For millions of people around the globe, the 2010 World Cup provided not only an exciting month-long sports competition, but also a first-hand look at the host country. Recognizing that, the Mott Foundation decided to show a side of South Africa not generally seen by sports fans and casual travelers. The Foundation invited a group of grantees in South Africa to write brief essays about their work in the nonprofit sector and to share what they see as the challenges and hopes for their country.

While each of the 18 essay we received was written as an individual piece, together these works comprise a collection of diverse and rich voices; they are a colorful tapestry of expressions about what excites, frustrates and inspires NGO leaders to continue their quest to create a just and equitable civil society in South Africa.

In addition, each writer was asked to share a “beloved places” – an area of their homeland that holds special meaning for them – and what resulted was a fascinating mix of off-the-beaten-path sights that are sure to inspire the armchair traveler.

We invite you now to browse through the essay collection and the meaningful destinations, or “sit a spell” and read them all. We think you’ll find them interesting, enlightening and entertaining.

About the writers

Those who agreed to participate in this Mott project are diverse in age, race, gender, geographic location and field of interests, such as education, philanthropy, gender issues, human rights, and others. Some are seasoned NGO professionals who fought in the anti-apartheid struggle while others are closer to the beginning of their careers. All, except three, are Mott grantees based in South Africa. Two of the exceptions are Mott staff – one lives in London (Shannon Lawder) and the other in Johannesburg (Vuyiswa Sidzumo). The third exception is a former director of Mott’s South Africa office (Christa Kuljian) and a longtime Johannesburg resident.

We hope these writings do for you what the World Cup games did for millions of people on and off the field: They energized and challenged them – and also provided discussion fodder for days to come.
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Y. Obenewa Amponsah,
Director of International Partnerships
Steve Biko Foundation

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Amanda Blankfield,
Marketing Manager
MaAfrika Tikkun 

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                                               Saeanna Chingamuka,
Gender and Media Diversity Center Officer
Gender Links

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Amanda Cooper,
Exhibition Coordinator
Cape Town Holocaust Center

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Christine Delport,
Chief Operating Officer 
Greater Rustenburg Community Foundation

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Bernie Dolley,
Director
Ikhala Trust

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Ela Gandhi,
Executive Director
Satyagraha

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Jenny Hodgson,
Director
Global Fund for Community Foundations

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.Read Blog entry
Sue Howell,
Executive Director
WHEAT Trust

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Christa Kuljian,
Ruth First Fellow
University of the Witwatersrand

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Fr. Michael Lapsley, SSM
Director
Institute for Healing of Memories 

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Shannon Lawder,
Civil Society Program Director
C.S. Mott Foundation

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Oshadi Mangena,
Executive Director
Pitseng Trust

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Sibongile (Bongi) Mkhabela,
Chief Executive Officer
Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund

.Read bio
.Read Blog entry 

  Chris Mkhize,
Chief Executive Officer
Uthungulu Community Foundation

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.Read Blog entry
Anthony Prangley,
Manager 
Gordon Institute of Business Science

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.Read Blog entry
Vuyiswa Sidzumo,
Director - South Africa Office 
C.S. Mott Foundation

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.Read Blog entry Ingrid Srinath
Secetary General
CIVICUS

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.Read Blog entry Dylan Edwards
Research and Evaluation
Greater Good South Africa

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Through our Civil Society program, Mott supports efforts to build and strengthen philanthropy and the nonprofit sector in the U.S., and on a limited basis, around the globe. The U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) is one example of a Mott grantee’s efforts in this area.

In this edited Q&A, BPP Executive Director Andy Carey discusses the organization’s overall work and some broader border-region issues with Mott Communication Officer Maggie Jaruzel Potter. Click here to read a Mott companion article about BPP’s work.
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Mott: Funding for the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) stems from the Mott Foundation’s interest in strengthening the civil society sector. How does BPP help do this?


BPP Executive Director Andy Carey Carey (AC): BPP staff shares with our members – all along the border – important access to information and resources that are relevant to the region and provides professional and organizational developmental opportunities for individuals and their institutions.

We are helping our members strengthen their own capacity to deliver services. At our annual meeting this year, we brought in a fundraising school and later we brought in some top-notch presenters and consultants to help our members in resource and leadership development. We were able to provide important knowledge and resources to staff leaders, as well as board leaders, throughout the whole border region.

