Archive

Patrick Gaspard, the president of Open Society Foundations and former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, has made multiple media appearances over the past week to discuss the impact of President Trump’s racist and derogatory comments aimed at immigrants and the countries they left. On MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” (starting at the 1:10 mark), Gaspard, who is Haitian-American, […]

The application for Open Society Institute-Baltimore’s 2018 cohort of Community Fellows is now available. Complete the online application or download it here.  Applications are due by 5:00pm on Monday, March 5, 2018. Learn more about the Community Fellowships program, the 2017 cohort of Community Fellows, or see a list of all past Fellows. For those applying using […]

In response to allegations that the bail-bonds industry has illegally bribed Maryland lawmakers, the Coalition for a Safe and Justice Maryland held a press conference in Annapolis today urging legislators not to accept donations from the industry, to return 2017 donations, and to reject any legislation put forward or promoted by the industry. (Read the Sun’s […]

Recently, OSI grantee, Behavioral Health System Baltimore (BHSB) has been working with Maryland Public Television on a digital television series that features the OSI-funded Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. This three-part series will be released over the next several weeks. Part one is on MTP’s website now. BHSB also highlighted the work of Baltimore Police […]

Recently, 2013 OSI Community Fellow Lanaea Featherstone announced that her foundation, The William & Lanaea C. Featherstone Foundation along with the Consular Section of the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C. will debut the Featherstone College Scholarships, an innovative $20,000 fund designated to increase Baltimore’s Latino enrollment and promote higher education. Ten Latinx students will […]

Do you know an awesome Baltimore City Public Schools Principal? Nominate them for the Heart of the School Awards. It only takes a few minutes. The Heart of the School Awards, managed by OSI grantee Fund for Educational Excellence in collaboration with Baltimore City Public Schools, is a community-wide celebration of the dedication, innovation, and leadership of the […]

In 1998, Open Society Foundations (OSF) officially opened its first–and still only–U.S. field office, Open Society Institute-Baltimore. Throughout 2018, we’ll use the logo above to mark this momentous year and host events and discussions about our history, our present, and our future (click here to receive updates). Twenty years ago, the idea was to hire a […]

WYPR’s On the Record recently wrapped up its profiles of the 2017 Community Fellows cohort with segments on Eric Jackson, Jackie Bello, and Alex Long. Eric Jackson, working through the Black Yield Institute, is creating the “Building Black Land and Food Sovereignty Practice” in the Cherry Hill and Poppleton neighborhoods. He’ll organize community-driven cooperative food ventures […]

It has been a remarkable 2017 for Baltimore and for Open Society Institute-Baltimore. Some highlights: *  In January, the U.S. Department of Justice and the City of Baltimore agreed on a consent decree requiring reforms of the Baltimore Police Department (read OSI’s statement). OSI and its grantees played a pivotal role in the process, ensuring that community voices were heard and hosting public meetings with Department of Justice officials. * […]

WYPR’s On the Record with Sheilah Kast continued its series of profiles of OSI’s 2017 cohort of Community Fellows with segments yesterday on Shantell Roberts, founder of Touching Young Lives, and Asar Daniels, who a farmer based in Sandtown who will use his Fellowship to expand the Greater Mondawmin Empowerment Project. You can find links […]