MEETING OF THE BRADLEY IRA COMMITTEE Tuesday, February 23, 2016, 8:45 am. Rader Conference Room Agenda Meeting of the Bradley IRA Committee The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation February 23, 2016, 8:45 Rader Conference Room Tab SECTION 1 GENERAL BUSINESS 1. Minutes of the meeting of the Bradley IRA Committee, November 10, 2015 2. 2016 Bradley IRA sector budget and February recommendations Last SECTION 2 RECOMMENDATIONS 2016 award A. Education 3. Schools That Can Milwaukee 125K 125K 4. Seton Education Partners 300K 300K 5. Teach for America 150K 150K B. Employee rights 6. Report on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association and recommendations A. Center for Individual Rights 100K 75K B. Freedom Foundation 500K yrs. 7. Independence Institute (Education Labor Project) 60K 50K 8. Mackinac Center for Public Policy (general operations) 75K 75K 9 Nevada Policy Research Institute 25K -- C. Foreign policy national security 10. International Center for Religion Diplomacy 50K D. Religious freedom 11. Center for Public Justice (Institutional Religious 25K 25K Freedom Alliance) 12. Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund 100K 100K 13. Open Doors USA 50K 50K E. New opportunities 14. Report and recommendation: Work First Foundation 350K 300K (Secretaries? Innovation Group) 15. Center for Opportunity Urbanism 50K .. [Last 2 RECOMMENDATIONS cont?d] [2016] award] (E. New opportunities cont?d) 16. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget 100K 150K 17. Crime Prevention Research Center 50K -- 18. Donors Trust (Talent Market) 50K 30K 19. Ethics and Public Policy Center (welfare-state project) 85K 100K 20. Federalist Society for Law Public Policy Studies 200K 200K (Article project) 21. Foundation for Government Accountability 350K 350K 22. Illinois Policy Institute 150K 150K 23. John W. Pope Civitas Institute (Center for Law 50K 60K and Freedom) 24. Mackinac Center for Public Policy (mobile-app project) 100K 100K 25. National Review Institute 150K 100K F. Recommended declinations 26. Recommended Bradley IRA sector declinations SECTION 1 GENERAL BUSINESS Minutes of the meeting of the Bradley IRA Committee, November 10, 2015 A meeting of the Bradley ?Ideas-to?Results Account" (IRA) Committee of The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc., was held on Tuesday, November 10, 2015, in the Rader Conference Room of The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc. The following Directors participated: Michael W. Grebe, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation and Chairman of the Committee; Dennis J. Kuester, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Directors; David V. Uihlein, Vice Chairman of the Board; Cleta Mitchell; Terry Considine; Patrick J. English; and George F. Will. Directors Robert P. George, Diane M. Hendricks, and James Arthur Pope participated by telephone. Director Richard W. Graber?s absence was excused. Victor Davis Hanson was present. Foundation staff members Daniel P. Schmidt, Jessica F. Dean, Michael E. Hartmann, and Dionne M. King also participated. Committee Chairman Grebe called the meeting to order at 8:45 am, and the Committee approved the minutes of its meeting on August 18, 2015. At Chairman Grebe?s request, Mr. Schmidt updated the Committee on the IRA sector's budget situation this year and as estimated for 2016. The Committee considered and decided to recommend all of the grants listed below, by component, to the full Board during its meeting later that same morning. Education Accelerate Institute 75,000 Independence Institute 100,000 Partnership for Educational Justice 200,000 Employee rights Center for Union Facts 125,000 National Legal and Policy Center 25,000 National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation 100,000 StudentsFirst Institute 100,000 Foreign policy 8. national security Ethics and Public Policy Center (John Hay Initiative) 25,000 German Marshall Fund of the United States 250,000 Hudson Institute (Rethinking America's Strategic Partnerships project) 150,000 USS Milwaukee Commissioning Committee 50,000 Religious freedom Becket Fund for Religious Liberty 225,000 Cato Institute (religious?freedom conference) 75,000 Freedom House 100,000 Institute for Global Engagement 100,000 New opportunities Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization 50,000 American Principles Project 100,000 Americans for Prosperity Foundation 275,000 (New opportunities con?td) America's Future Foundation 20,000 Ethics and Public Policy Center (conservatism project) 150,000 Ethics and Public Policy Center (film project) 75,000 Galen Institute 150,000 Gary Sinise Foundation 100,000 Good News Communications 250,000 Heritage Foundation 50,000 Network of Enlightened Women 25,000 Philanthropy Capital Research Center 40,000 During the Committee's consideration and discussion of the Ethics and Public Policy Center?s and Good News Communications film-related requests and recommendations, staff presented a brief overview of all of the Foundation?s film and film?related grantmaking. Director George did not vote on the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty recommendation or any of the Ethics and Public Policy Center recommendations. Director Mitchell did not vote on the Galen Institute recommendation. The Committee approved the list of recommended declinations presented by staff. The meeting then adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Daniel P. Schmidt 2016 Bradley IRA sector budget and February recommendations Budget and contemplated Total grants awarded if recommendations by component including February recommendations .5 of total contemplated of total budget for component El Education 740,000 9.6 575,000 77.7 I Employee rights 375,000 4.9 760,000 202.7 I Foreign policy 0 0.0 50,000 national security I Religious freedom 675,000 8 7 175,000 25.9 New opportunities 4,485,000 58.1 I 1,685,000 37.6 I Philanthropy 390,000 5.0 I 0 0.0 Total allocated 6, 665, 000 86.3 i El Unallocated 1,060,000 13.7 of total budget TOTAL BUDGET 7,725,000 100.0 TOTAL GRANTS AWARDED 3,245,000 42.0 CHART: 2016 Bradley IRA sector budget and February recommendations Education I Employee rights I Foreign policy national security I Religious freedom I New opportunities I Philanthropy Unallocated (As of 1/29) Budget and contemplated Total grants awarded if recommendations by component including February recommendations 9,000,000 - 8,000,000 - 7,000,000 - 6,000,000 - 5,000,000 - 4,000,000 - 3,000,000 - 2,000,000 - 1,000,000 - SECTION 2 RECOMMENDATIONS A. Education GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Schools That Can Milwaukee ADDRESS: 111 W. Pleasant Street, Suite 101 Milwaukee, WI 53212 CONTACT: Ms. Abby Andrietsch AMOUNT REQUESTED: Unspecified STAFF RECOMMENDATION: $125,000 PROJECT TITLE: To support general operations BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: Mike Hartmann MEETING DATE: 2/23/2016 PROPOSAL lD#: 20151022 BACKGROUND: Schools That Can Milwaukee (STCM) requests a grant award in renewed support of its general operations. Founded in 2010 by its executive director Abby Andrietsch and Kole Knueppel, STCM works to close the educational ?achievement gap? between the city?s poor, minority children and their better-off peers by increasing the number of high-quality educational options available to their parents -- be they traditional public district, charter, or private voucher schools. Education. Before starting STCM with Knueppel, Andrietsch was vice president for finance and administration at INCOVA Technologies, a subsidiary of HUSCO International. Before that, Abby was director of policy and programs at the Doris Donald Fisher Fund in San Francisco. She has also held positions with the Broad Foundation and Robert W. Baird Company. Knueppel left STCM last year and now directs the Center for Transformational Educational Leadership of the University of Notre Dame?s Alliance for Catholic STCM's board of directors is chaired by Fred Lautz of Quarrels Brady and includes Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, Garrett Bucks of Teach for Andrietsch America (TFA) in Milwaukee (about which see the subsequent recommendation on Schools That Can Milwaukee?s definition of ?high quality? Schools That Can Milwaukee says its current de?nition of "high quality" has three components -- academics, culture, and people. Academics To be considered ?high quality" by STCM, a K-B school must have: 1.) at least 50% of its students exceed the state average on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination; or 2.) numerically speci?ed, multi-year progress on the nonpro?t Northwest Evaluation Association?s Measures of Academic Performance assessment. A high school must have at least four-point growth per year for its cohort on the ACT Educational Planning and Assessment System test. Culture To be considered "high quality," a school must also have 93% attendance and 80% student retention per year People A school must pass a STCM's own ?Vital Behavior Assessment" (VBA) and have stable leadership. VBA is a diagnostic tool based on that which STCM considers the the best practices used by high-quality urban schools across the country. this section of these materials), Mary Kellner of the Kelben Foundation, Don Layden of Queries, community volunteer Linda Mellowes, Gus Ramirez of HUSCO, and Tim Sheehy of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce. After setting high expectations, setbacks STCM began with an explicit goal of ensuring that 20,000 students would be in that which it defines as ?high-quality? schools by 2020 (about which see to the left). As of now, Milwaukee is far short of that goal and the city is quite unlikely to achieve it, at least on that timeline (see the chart at the top of the next page). Achieving the 20,000-by-2020 goal has been greatly harmed by the great difficulties of Rocketship Education in meeting the expectations created by STCM itself. In large part at behest, and with Bradley support, the San Jose, Calif-based Rocketship expanded to Milwaukee a couple of years ago with the intention of opening a network of eight charter schools. it has opened one. During the 2014-15 academic year, STCM partnered with Education Cities -- a national network of 32 city-based education-reform organizations in 25 cities working to increase the number of quality schools across the country -- to explore ways in which could perhaps improve its performance. It also explored more closely partnering in fact, outright ?merging? -- with Estimated and anticipated numbers of students in Schools That Can Milwaukee high-quality member schools 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 '10-'11 '15-'16 '15-'16 if include '20-'21 with Original '20-'21 expansion growth plans goal campuses Milwaukee?s Bradley-supported Partners Advancing Values in Education (PAVE) organization, but that did not happen. The Walton Family Foundation?s withdrawal from education grantmaking in Milwaukee will also greatly adversely affect STCM. Walton largesse has been covering approximately 32% of annual budgets. In the wake of all of these setbacks, STCM and its board are in the early stages of revising its overall strategic plan, as part of which it is also reconsidering its definition of ?high quality.? In the meantime, persisting with ?pathways? The existing plan pursues three ?pathways,? in own parlance. Pathway 1 is to expand existing high?quality Milwaukee schools. Pathway 2" is to develop ?high-potential" schools into high-quality schools. Pathway 3 recruit talent and innovation to the city. Expanding existing high-quality member schools When STCM began in 2010, it had three member schools that it considered high quality. As reflected in the chart, these schools served about 1,600 students. It now has two more member schools.? The resulting five member schools, in the list at the top of the next page, currently serve a total of around 3,000. member schools are already operating expansion campuses that today serve another 2,200 students. Its members are executing aggressive five-year growth plans to serve more than 7,000 students by 2020. To its credit, STCM has not ?watered down? its definition of ?high-quality" to help it meet its 20,000 goal -- at least not to date. Developing high-potential partner schools Through intensive on-the-job coaching from veteran school leaders and collaborative professional development with leaders from across Milwaukee, STCM is trying to equip and support school leaders in its network of partner schools to strive for excellence. The 31 partner schools are also in the list. A third additional school, Atonement Lutheran, was also a member, but ?due to some signi?cant governance challenges and leadership turnover, STCM has quietly transitioned out of that partnership," STCM says. Schools That Can Milwaukee schools High-quality member schools (High-potential partner schools - cont?d) Bruce Guadalupe Community School Mt. Lebanon Lutheran School Carmen High School of Science Technology Nativity Jesuit Middle School Milwaukee College Preparatory School 36m Street Northwest Lutheran School Notre Dame Schools of Milwaukee - Middle School Notre Dame Schools of Milwaukee Primary School St. Marcus Lutheran School Main Campus Pilgrim Lutheran School High-potential partner schools Rocketship Southside Community Prep Sherman Park Lutheran School Carmen High School of Science Technology Siloah Lutheran School Northwest Campus Silver Spring School Clarke Street School St. Anthony Elementary School K-2 Dr. George Washington Carver Academy of Mathematics Science St. Anthony Elementary School 3-5 Gwen T. Jackson Elementary School St. Anthony Middle School HOPE Christian Schools Caritas St. Marcus Lutheran School North Campus St. Martini Lutheran School HOPE Christian Schools Fortis St, Rafael Archangel School HOPE Christian Schools Prima HOPE Christian Schools Semper Wedgewood Park International School HOPE High School James Fenimore Cooper School LUMIN Granville Lutheran Milwaukee College Preparatory School 38?? Street Milwaukee College Preparatory School Lloyd Street Milwaukee College Preparatory School Lola Rowe Nonh Milwaukee Collegiate Academy STCM supports more than 250 leaders at these schools in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, developing teachers, building school culture, and personal leadership. Recruiting talent and innovation recruitment activities include networking events to connect its school leaders with second TFA corps members and a Spring recruitment weekend that has brought 50 prospective leaders from around the country to visit the city and learn more about positions available here. It also runs an Emerging Leaders Program that gives teachers and assistant administrators a case of school leadership and a plan for personal and professional development. And STCM and Alverno College operate a rigorous principal-licensure program. Budget information: STCM's overall annual expense budget exceeds $2,300,000. In addition to that from Walton, it has received support from the Baird, and Ramirez Family Foundations, as well as BMO Harris Bank. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Bradley?s longtime program interest in education reform has relied upon a strategy of increasing educational options for parents to exert meaningful, market-based pressure on the larger public-education system from without to spur systemic reform of all education. By including a component for reform of district schools from within, strategy has thus always been in some tension with Bradley?s. Its other qualities, however, warranted investment. Its overselling and underperformance, however -- including on the 20,000 goal and Rocketship -- warrant continued close tracking of any continued investment. With that warrant, staff recommends another $125,000 general-operations grant to STCM. If awarded, this would be the same as least year's level of support for the same purpose. Schools That Can Milwaukee Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support general operations $125,000 2/24/2015 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/12/2013 Regular To support general operations $90,000 11/13/2012 Regular To support general operations $90,000 11/8/2011 Regular Grand Totals (4 items) $405,000 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Seton Education Partners ADDRESS: 1562 First Avenue #205-2219 New York, NY 10028-4004 CONTACT: Ms. Stephanie Saroki de Garcia AMOUNT REQUESTED: $400,000 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: $300,000 PROJECT TITLE: To support a blended learning technology model at Messmer?s St. Rose and St. Leo BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: Dan Schmidt MEETING DATE: 2/23/2016 PROPOSAL 20151002 BACKGROUND: Seton Education Partners (SEP) requests $400,000 in support of bringing its blended learning technology to Messmer Catholic Schools. SEP was launched in 2009 by KIPP Foundation co-founder Scott Hamilton and Teach for America alumna, and former Philanthropy K-12 education reform director Stephanie Saroki de Garcia. The organization's mission is to revive opportunities for disadvantaged children and through a blended learning-informed curriculum improve student achievement. In its five years of operation Seton has been successful in bringing its expertise on school organization, teaching training, and curriculum development to a number of urban schools around the country. In 2011 Seton established a blended learning model in San Francisco?s Mission District, the Mission Dolores Academy. In 2013 it replicated the Mission Dolores model in Seattle at St. Therese Academy in Seattle, and, from there proceeded to implement the Seton blended learning curriculum in urban schools in Philadelphia, New York City (South Bronx), Los Angeles, and Milwaukee (Nativity Jesuit School.) In its eight blended learning schools in the locations mentioned above, and, in future sites in Milwaukee, and Cincinnati, Seton Partners has two overall goals. They are, namely, to improve and increase student learning through small group, individualized and data driven instruction, and to reduce per pupil operating costs and improve operational efficiency by increasing enrollment and class size. Seton's blended learning schools? students currently are outpacing network average growth in reading. A total of 72% of Seton students met nationally normed reading and comprehension scores when compared to 64%. Likewise, in mathematics, Seton's students outpace growth by 5 percentage points, 78% to 73%. With funding support from Bradley and Walton Seton brought its model to Nativity Jesuit Middle School in Milwaukee. First year academic growth results were strong. A total of 63% of students met or exceeded their individual growth targets in reading on nationally normed tests, while 69% met or exceeded their targets in math compared to the national average of 50%. In terms of reducing costs and improving enrollment Seton at launch point at Nativity in 2014 projected that over a three year period its model would nearly quadruple the number of children enrolled at Nativity and reduce per pupil operating costs from $20,000 to below $6,000 within 6 years. In 2014 Nativity was serving 80 students, with enrollment at the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year doubling to 160. In response to a request from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and Messmer Catholic High School Seton has agreed to bring its model to St. Rose and St. Leo, Catholic Urban Academies. In the case of both schools reading proficiency in in the low teens and math is not much better. The schools have a goal of total proficiency by third grade. To that end the Academies have added learning support coordinators, a reading specialist, created extra writing and grammar blocks in the schedule and place emphasis on data ?driven instruction and professional development. To assess effectiveness, students will take on-line Measures of Academic Progress tests three times a year in reading and math. Teachers will use this data to adjust classroom teaching. Seton will hire a full-time blended learning manager who will work on site with the school leaders and teachers to implement an in-classroom rotation model maximizing small group instruction and increasing enrollment to 30 students per classroom/grade, as well as adding 6 new classes of 30 children each at the elementary level (2 classes of kindergarten, and one class each of first through fourth grades.) While Seton will provide the project management, training, and access to funding necessary to make this transformation occur, the Academies will focus on meeting enrollment goals in order to make the schools more financially viable. A grant of $400,000 is requested. BUDGET INFORMATION: Seton Partners is raising $750,000 for the first two years of a three year staged project. Year one would transform pre-K through second grades. Year two would transform third through fifth, and the third and final year would transform sixth through eighth. The revenue generated by increased enrollment will pay for the blended learning costs in year four and beyond. Past blended learning funders include The Cincinnati Accelerator Fund, which has just awarded $1.3 million to Seton to develop blended learning programs at two inner city schools in Cincinnati, the Calder, Cassin, the Laura and John Fisher, Gates, the Conrad Hilton, Hume, Peter and Carolyn and Schwab Foundations. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Scott Hamilton and Stephanie Saroki have been building blended learning programs at inner city schools since 2011. Both have wide experience in the reform area with a great deal of valuable experience in working with educational administrators and teachers in curriculum deveIOpment and the application of technology to the study of mathematics and reading at the elementary school level. Scott Hamilton, in particular, has accomplished a great deal in this area as he was responsible for designing the Knowledge as Power Program (KIPP) and implementing it in 140 of America?s inner city schools. In each of the cities Seton has been invited to work with inner city schools experiencing poor student performance in reading and mathematics at the elementary/middle school level, its blended learning program has made important gains in student test scores. premise that Seton?s approach to implementing a blended learning environment has helped reduce class size, increase face time with teachers, and cut operational costs. While only several years old Seton?s work at Nativity Jesuit Middle School, supported by Bradley in collaboration with the Walton Foundation, has already helped to raise students? mathematics and reading comprehension test scores. Progress is underway as well in increasing enrollment and pointing the way to cutting operational expenses. Messmer Academies, St. Rose and St. Leo, are in need of the curricular product Seton has to offer. Messmer has identified the Milwaukee-based blended learning manager, Mason Cook, who, along with Seton's Director of Blended Learning, Jeff Kerscher, will manage all blended learning training, curriculum content adjustments, and budget management. Cook was the key blended learning manager who led the turn-around at Nativity. A grant of $300,000 is recommended. Seton Education Partners Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support expansion in Milwaukee $300,000 6117/2014 Regular Grand Totals (1 item) $300,000 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Teach for America ADDRESS: 315 West 36th Street, Floor 7 New York, NY 10018 CONTACT: Mr. Garrett Bucks AMOUNT REQUESTED: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: PROJECT TITLE: BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: MEETING DATE: PROPOSAL $150,000 $150,000 To support the Milwaukee program Mike Hartmann 2/23/2016 20150997 BACKGROUND: Teach for America (TFA) in requests a $150,000 grant award in renewed support of its Milwaukee program. Part of the federally funded AmeriCorps program, TFA is trying to help build competitive education markets, by increasing the level and supply of good human capital in public, public charter, and a limited number of private voucher schools. The attention-getting TFA builds a national corps of recent college graduates, of all academic majors and career interests, who commit two years to teach in more than 1,000 schools in America?s lowest-income cities and regions. Since its founding in 1990, a total of 42,000+ people have joined TFA. Approximately 8,800 corps members teach per academic year. An estimated 520,000 students have been taught by TFA?ers. About 44% of TFA alumni remain in their initial placements for a third year, according to external research; about 60% overall teach for a third year. (Within five years, however, all but 15% have left their original placements.) In 2014, a major Mathematica Policy Research (MPR) study found that TFA corps members were as effective as their