Archive

On Saturday Open Society Institute-Baltimore and Baltimore Corps co-hosted Johns Hopkins University Social Innovation Lab’s 5th Impact Bootcamp, A free, full-day workshop for community members and students to build connections and gain skills to move their ideas and ventures forward. As part of the agenda, OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow Brian Gerardo, above left (see out recent photo […]

On Thursday, March 29, the Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) will hold a special screening of the HBO documentary King in the Wilderness at the SNF Parkway Theatre. The film follows Martin Luther King, Jr during the last years of his life. The event features a post-screening discussion between Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, author of […]

On March 10, 2018, the 105th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s death, the City of Baltimore and Friends of the Wyman Park Dell held a ceremony to rename a portion of the dell “Harriet Tubman Grove” in honor of the American hero and Maryland native. In August of 2017, the city removed confederate monuments in the […]

Baltimore Dance Crews Project (BDCP), an afterschool dance and leadership development program started by 2015 OSI Community Fellow Brian Gerardo is being featured this month in our Impact Series. Gerardo and co-founder Cynthia Chavez began BDCP as a way to connect with and strengthen relationships with their students. Gerardo used his fellowship to expand BDCP, […]

On Friday, OSI Community Fellows gathered at the Safe Streets hub in East Baltimore to hear from 2017 Fellows Alex Long (right), who is a violence interrupter and runs his McElderry Youth Redemption Boxing Program there, and Munib Lohrasbi, whose State Correctional Facilities Oversight Committee Project works with Disability Rights Maryland to improve conditions for […]

On Saturday, senior students from Baltimore Dance Crews Project, an after-school dance program created by 2015 Open Society Institute Community Fellow Brian Gerardo, will present “Call on Me,” an original hip-hop dance performance inspired by Baltimore Ceasefire, at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA). Gerardo planned the event in collaboration with another 2015 Open Society Fellow, Dave […]

Recently, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland ruled in favor of a transgender student in a suit filed by OSI-supported FreeState Justice, the ACLU, and the ACLU of Maryland. The court ruled that students’ right to use the restroom and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity is protected by […]

This week, the Daily Record reported on the recent publication of two studies that suggest that while Maryland’s new pretrial release rule decreased the use of cash bail, additional education and resources are needed. One of the studies, published by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and funded by Open Society Institute, sent 64 […]

On April 17, the Washington Symphony Players will host a spring concert to benefit Maryland Heroin Awareness Advocates (MHAA), a grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to providing services and resources to those who are struggling with substance use disorders. MHAA also offers peer support to families through Save Our Children Family Peer Support groups. The benefit […]