focuses on student wholeness, a key component to the “Blueprint […]

On Friday, as part of professional development for teachers throughout Baltimore City, OSI-Baltimore organized restorative practices training for all 150 English Learner (EL) teachers in the district. Restorative practices, in particular restorative circles, help lift up student voices and build positive relationships. OSI and city schools are working together to integrate restorative practices into all city schools over […]

The Wall Street Journal and New York Times, among others, have reported in recent days about the decision by George Soros, founder of Open Society Foundations (OSF), to shift $18 billion of his personal fortune to OSF over the last several years. The shift has been gradual, but it reflects 87-year-old Soros’s intention for OSF […]