counterpart teachers in the same schools, who averaged 13.6 years of teaching experience, as measured by their students' test scores in reading and math. The study was required as part of a $50 million US. Department of Education grant that TFA received to help it recruit and place more corps members in the neediest schools. It examined 156 pre-K through fifth-grade teachers at 36 schools in 10 states. TFA?ers were compared with non-TFA teachers at the same school, in the same grade level, who covered the same subject. Specifically, MPR found that TFA corps members in pre-K through second grade "had a positive, statistically significant effect on student reading achievement of 0.12 standard deviations, or about 1.3 additional months of learning for the average student in these grades nationwide." However, for both math and reading, MPR "did not find statistically significant differences in either direction for other grade levels or for TFA teachers compared with either novice or traditionally certified teachers." According to TFA, its alumni become lifelong leaders for expanding educational opportunity. The KIPP charter-school network, for an example TFA often cites, was started by two alums. TFA?ers go through a five-week training ?institute," after which they are given varying levels of on-the?job support through the two-year teaching stint. In the face of much criticism, new leadership is continuing to explore options to change its internal philosophy about this training and support, as well as what it?s doing for its alumni beyond their corps-member service. In 2008, Bradley funded a TFA effort to recruit applicants on more college campuses and, as part of a then-new effort, college-age men and women within communities of faith. This support was of a piece with the Foundation's support at the time for similar human-capital development in the education-reform space at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute?s Midwest Education Talent Network, Wisconsin Lutheran College?s Center for Urban Teaching, Milwaukee?s HOPE Institute, and the University of Notre Dame?s Alliance for Catholic Education. TFA in Milwaukee In 2009, enticed by major support from the local Kern Family Foundation, TFA corps members began teaching in the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) system. The Kern support was combined with substantial support from the Walton Family Foundation, the withdrawal of which from Milwaukee education grantmaking will greatly adverse affect TFA's program in the city. Of the 24 schools being served by TFA during the 2009-10 academic year, four were unionized charter schools. No TFA members had taught in nonunionized charter schools authorized by local, non-MPS public entities -- the City of Milwaukee or the University of Wisconsin or in private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). Principally for this reason, Bradley initially declined to support TFA's work here. Subsequently, however, staff arranged for TFA to guarantee that any Foundation support of its Milwaukee program would fund only TFA corps members teaching in the city?s independent, non-MPS, nonunionized charter schools or private MPCP schools. During the 2015-16 academic year, 129 TFA members are teaching approximately 8,000 Milwaukee students in 57 schools across all sectors, as shown in the list on the next page. Forty?one percent of Milwaukee members work in MP3, 36% teach in charter schools, and 23% teach in MPCP schools. According to TFA, 78% of its Milwaukee-program alumni since '09 remain in schools somewhere today, as either teachers or leaders. Forty?five percent of these alumni remain in Milwaukee. The board of Milwaukee program is co-chaired by Jon Hammes of the Hammes Company and Paul Purcell of Baird. It includes Howard Fuller of Marquette University, Allen Leverett of We Energies, Cory Nettles of Generation Growth Capital, Austin Ramirez of HUSCO International, Tim Sheehy of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, and Peggy Troy of Children?s Hospital of Wisconsin. The TFA Milwaukee program?s executive director is Garrett Bucks. It works well with the Bradley-supported Schools That Can Milwaukee (about which see the previous recommendation in this section of these materials) on talent recruitment to the city. Budget information: The national most-recent overall annual expense total approached $260 million. The fiscal-year 2016 budget for its Milwaukee program in particular is $4,644,936. The average cost of one corps member per year is $20,000. In addition to the federal AmeriCorps funding, Milwaukee program has also been a seven-figure part of the state budget. private philanthropic support includes that from the Kern Family, Greater Milwaukee, and M&l Foundations. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Bradley?s education-reform grantmaking strategy always has included trying to help maintain or increase the level and quality of school supply -- in the forms of both physical and human capital -- to meet the demonstrated parental demand for good additional educational options beyond those offered by traditional public-district district schools. To this end, staff recommends another $150,000 grant award to TFA for corps members teaching in independent, non-MPS, nonunionized charter schools and private choice schools in Milwaukee. If awarded, this grant would equal the total level of support given in each of the last four years and would again help match Kern?s support. Milwaukee schools with Teach for America corps members Corps members Milwaukee Public Schools Academia de Lenguaje Bellas Artes Allen-Field Elementary School Alliance School of Milwaukee Audobon Middle School Bayview High School Bethune Academy Brown Street Academy Bruce School Carson Academy of Science Dr. George Washington Carver Academy of Mathematics Science Clarke Street School Doerfler Elementary Forest Home Avenue School Gaenslen School Goodrich Elementary James Madison Academic Campus La Escuela Fratney Lincoln Center of the Arts Longfellow School Milwaukee School of Languages Milwaukee Sign Language School Morgandale School Morse-Marshall School for the Gifted and Talented Pierce Elementary Pulaski High School Reagan High School Rogers Street Academy Rufus King Middle Years School of Technical Career Education South Division High School Trowbridge Elementary Vieau School Washington High School Total N?lh??L?l (goo?14.x 53 Corps members Charter schools Bruce Guadalupe Community School Carmen High School of Science Technology Carmen High School of Science 8. Technology Northwest Campus Hmong-American Peace Academy Milwaukee Academy of Science Milwaukee College Preparatory School 36?? Street Milwaukee College Preparatory School 38lh Street Milwaukee College Preparatory School Lloyd Street Milwaukee College Preparatory School Lola Rowe North Milwaukee Collegiate Academy Milwaukee Community Cyber High School Milwaukee Math and Science Academy Rocketship Southside Community Prep Tenor High School Urban Day School Windlake Academy Total Milwaukee Parental Choice Program schools Atlas Preparatory Academy Kansas Campus Destiny High School HOPE Christian Schools - Caritas HOPE Christian Schools - Fortis HOPE Christian Schools Prima HOPE Christian Schools Semper HOPE High School Learning Academy LUMIN - Granville Lutheran School St. Anthony Middle School St. Margaret Mary School Total 11 A 46 30 Teach for America Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support the Milwaukee program $150,000 61212015 Regular To support the Milwaukee program $150,000 412212014 Regular To support the Milwaukee program $150,000 212612013 Regular To support the Milwaukee program $75,000 1111312012 Regular To support the Milwaukee program $75,000 812112012 Regular To support the Milwaukee program $40,000 811612011 Regular To support the Milwaukee program $50,000 511112010 Regular To support expanded recruitment efforts $25,000 61312008 Regular To support general operations $25,000 812112007 Regular To support general program activities $15,000 412211996 Regular Grand Totals (10 items) $755,000 Page 1 of 1 B. Employee rights Report on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association and recommendations Under current labor-relations law, in an ?agency shop,? an employer may hire union or non-union employees, and employees need not join the union in order to remain employed. Any non-union worker, however, can be forced to pay an "agency-shop? fee to cover the union?s collective-bargaining costs, as a condition of employment. Where agency shops are illegal, as is common in labor law governing American public-sector unions, a ?public-sector agency-shop? or ?fair-share? provision may be agreed upon by the government employee and the union. If so, the non-union employees may be forced to pay a ?fair share? to the union to cover its costs of collective bargaining, as a condition of employment. Abood The US. Supreme Court upheld such ?fair-share" fees in its 1977 Abood v. Detroit Board of Education decision against a challenge claiming that they violated employees? constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment rights of speech and association. Half of the states, according to the liberal Economic Policy Institute, allow these fees, as shown in the map below. States that allow ?fair-share? fees .l f" or, Note: and . allow .Ji "Adm-E ?fair-share? fees, as well. ff Source: Economic Policy Institute 1% While there were three concurrences in Abood, there were no dissents. No Justice on the Abood Court remains on the Court. Harris In its 2014 Harris v. Quinn decision, by a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court held that the collection of ?fair- share? fees from home health-care providers who have chosen not to be a member of a union violated those workers? First Amendment rights. The Harris majority opinion, by Justice Samuel Alito, undermined the legitimacy of the Abood precedent and all but invited a future request to actually outright overturn it. More specifically, in Harris, Alito drew a seemingly almost-provisional legal distinction between state and local employees that it would consider to be ?full-fledged? public-sector employees and workers to be considered something different from that -- ?partial public employees,? such as the home health-care workers looking after a patient or two or home child-care workers looking after a child in the privacy of a household -- for purposes of union organization. Alito?s opinion was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas. A dissenting opinion was written by Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor. F?ed?chs In January of this year, with the same lineup of Justices from Harris, the US. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The plaintiffs in Friedrichs are 10 California public-school teachers and members of the Christian Educators Association International group who work in public schools -- all of whom would have to be considered ?full-fledged? public employees. In Friedrichs, the Court is considering whether forcing these employees to pay ?fair?share? fees to a union of which they have chosen not to be a member, as a condition of their employment, violates their First Amendment rights. The plaintiff teachers in Friedrichs are asking the Court to: 1. overrule Abood, as Alito arguably asked somebody to do someday right in Harris; and, 2. require that non-union public employees actually outright affirmatively consent to paying any fee to a union for its collective bargaining on their behalf, through explicit written authorization. There are approximately 6.2 million unionized state, city, county and school-district employees in America. By some estimates, if the Court decides for the plaintiffs in Friedrichs and one to two million of these workers stop paying union fees, public-sector unions could be out between $500 million to $1 billion a year. The leftist In These Times calls Friedrichs a case ?that could decimate American public sector unionism.? The Bradley Foundation has supported the Friedrichs case through previous general-operations grants to the Center for Individual Rights (CIR), which represents some of the plaintiffs, and the Judicial Education Project, which has helped coordinate the preparation and filing of amicus curiae, or ?friend-of-the-court,? briefs with the Court th_e Supreme Court in the case. Eleven Bradley-supported organizations submitted dIVIde 4-4 In Friedrichs, the amjcus briefs_ Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals? November 2014 The Friedrichs decision likely will come near the end of the decision in the case would Court?s current term in late June or early July. Stand' The_three'IUd9_e N'nth On February 13, Scalia died. Should the Supreme Court divide CerUIt Panel affirmed a 4-4 in Friedrichs, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals? November district-court finding for the 2014 decision in the case would stand. The three-judge Ninth defendant union5_ Circuit panel affirmed a district-court finding for the defendant unions. *i't Following in subtab A is a Grant Proposal Record (GPR) recommending renewed support of CIR, though still for its general operations more broadly. In subtab B?s GPR, staff recommends further significant support of the Freedom Foundation to continue its aggressive education of public-sector employees about their rights, whatever they are post-Friedrichs, with a new office in the heavily unionized state of California. GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Center for Individual Rights ADDRESS: 1233 Twentieth Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 CONTACT: Mr. Terence J. Pell AMOUNT REQUESTED: Unspecified STAFF RECOMMENDATION: $100,000 PROJECT TITLE: To support general operations BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: George STAFF: Mike Hartmann MEETING DATE: 2/23/2016 PROPOSAL 20160005 BACKGROUND: The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) in Washington, DC, requests a grant award in renewed support of its general operations. Founded in 1989, CIR is dedicated to the defense of individual liberties against the increasingly aggressive and unchecked authority of federal and state governments. With a small staff of four, it aggressively litigates and publicizes a handful of carefully selected cases. Its president is Terence J. Pell, former general counsel and chief of staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy and before that, deputy assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education. Its general counsel is Michael E. Rosman. ClR?s board is chaired by George Mason Law School professor Jeremy A. Rabkin and includes Bradley Prize recipient and Princeton University president Robert P. George, William E. Simon Foundation president James Piereson, Hillsdale University president Larry Arnn, and retired Katten Muchin Rosenman lawyer Gerald Walpin. F?ed?chs It has spent almost all of its institutional energy during the past year and a half on what at least was the potentially pathbreaking Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and described in the report at the beginning of this Tab. Rosman is joined in Friedrichs by Jones Day civil-rights attorney Michael A. Carvin and three of his colleagues on behalf of the plaintiffs. Carvin served on original board. Other pending cases CIR currently has five other pending, non-amicus curiae, or ?friend-of-the-court,? cases. Sexual-assault investigations on campus Last May, CIR also filed a federal lawsuit challenging the one-sided procedures recently adopted by many colleges and universities to investigate and punish sexual assault. In Doe v. Alger, it represents a young student at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Va., who was found not guilty of rape by an impartial panel -- then convicted and suspended for five-plus years by a secret faculty-appeal panel on the basis of unsubstantiated and contradictory written statements concerning the victim?s consumption of alcohol on the night in question. policies and procedures to combat that which is considered by many on the Left to be a ?rape culture? on campus are in accord with those pushed by the U.S. Department of Education. Race-based diversity scholarships Last June, CIR filed a federal lawsuit in Connecticut on behalf of University of Connecticut student Pamela Swanigan. A graduate student in English at UConn, Swanigan was not allowed to compete for a highly prestigious, merit-based scholarship despite being the top applicant the year she applied. Instead, she was routed into an academically less prestigious Multicultural Scholars Award, which is designed to increase diversity. This