Archive

BALTIMORE—Community and philanthropic leaders have come together to launch B’More Invested, an exciting new strategy for community-centered grantmaking led by a partnership of Open Society Institute – Baltimore and Baltimore’s Promise. The B’More Invested Grant Advisory Committee, consisting of 24 Community Stakeholders and 10 Funders, will distribute $2.3 million in pooled, private capital to local […]

This morning, Mayor Brandon Scott announced his appointment of Acting City Solicitor Dana Moore as Baltimore’s first Chief Equity Officer, a cabinet-level position. According to the announcement, Moore “will work closely with the Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer to ensure city government operates through a framework of equity across all agencies, boards, and commissions. She […]

Linda Panitz, a member of OSI’s Leadership Council and a longtime supporter of OSI and other justice-seeking organizations in Baltimore, died this week, according to an obituary in the Baltimore Sun. Panitz co-founded the Enterprise Women’s Network, which sought to “improve the quality of life for low-income women and children and advocated for educational enrichment […]

Today, Mayor Brandon Scott, Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, and Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA) Director Catalina Rodriguez Lima announced the COVID-19: Prevención, Control y Respaldo (COVID-19: Prevention, Control, and Support) initiative “to mitigate the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in the Latino community.” Part of the city’s response has been Emergency Relief for Immigrant Families (ERIF), […]

Yesterday, 2018 OSI Community Fellow Shelley Halstead, founder of Black Women Build-Baltimore, returned to the Kelly Clarkson Show to show off a house that she had just finished renovating with Bryanna, the new homeowner, who appeared with her.  In September, Halstead appeared on the show to talk about Black Women Build, which trains Black women […]

The Baltimore Furniture Bank, co-founded by 2019 OSI Community Fellow Damien Haussling as a way to help connect those coming out of homelessness to essential furnishings free of charge recently moved into a new, larger space. Haussling sits amid recent donations in the Furniture Bank’s new warehouse space.   Haussling got the idea to collect […]

Brittany Young, 2018 OSI Community Fellow and founder of B-360, and Bree Jones, a 2020 OSI Community Fellow and founder of Parity, have both been named to the Maryland Daily Record’s list of Leading Women. Flip through the digital version of the issue here.

Justice advocate Monica Cooper talked about her life and advocacy and the ongoing challenges of making lasting change in Baltimore’s justice system in a wide-ranging interview with Adam Bednar for the Maryland Daily Record. Cooper is executive director of the Maryland Justice Project, an OSI-Baltimore grantee focused on decriminalization, decarceration, and advocating for the rights […]

The People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland, a coalition of organizations that OSI convened to identify areas of the criminal code in which behaviors that pose no threat to public safety are criminalized in a way that targets people based on their race, gender, disability or socio-economic status, has published an outline of policy recommendations in […]