Mott: How have challenge grants been used at BPP? [A challenge grant is when an outside funder challenges an organization to raise a certain amount of money. If the organization meets the challenge, the money is then matched by the funder on a percentage basis, such as 1-to-1 or 2-to-1.]

AC: In BPP’s first seven years, there were direct grants that were channeled to community foundations, and many of them had challenge components. The critical impact of those grants was to encourage an impulse in local giving where we might not have seen too much local giving before.

I think this has been a powerful lesson – that challenge grants are an effective tool to increase the charitable impulse in a local community. Challenge grants should be considered in the future by funding agencies looking to invest in community foundations.

Mott: Why should issues affecting the U.S.-Mexico border region be of interest to people living in the interiors of both countries?

AC: There is some compelling information about migration patterns in the border region. For example, the typical immigrant to the U.S. is spending six months in the border region – coming across, living there while figuring out a plan and eventually either returning to Mexico or migrating to another area of the U.S.

The border region has had to try to figure out how to deal with the influx of people, as well as the challenges – and that is true on both sides. I don’t just mean somebody who comes across to live in San Diego. I mean somebody from deep in the interior of Mexico who comes up and spends time in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

"We have an obligation to educate policymakers about the value that philanthropy brings to Mexico. We need to work to increase the government’s awareness, ... the public’s awareness, about the impact and the role that philanthropy and philanthropic institutions have in the community."Take, for example, the community foundation in Indianapolis. It could learn a lot from the U.S-Mexico border region because the population of Mexican immigrants is growing throughout the U.S. Right now, many community foundations are not representing their whole community, so this gives them an opportunity to engage these Mexican communities living amongst them. A U.S. community foundation could develop a relationship with a sister community foundation in Mexico and start a relationship so new residents [to the U.S. from Mexico] could have a vehicle to support the local community foundation’s efforts and also have a relationship with a community foundation back home.

Mott: How well do elected officials and the general public located in the border region understand the role of philanthropy?

AC: We have an obligation to educate policymakers about the value that philanthropy brings to Mexico. We need to work to increase the government’s awareness, and also the public’s awareness, about the impact and the role that philanthropy and philanthropic institutions have in the community.

This is where an issue of trust is involved. In the border region, there inherently is a misunderstanding about whose role and responsibility it is to address problems, especially when there is so much that needs to be done. It is impossible for the government to resolve the social issues all on its own. They don’t have the manpower and they don’t have the resources. They simply can’t do it all. So there needs to be a continued campaign to raise the social consciousness and to provide new vehicles for these issues to be addressed, such as philanthropic institutions.

People like to support institutions they know, so part of our role is to educate the public about the role of civil society and help BPP members tell a better story about what they are doing so they can continue to build trust at the local level. We want to focus on creating a partnership between civil society and the government to address the huge needs that exist in the country. I think we are really going to see some growth in partnerships there.

By MAGGIE JARUZEL POTTER

People from many different backgrounds and professions are partnering together to improve the quality of life for residents living on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, says Andy Carey. He is executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP), a Mott grantee. Along with BPP’s other leaders, Carey has cast a vision to see its membership become truly representative of the area’s broader civil society sector because, he says, “It is going to take all of us working together to truly transform life in the U.S.-Mexico border region.” 

Below are articles, reports and a Q&A that describe some of these initiatives.
[May 6, 2010]
U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership: addressing challenges, embracing opportunities 

After years of incubation with a New York-based nonprofit organization, the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) became an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) in 2008. Since that time, BPP has strengthened its efforts to develop bi-national philanthropic partnerships in the region as a way to improve the quality of life for residents on both sides of the border.
 

[May 6, 2010]
Mott Foundation Q & A with Andy Carey, BPP’s executive director

BPP helps its members strengthen their own capacity so they can deliver the best services possible to residents in the U.S.-Mexico border region, says Carey. In addition to sharing his views about the benefits of BPP membership, Carey talks about the value of challenge grants, why people living in the interiors of the U.S. and Mexico should care about what happens in the border region, the current understanding of philanthropic giving in Mexico and other topics.  



ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
 
[February, 2010]
Beyond Borders: Observations for US organizations considering nonprofit incorporation in Mexico 

This report includes an overview of the Mexican nonprofit incorporation process and is based on BPP’s own experiences and observations as it moved toward incorporating and operating as a binational organization. 



[October 2009]
Debunking Myths: The US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership’s Quality of Life Indicators Project 

This report explores four common beliefs about the border region – and proves them false based on surveys conducted with residents. 