happened solely because of her race -- she is both African-American and white. One-race elections Last November, CIR moved for summaryjudgement in its federal class-action suit against a publicly funded race-exclusive plebiscite on whether Guam should seek independence from the U.S., statehood, or some other relationship. Davis v. Guam is similar to a challenge to a publicly funded race-exclusive election to determine leadership in a nativist Hawaiian political entity that is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (The Bradley-supported Public Interest Legal Foundation represented the Bradley-supported American Civil Rights Union as an amicus.) ?Fair use? and copyright abuse to silence criticism And CIR is representing blogger Irina Chevaldina, who is being sued for copyright infringement for using a photo of real-estate developer Raanan Katz, part owner of the Miami Heat. CIR took the case to prevent the silencing of blogger criticism through a manipulative use of the copyright laws. The legal wrinkle in the case: Katz had purchased the photo from the photographer in order to prevent its further publication. CIR and Chevaldina argue that its use on her blog fits within the definition of permissible ?fair use? nonetheless. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled in favor of Chevaldina, and Katz is considering his next legal move. Hate crimes ?because of religion? In Miller v. United States, CIR client Miller and other Amish appealed their convictions under the federal hate-crimes law for forcibly shaving the beards and cutting the hair of other Amish. The federal hate-crimes law criminalizes violent acts performed ?because of religion.? In 2014, while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recognized that religion was at least one motivation for the attacks, it held that the trial judge erred by not instructing the jury that the prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that religion was a ?but for? cause of them that is, that the attacks would not have happened absent the defendants? religious motivation. The court accordingly reversed the defendants? convictions and ordered a new trial, which has not yet occurred. Budget information: overall 2016 expense budget is $2,530,918.36, approximately the same as 2015?s. Its non-anonymous $100,000+ philanthropic supporters are the Bloomfield Family, F.M. Kirby, and Sarah Scaife Foundations, and Lars E. Bader. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: The ?Iean-and-mean? CIR did a masterful job putting together and then shepherding Friedrichs to its current status at the Supreme Court. Its other pending cases have some promise of shaping law in a positive direction, too. Staff thus recommends a $100,000 grant to CIR for its general operations. If awarded, this would be a $25,000 increase over that last given by Bradley, in 2014. Center for Individual Rights Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support general operations $75,000 11/11/2014 Regular to support general operations $80,000 11/12/2013 Regular To support general operations $70,000 11/13/2012 Regular To support general operations $80,000 11/8/2011 Regular To support general operations $90,000 11/9/2010 Regular To supporl general operations $90,000 11/10/2009 Regular To support general operations $90,000 11/18/2008 Regular To support general operations $90,000 11/13/2007 Regular To support general operations $75,000 11/7/2006 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/8/2005 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/9/2004 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/4/2003 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/12/2002 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11l13/2001 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/14/2000 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/16/1999 Regular To support general operations $100,000 11/17/1998 Regular To support general operations $90,000 11/18/1997 Regular To support civil rights litigation in California $50,000 2/25/1997 Regular To support general operations $90,000 9/23/1996 Regular To support general operations $90,000 11/27/1995 Regular To support the "Against Bureaucracy" litigation program $100,000 53/26/1994 Regular To support the "Against Bureaucracy" litigation program $100,000 9/27/1993 Regular To support the activities of the Academic Freedom Fund $200,000 6/17/1991 Regular To support general operations $25,000 10/22/1990 Regular To support general operations $25,000 8/28/1989 Regular Grand Totals (26 items) $2,310,000 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Freedom Foundation ADDRESS: 2403 Pacific Avenue, SE Olympia, WA 98501 CONTACT: Mr. Tom McCabe AMOUNT REQUESTED: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: PROJECT TITLE: BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: MEETING DATE: PROPOSAL $5,700,000/three years $500,000/one year To support expansion of the Union Transparency and Reform Project Mike Hartmann 2/23/2016 20151007 BACKGROUND: After discussions with staff, the Freedom Foundation in Olympia, Wash., requests a $5,700,000 grant award over three years to expand its Union Transparency and Reform Project (UTRP) to California and New York. The Freedom Foundation was founded in 1991 by Bob Williams and Harsh as the Evergreen Freedom Foundation -- other labor- and education-related projects of which, including regarding paycheck protection, were supported by Bradley from 1997 to 2009. Bradley started supporting the Freedom Foundation?s UTRP in 2014. Last year, $1,500,000 in Barder Fund support over three years expanded UTRP to Oregon. In December 2013, pugilistic Buffalo native Tom McCabe became the Freedom Foundation?s chief executive officer. For 21 years, McCabe led the Building Industry Association of Washington. In 2011, the American Conservative Union awarded him its Ronald Reagan Award for his years of service to the conservative movement. During the Reagan Administration, he was director of congressional affairs for the federal Veterans Administration. Late last year, McCabe was quite distastefully personally attacked by the Left for his Freedom Foundation work, about which see below. McCabe Under McCabe?s leadership and following up on Evergreen?s previous work, UTRP aggressively exposes how the Left and Big Labor agendas hurt taxpayers, service recipients, and even unionized workers themselves. It actively engages in education of policymakers and the public, grassroots outreach, and litigation -- at both the state and municipal levels. Well-funded Big Labor?s strength in the Pacific Coast region make the area something of a leading indicators of, and to, the Left. As a region -- of three states: Washington, Oregon, and California the Pacific Coast would be the most-heavily unionized in the country, as shown in the list at the top of the next page. New York is the most-heavily unionized singular state in the country. ?Meet your neighbor, Olympia resident Tom McCabe? Last December, an SEIU front group calling itself the Northwest Accountability Project (NAP) mailed a hit piece about Tom McCabe and the Freedom Foundation to McCabe?s neighbors, friends, church, and state legislators. ?Tom McCabe and the Freedom Foundation have long pushed a far right agenda that?s out-of-step with the views of most Olympia-are residents,? according to the mailer. ?The Freedom Foundation is funded by out-of-state billionaires who want to keep wages low, eliminate paid sick leave and slash crucial funding for quality education. The Freedom Foundation also shares financial ties with extremist groups who target environmentalists, LGBT rights and women?s health,? which it then delineated. ?McCabe has a long record of opposing environmental causes and he is Treasurer of a church whose pastor claims that the Nazis held views that closely align with today?s environmentalists," the piece also says. NAP followed up on the mailer with phone calls to McCable?s neighbors, warning them that ?an extremist named Tom McCabe lives in your neighborhood.? The call went on to say that ?Tom McCabe is not part of our community." ?These attacks, and those to come, will not intimidate me,? McCabe responded. ?In fact, this just fuels me. It proves the Freedom Foundation is on the right track and we are winning this epic battle.? And his wife wrote and distributed a letter to their neighbors. hope you can understand that this is a battle my husband believes in and that he has no intention of walking away,? she wrote. respectfully ask you to give us the benefit of the doubt, when you receive future hit pieces with vague accusations from groups with vague names.? A Harris-dependent ?business model? In Washington, UTRP canvassers have been knocking on the doors of, telephoning, and e-mailing family child-care providers to educate them about the rights they have under the U.S. Supreme Court?s June 2014 Harris v. Quinn decision -- described in the report at the beginning of this Tab -- to opt out of paying dues to the SEIU, a principal funder of the Left in the region and nationally. As of mid-January, they visited 12,135 homes, spoken with 5,218 people, and convinced 815 to opt out. According tto union-membership reports, the overall percentage of family child-care providers in Washington paying dues to SEIU 925 fell from 100.0% in July 2014 -- the next reporting date after Harris -- to 46.6% in October 2015. SEIU 925, and the Left, have thus lost approximately $1.5 million. The current ?business model? of the Freedom Foundation?s UTRP is almost entirely Harris-dependent. States with 15% or more of total employees who are union members, 2014 New York, 24.6% Alaska, 22.8% Hawaii, 21.8% Washington, 16.8% New Jersey, 16.5% 9959!?? California, 16.3% Oregon, 15.6% 15.1% Rhode Island, 15.1% National union-membership rate: 11.1% Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Percentage of family child-care providers in Washington paying dues to SEIU 925 since June 2014?s Harris v. Quinn decision Not paying I Paying In Oregon, which has less home health- and child-care workers than Washington, work began just months ago. It is targeting SEIU 503 there, and more than 200 have opted out at this writing. In the face of much legal and bureaucratic opposition, it is trying to obtain a full list of providers there. In California, there are 397,000 unionized workers impacted by Harris. In New York, there are 150,000. Contemplating the potential benefits of Friedrichs-dependence As also described in the report at the beginning of this Tab, the Supreme Court?s Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association decision likely will come near the end of its current term in late June or early July. As contemplated in the table below, the benefits of a revised and enlarged, Friedrichs-dependent model could be vast. Potential outcomes of Friedrichs, and their ?real-world" ramifications Outcome Ramifications Status quo, with Harris still law for home Existing opportunities of Harris-dependent model would health- and child-care workers remain for home health- and child-care workers Abood v. Detroit Board of Education overruled .. with ability of all non-union public Existing Harris-model opportunities would be greatly employees to opt out of paying expanded in new Friedrichs-dependent model that could ?fair-share" fees, Harris-like educate home health- and child-care workers and teachers, police, firefighers, and other public workers about their new right to opt out with requirement that all non-union Unions themselves would have to be doing the door- public employees somehow explicitly knocking, telephoning, e-mailing, and other activities to opt in to paying ?fair-share? fees, educate public workers about their right to opt in perhaps even through actual express written authorization One can certainly foresee a need to aggressively rebut the substance and nature of this education Were the Court in Friedrichs to overrule its old Abood v. Detroit Board of Education precedent and require that all non-union public employees somehow explicitly opt in to paying ?fair-share? fees -- perhaps even through actual express written authorization -- then unions themselves would have to be doing the door- knocking, telephoning, e-mailing and other activities to education public workers about their right to opt in. If so, one can certainly foresee a need to aggressively rebut the substance and nature of this education. As referenced in the report, millions of unionized Unionized public employees potentially public employees nationwide could be impacted by impacted by Friedrichs in Washington, Friedrichs in this way, With billions of dollars in dues Oregon, California, and New York at stake. The table to the left shows the potential impact in Washington, Oregon, California, and New Public Estimated York. employees clues impact As also covered in the report, were the Supreme Washington 244,385 $183 million Court to divide 4-4 in Friedrichs after Justice Oregon 145.076 $109 million Antonin Scalia?s death, the Ninth Circuit Court of ca'if?mia 1369969 $103 billion Appeals? November 2014 decision in the case New York 1,001,275 $751 million would stand. The three-judge Ninth Circuit panel affirmed a district-court finding for the defendant unions. The existing Harris-dependent business model would remain standing, as well, for home health- and child-care workers. Budget information: The Freedom Foundation?s overall annual expense budget is $2,748,670. It is also The Freedom Foundation filed an amicus curiae, or "friend-of-the-court," brief in Friedrichs. supported by the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust and the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation, a longtime Bradley ally. The ambitious three-year budget to expand UTRP to California and New York would total the fully requested $5,700,000 -- $2,850,000 per state. The first year budget to expand to California and New York is $1,900,000 -- $950,000 per state. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: The largesse of Pacific Coast unions, after redistributed out of national offices in Washington, DC, is used subsidize the Left?s national agenda and obstruct the mission and program interests of the Bradley Foundation and its allies. After Harris and with the help of the Freedom Foundation?s work, unions have not been able to essentially confiscate as much dues from workers who didn?t even know they were in a union to generate this largesse. After Friedrichs, no matter how it turns out, there likely will continue to be a need for such help, and the Freedom Foundation?s UTRP is poised to provide it. 80 staff recommends a one-year, $500,000 grant to the Freedom Foundation for expansion of its to California. Freedom Foundation Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support the Union Transparency and Reform Project $1,500,000 11/11/2014 Regular To support the Union Transparency and Reform Project $100,000 8/19/2014 Regular To support the Labor Policy Center $50,000 11/10/2009 Regular To support the Labor Policy Center $40,000 8/19/2008 Regular To support the Teachers' Paycheck Protection project $50,000 8/21/2007 Regular To support the Teachers' Paycheck Protection project $40,000 8/22/2006 Regular To support the Teachers Paycheck Protection project $75,000 8/23/2005 Regular To support general operations $75,000 8/17/2004 Regular To support general operations $72,500 8/26/2003 Regular To support the Teachers? Paycheck Protection Project $50,000 11/12/2002 Regular To support the Teachers' Paycheck Protection Project $25,000 11/13/2001 Regular To support the Teachers' Paycheck Protection Project $25,000 11/14/2000 Regular To support the Teachers' Paycheck Protection Project $50,000 11/16/1999 Regular To support the Teachers Paycheck Protection Project $30,000 8/25/1998 Regular To support public policy research activities $25,000 6/3/1997 Regular To support education reform activities $3,000 1/24/1997 GCC To support general operations $10,000 8/26/1996 22 - Small To support general operations $10,000 8/28/1995 Regular To support the Center for Political Renewal $60,000 2/27/1995 Regular To support a survey of the new business elite $25,000 8/22/1994 Regular To support the Foundation's "Progress Report" on National $25,000 8/23/1993 Regular Empowerment Television Grand Totals (21 items) $2,340,500 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Independence Institute ADDRESS: 727 East Sixteenth Avenue Denver, CO 80203 CONTACT: Mr. Jon Caldara AMOUNT REQUESTED: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: PROJECT TITLE: BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: MEETING DATE: PROPOSAL $75,000 $60,000 To support the Education Labor Project Dan Schmidt 2/23/2016 20151017 BACKGROUND: The Independence Institute (II) requests renewal of Bradley's support for its Education Labor Project in the amount of $75,000. Now, 30 years old the Independence Institute is a state think tank dedicated to pursuing public policy issues impacting on the size of government, personal liberty, and economic growth and prosperity. II has been particularly successful not only in identifying key issues in Colorado deserving of careful study, but in marketing the findings and working on the ground to implement reforms consonant with the organization's mission. Over the years Il's policy have worked primarily on the following issues: education and related labor issues; tax reform and fiscal responsibility at the state level; criminal justice; health care reform; and ideological discrimination on university and college campuses. Jon Caldara, Denver radio's most well-known and trusted conservative talk show hosts has led II since 1998. Under the direction of former public school teacher, Pam Benigno, the lnstitute?s Education Policy Center has focused on issues that challenge the educational status quo. Since 1997 the Center has analyzed in thorough fashion Colorado's education delivery system in terms of its practices and performance and, served as an organizer of grassroots activists advocating for the introduction of charters and choice for the state's parents. Benigno and her colleagues have been devoting much of their time and energy to tracking union activities and the actions of school boards with respect to union contracts during the past several years. In particular the Education Labor Project has focused its resources on the activities of the Douglas County, Colorado school board, Colorado?s teacher salary system, and providing teachers with information and strategies to challenge the political activities of the teachers? union and district collective bargaining contracts. At the beginning of 2015 Education Labor Project's several years of hard work could be credited with assisting the parents of Jefferson County, Loveland-based Thompson School District, and Douglas County in placing conservative reform majorities on their school boards. Prospects were looking up for the opportunity to further reduce the political influence of the teacher unions. Unfortunately, in November of last year voters in the Loveland-based Thompson School District and in Jefferson County conservative majorities on the boards were defeated. And, in Douglas County conservatives lost 3 seats, thereby reducing their majority to 4 to 3. Last year was a year of lessons to be learned for II in its fight with the Colorado Education Association (CEA.) Caldera, Benigno, and the members of the Education Labor Project team have learned about the importance of controlling the narrative surrounding local level reform policies. Board members must be reminded to stay on message when speaking to the public on reform initiatives. And, finally, board members must be fully informed on the structural, procedural and legal tactics the CEA is likely to employ in the maintenance of their power. In 2016-17 II proposes to continue to prove school board leaders and activists with ongoing guidance as they attempt to navigate the policy and public relations landscape surrounding education. To that end II proposes to pursue the following activities: expand support to local school board officials with respect to information on labor reform; build narrative support for reform policies, including collective bargaining reform by using social media advertising; closer monitoring and responding to union related activities to advance pro-reform narrative; and increase teacher outreach through social media notifying them of their membership and political refund options. A grant of $75,000 is requested. BUDGET INFORMATION: The Independence Institute?s 2015-16 budget totals $3,540,000. The Education Labor Project's estimated 2015-16 budget amounts to $134,500. Major contributors to program activities and general operations are many in number and include amongst others: the Anschutz, Coors, Daniels, Donne, El Polmar, Roe, Rupe, and Walton Foundations. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Il?s Education Labor Project has been at the project that the coalition of organizations, grassroots groups and individuals in Colorado working for education reform look to for ideas about strategy and tactics. In particular Jon Caldara and Pam Benigno have special expertise on the nature and scope of the activities of the Colorado Education Association in the various school districts across the state. knowledge in this area has been indispensable to education reforms when it comes to collective bargaining issues and district contracts. ll's outreach program to union members has proven to be successful. The Project?s direct contact with teachers has persuaded many to ask for the refund of that portion of their union dues allocated for the union's political activities. ll's work in this regard has been influential in several key school districts in Colorado committed to ?pay for performance" programs. A grant of $60,000 is recommended. Independence Institute Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support public education $100,000 11/10/2015 1 Regular To support the Energy Policy Center $50,000 6/2/2015 I Regular To support the Education Labor Project $50,000 2/24/2015 Regular To support the Education Labor Project $50,000 2/25/2014 Regular to support the Energy Policy Center $75,000 11/12/2013 I Regular To support the Education Labor Project $30,000 2/26/2013 Regular To support the Energy Policy Center $45,000 11/13/2012 I Regular To support the Education Labor Project $25,000 2/28/2012 Regular To support the Education Labor Project $40,000 2/22/2011 Regular To support general operations $100,000 10/4/2010 Regular To support the Education Labor Project $50,000 2/23/2010 Regular To support the Education Labor Project $50,000 2/24/2009 Regular To support the Education Labor Project $100,000 2/19/2008 Regular To support public education about "paycheck protection" $100,000 11/13/2007 I Regular To support the Education Labor Project $75,000 2/20/2007 I Regular To support the Education Labor Project $50,000 2/22/2006 Regular To support the Education Labor Project $75,000 2/15/2005 Regular To support the Education Labor Project $75,000 2/26/2004 Regular Grand Totals (18 items) $1,140,000 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD The Mackinac Center ADDRESS: 140 West Main Street PO. Box 568 Midland, MI 48640-0568 CONTACT: Mr. Joseph G. Lehman AMOUNT REQUESTED: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: PROJECT TITLE: BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: MEETING DATE: PROPOSAL $75,000 $75,000 To support the Mackinac Center for Public Policy Dan Schmidt 2/23/2016 20151054 BACKGROUND: The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is seeking a renewal of Bradley's support for its general operations in the amount of $75,000. Established in 1987 by Lawrence Reed, now under the direction of Joe Lehman, Mackinac is one of the nation's most recognized state?level think tanks. Since its founding the organization has characterized itself as a classical liberal institution aimed at preserving limited, responsible government. Its board of directors chaired by Clifford W. Taylor, former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, and includes individuals such as J.C. Huizenga and D. Joseph Olson. Bradley's support for the Center's operations in the past years has been utilized by Lehman and his associates to administer its Labor and Education Project. In the coming year Bradley support would be used to assist Mackinac in helping allies in other states to bring about labor policy reform. Mackinac?s involvement with other states has been much more a part of the Labor Project since Michigan adopted right-to-work in 2012. Mackinac serves other states and organizations within the State Policy Network's orbit in several ways. Lehman, F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of labor policy, and Patrick Wright, vice president for legal affairs help allies assess the situation in their states and determine reforms that are strategic and feasible. