Agenda Item # 3 Capitol Region Council of Governments 241 Main St., Hartford, CT 06106 Phone: (860) 522-2217 FAX: (860) 724-1274 FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Office, 241 Main Street, 4th Floor, Hartford April 28, 2015 10:00 a.m. Board of Directors Chip Beckett Bill Austin Richard Hines Dave Kilbon Doug Fisher Lyle Wray Marcia Leclerc Guests and Staff Tom Phillips Jim Boucher Hedy Ayers Maureen Barton Mary Ellen Kowalewski Tom Zemetis Sandy Fry John Shemo (by phone) Capital Workforce Partners Capital Workforce Partners GHTD MetroHartford Alliance Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m. Since there was not a quorum present, there was no vote to adopt minutes or to elect Directors. Dr. Beckett, who chaired the meeting in Senator Cassano s absence, stated that the intention of the Director s election item was to appoint Mary Glassman to the Board of Directors. Board Recruitment Update Dr. Wray stated that we need to do more recruiting, and he would specifically like to reach out to higher education, both public and private. Mr. Hines suggested reaching out to private universities with money, like Wesleyan or Yale. Dr. Wray said it would be unlikely to get a university president on the board, but it might be good to start by meeting with the president. Dr. Wray said we could ask Sen. Cassano to help us set up a meeting with the president of UCONN. Ms. Ayers said some of the names that had previously been suggested for Foundation Directors include Elliot Joseph, Joe Brennan and Martin Geitz. Ms. Ayers also stated that it was suggested to add new
April 28, 2015 Foundation Meeting, Page 2 representatives from our new towns. Dr. Beckett said we should also reach out to the community colleges and trade schools, and suggested Gena Glickman, President of Manchester Community College. Dr. Wray said he would like to add new town representatives sooner rather than later. A question was raised about how many people we want on the board, and to consider that expansion may affect our ability to convene a quorum. A member stated that we need to know our plan before we start talking to new potential board members we need to be able to tell them what we are trying to achieve. Mr. Hines suggested hosting an event, invite folks and see who steps up. Dr. Wray stated that we could host an invitation lunch on a particular topic. It would be worthwhile to reach out to the Board of Regents for Higher Education; perhaps Dr. Wray could speak at one of their meetings. We could have the chair write to the new towns and ask them to send someone, and invite all the parties we are interested in to the Foundation s Annual Meeting. Revisiting the Role of the Foundation Dr. Wray said that has been focused on going where the money is, and has not been successful at raising money for the Foundation. We have no staff dedicated to the Foundation. is best when acting a convener. We can also write op-eds, host keynote events and help stir things up so issues are raised. We will continue to seek additional money, although they are running into issues with contacts at places like the Ford Foundation and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. We can do a lot simply by bringing people together. Mr. Kilbon asked if we had a connection at the New Britain Foundation. Dr. Wray said they have a very narrow focus. Dr. Wray did share that he and Ms. Kowalewski are working on a grant application, but they need to work at developing relationships with private foundations with substantial resources. Chief Austin stated that the Foundation could be a home for funding and we should let suborganizations know this is available. Dr. Wray said that there is a new Undersecretary for Intergovernmental Relations at OPM, Scott Jackson, who is very knowledgeable. Presentation: Internship Programs in the Region: Why They Matter, Existing Programs and Emerging Opportunities Mr. Phillips and Mr. Boucher from Capital Workforce Partners (CWP) presented on internship programs in the region. Everyone is aware of the demographic problems facing the state, and we ve also identified occupational growth clusters and employer needs. The Hartford Foundation, building on the work of, CWP and others, has worked on an internship program, the Hartford Student Internship Plan, to develop human capital. This is a program that matches Hartford students with internships, and was driven by the business community. Hartford is demographically younger than the rest of the state by 10 years, and business recognizes that Hartford is an important part of regional growth. They have partnership agreements with Hartford Public Schools, CWP, City of Hartford, MetroHartford Alliance, and CBIA. They have a lofty goal, to have 60% of Hartford students participating, with internships that are aligned to student capstones, senior projects and graduation. They are supporting both college and career readiness competencies.
April 28, 2015 Foundation Meeting, Page 3 Another program is the Hartford College & Career Competency (HCCRC) Partnerships, which is the result of a number of initiatives aimed at increasing the number of Hartford students who are college and career ready. They also have a number of partnerships. In New Britain, there is an internship program called the New Britain Academy of Health Professions. This is an employer-driven program and has the support of the Mayor, the Chamber of Commerce and other New Britain leaders. It is focused on college and health career preparation, and has great outcomes. Parents are plugged into this and they are turning students away due to high demand. As schools are specializing, they are aligning with employers related to those specialties. Another program is the Alternative Career Pathways program, which deals with students who are too short of credits to graduate but too old to remain in high school. There are a number of longerterm opportunities focused on aligning internships with higher education, early college, PTECH, P20-WIN and WIOA. The New England Knowledge Corridor has a goal to connect secondary school college and career readiness to the 41 post-secondary educational institutions in the New England Knowledge Corridor. There has been a paradigm shift instead of trying to be good corporate citizens and help poor, urban kids, now the focus is on investing in our future workforce and talent needs. If this is something the Foundation is interested in, they can identify a number of possible partners. Mentoring and Entrepreneurship Update John Shemo, via conference call, offered some brief comments on what s happening with entrepreneurship and mentoring in the region. Using growth loan funds, MHA hired a consultant to figure out the best ways to support businesses, particularly entrepreneur businesses and start-ups. They elected to focus on start-ups, and will move into 2 nd stage entrepreneurship over time. They have put together a committee and have three paths a website, a body of mentors, and a space to host activities. This is a regional effort. They have partnered with reset, which is a social entrepreneur accelerator, to work on marketing the region as a great place to start and grow a business. The website will be launched in July, it will be curated and they will be employing someone to do that. It won t take the place of mentor meetings, though. They have a large body of mentors available to support start-ups. In interviews and in focus groups, MHA has talked to entrepreneurs and found that while they all thought capital was important, they thought access to mentors was as or more important. They will be expanding reset s body of mentors, as well as expanding beyond their social enterprise activities. A kickoff campaign will begin on May 7, they will be seeking potential mentors, show them what it s like, although there will be a screening process for all mentors. MHA has also identified a space where they can host mentors and clients and run accelerator programs, which is on the corner of Park and Bartholomew. Thanks to a DECD grant, they will build a media lab, a café, co-working space, and small private offices for startups. Mr. Fisher asked if the mentors were all volunteers, Mr. Shemo answered that they will be, except for Eric Knight, who is the entrepreneur in residence. They are also hoping to support Axis 901, a co-working space in Manchester. Non-profit groups or community groups have to take the lead with this.
April 28, 2015 Foundation Meeting, Page 4 Evergreen Initiative Presentation Recap Mr. Phillips pointed out some of the highlights of the presentation Ted Howard gave regarding the Evergreen Initiative. While he was here, Mr. Howard met with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and met with some people from the State about community wealth building. The Evergreen Initiative was driven by business leaders in Cleveland, who used the purchasing leverage of anchor institutions to keep wealth local. Mr. Howard provided a number of strategies to pursue this kind of effort. This work requires leadership and a focus on greater community impact. They are making the supply chain more local. The folks involved researched the purchasing requirements of the anchor institutions, and with capital from the Cleveland Foundation, set up a cooperative business model, where the profit goes back into the business. The things to consider when undertaking this are how it will benefit people in the system, and who will lead. Dr. Wray said that economic development in this region is so focused on big real estate deals; this is kind of an opposite approach. The Ford Foundation has a major equitable development initiative. Johns Hopkins is also involved in related work and the current COG director in Baltimore could be a possible speaker on this topic. If this is something that the Foundation wants to pursue, there are a number of models. could convene people and stir the pot, but this is largely led by the private sector. There was a general consensus that the members were interested. It was suggested that we pull together a memo to help lead future discussions. Mr. Fisher stated it s not really a new idea, we d have to appeal to altruistic impulses but also show them the business models. These anchor institutions are under incredible cost pressure. This is classic community development, but it has to benefit the anchor institutions as well. Regional Bike Share Update Dr. Wray asked Ms. Fry to speak about this. There are a variety of ways to make rapid transit work. One way is to include bike sharing, which expands the reach of transit. They did a feasibility study on the potential for bike sharing. The best potential for this exists in Hartford and New Britain, so they would like to pilot in these areas. Some of the things holding bike sharing back are poor infrastructure and limited knowledge of biking. They have determined that the best model would be to have one bike sharing system throughout the state. The DOT is on board with that idea. The current models are typically that one would purchase a bike share membership, but Philadelphia has implemented a pay-as-you-go system to work for low income individuals. They haven t settled on the technology, but this allows them to take advantage of rapid technology change, which brings costs down. They will need the initial capital for the pilot and money for ongoing applications. This would be an enhancement to the region. Mayor Leclerc said perhaps we could also think about bus shelters and sidewalks. It might be possible to get subsidization from healthcare or insurance industries. In Brazil, a monthly transit pass includes bike sharing. It s a complement to transit. There is some municipal liability, but it depends on how you set it up. Grant Updates Dr. Wray stated that he and Ms. Kowalewski are working on a grant proposal to the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to identify best practices in engaging anchor institutions and neighborhoods to build corridors of opportunity.
April 28, 2015 Foundation Meeting, Page 5 Annual Meeting Planning Discussion The Annual Meeting will be held in June. We will send out a Doodle Poll to identify dates. Upcoming Events Nothing reported. Other Business Nothing reported. Adjournment With no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:56 a.m.