[April 2008]
Building the Financial Vitality of Border Families 

This report discusses how to use Family Economic Success (FES) initiatives as tools to address poverty. It is based on the experiences of seven U.S.-based community foundation in the border region that are BPP members. 




[August 2008]
The Balancing Act: The Roles of a Community foundation 

A series of three monographs authored by Mott Foundation Consultant Dorothy 'Dottie' Reynolds, these publications explore the core functions of a community foundation as a grantmaker, a vehicle for local philanthropy and a community leader. The Balancing Act has been translated into three additional languages, including Spanish.           

                             

By MAGGIE JARUZEL POTTER

Dotting the length of the U.S.-Mexico border – from San Diego/Tijuana to Brownsville (Texas)/Matamoros – are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) addressing community challenges and embracing opportunities to improve the region.

Many of the groups are familiar to Andy Carey, executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP).

“We are often bombarded with negative stories and images in the border region, so our commitment is to tell a different story and to help our members do a better job of telling their stories,” Carey said.


Andy CareyWhen BPP was created in 2002, its funding came from a donor collaborative of nine foundations including the Annie E. Casey, Ford, Inter-American, W.K. Kellogg and Mott foundations.

BPP began as a project of the Synergos Institute but is now independent. Its overall goal is to expand philanthropy in the region, and use its funds to improve life for border residents. To date, Mott has provided $412,000 to support BPP’s work.

New members – in the U.S. and Fundacion del Empresariado Chihuahunse (FECHAC) in Mexico – have broadened BPP’s base of support, enabling the organization to help develop binational philanthropic partnerships. Together with its member organizations, BPP has leveraged more than $20 million from local, national and international sources to support community programs and strengthen institutions based in the border region, Carey said.

By supporting local organizations, he says, BPP is also strengthening community leaders who raise funds to address “more robust areas of need” in their communities.

As BPP’s leader, Carey keeps busy building the organization’s membership, which has expanded from 18 members – all of which were community foundations and other philanthropic institutions – when he arrived in 2008 to 45 today. Members now include private, public and family foundations; U.S. and Mexican representation from local, state and national governments; NGOs serving border communities; academic institutions; individuals; and corporations.

“The vision we cast for BPP is that the membership really will be representative of all civil society,” Carey said, “because it is going to take all of us working together to truly transform life in the U.S./Mexico border region.”


This micro-entrepreneur receives loans from Los Niños de Baja California to maintain his cobbling/tailoring business in Tijuana. Most recently, the region has been in the media spotlight of both countries after Arizona’s Governor signed into law a controversial immigration enforcement bill in late April 2010. But for the past few years the media has continually reported on the region’s struggles with high rates of violence, illegal drugs, poverty, unemployment, foreclosure rates and health risks – all of which have worsened during the current global economic crisis.

It is unusual for media members to highlight what local NGOs are doing to address these and other challenges, Carey says.

The area includes four states in the U.S. – California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas – and six in Mexico – Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leno and Tamaulipas. The region is important – economically and politically – not only to residents of border states but also to those living in the interior of Mexico and the U.S., he says.

“It is a huge source of transnational life, bilateral relations and commerce between two nations.”

Consequently, BPP offers data, research and general information about the daily realities of border life. One recent example is the San Diego-based organization’s study, Debunking Myths: The U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership’s Quality of Life Indicators Project.

Conducted by top academic researchers who work in border states and released in fall 2009, the report was the first installment of a multiyear research initiative that aims to provide a data-driven analysis of quality of life in the region. The study was funded by BPP’s supporters and the Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s work in the region.

Using data collected over several years, the report explores common myths and paints a more accurate picture of the border region from a binational, civil society perspective, Carey says.

For example, one myth is that border communities are primarily populated with undocumented immigrants eager to cross the border into the U.S. Yet, resident surveys found the average stay in the area ranges from 15.3 years in the San Luis/Somerton area (Yuma County, Arizona) to 30.3 years in Mexicali (capital of Baja California).

The study also dispelled a myth about the entire border region being an inhospitable place to live, Carey says. When residents were asked to rate how satisfied they were with living in their specific locations, the average ranking was between 6.9 and 8.0 on a 9.0 scale.

One of those who sees positive things happening in the area in which she lives is Maria Auxiliadora Quinones. She has experienced firsthand how the work of NGOs is improving the quality of life for families in Sonora, Mexico.


Maria Auxiliadora Quinones and her daughtersAs the mother of two daughters, one of whom has Down syndrome, Quinones volunteers with the Association of Mothers of Children with Down syndrome. The grassroots group provides direct services for children with the genetic condition, advocates for educational opportunities for them and offers support services to families.

Through the association, Quinones was invited to participate in a daylong NGO training session sponsored by a BPP member, the Fundación Empresariado Sonorense A.C. (a foundation of business and industry leaders from the state of Sonora). Presenters discussed management styles, communication skills and team-building exercises.

For Quinones, it was beneficial to interact with, and learn from, NGO leaders from larger and more established organizations than her own. But she said it also was valuable to simply look around the room to see the variety of NGOs represented.

“One of the most important things I learned was that quality of life is a shared thing in communities,” Quinones said. “It is everyone’s responsibility to participate in our communities to make things better.”

Carey shares her desire to encourage as many people as possible to help improve their communities, particularly those in the border region – something Carey was doing long before he joined BPP two years ago. Previously, he served 15 years at Kiwanis International, a global service club. Fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English, he was responsible for growth and development initiatives in the Americas, in addition to Africa, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific.

Carey’s work also included mobilizing volunteers and developing fundraising strategies, especially in the U.S.-Mexico border region. He was pleased to discover that BPP’s work allows him to interact with people he had known from his Kiwanian days.

While seeing familiar faces is heartwarming, Carey says, meeting new people who are working to improve the region is equally as satisfying. Most recently, these fresh faces have included those from the Frontera Asset Building Network (FABN), one of BPP’s newest members. The network includes about 80 leaders representing 50 organizations that help families living along the southwest border of the U.S. increase their income and build assets – such as buying a house, getting an education or starting a business.

These organizations, along with many long-standing BPP member organizations, use Family Economic Success programs to help families and communities increase their resiliency to economic changes so they can get ahead. These programs include earned income tax credits and individual development accounts (IDAs); the latter provide savings account matches as incentives to low-income families so they can acquire major assets.

These shared priorities make the FABN an organization that complements BPP’s work, Carey says.

“FABN’s membership is a huge sign of support for the work we are doing to strengthen the capacity of organizations working in the border region.” he said.

As prevalent as poverty is, it is not the only serious issue facing border residents. Security, as international headlines have shown, is another, Carey says.

When the U.S. Department of Homeland Security suggested a listening tour through the border region – a series of meetings for leaders to hear local concerns – BPP was instrumental in helping ensure there were diverse voices. Carey says the talks would not have been as effective if the group was made up of only the law enforcement community, local government and border patrol employees.

“BPP was able to bring people from the diplomatic core, people from the academic institutions, people from the not-for-profits, as well as leading business leaders,” he said. “Homeland Security saw that we need to be a partner of theirs because we can bring in the people – either because we know them personally or because our members know them.”

Carey paused, then added: “We were able to deliver and, hopefully, Homeland Security and others are now seeing BPP and its members as part of the answer for the border region.”
 
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCE

Read a Mott Foundation Q & A with Andy Carey, BPP’s executive director

By MAGGIE JARUZEL POTTER

In this audio interview, Mott Program Officer Vera Dakova speaks with Tom Sumner, host of Flinttalkradio.com. Dakova oversees the Foundation’s grantmaking in Poland and discusses the April 10, 2010 plane crash that killed 96 people, most of whom were Polish leaders, including the president and his wife. She talks about how the loss might affect the country and its civil society sector.


Vera DakovaThe plane’s passengers were en route to a memorial marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre in Russia. In addition to the Polish president, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, others killed included: the chief of the Polish General Staff and other senior Polish military officers; the president of the National Bank of Poland; Poland's deputy foreign minister; Polish government officials; 12 members of the Polish parliament, including vice-speakers; senior members of the Polish clergy; and relatives of victims of the Katyn massacre. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Read an article about the growth of community foundations that encourage philanthropic self-sufficiency in Poland, which is featured in the online version of Mott’s 2007 Annual Report.
• Read an article from the April 2006 issue of Mott Mosaic about non-govermental organizations (NGOs) in Poland that strengthen democracy. The article features the work of a national network of NGOs in Poland.  
• Read an article about donors forums in Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Featured in the April 2005 issue of Mott Mosaic, the article is an overview of membership organizations that provide platforms for donors to exchange ideas, develop field standards and share best practices.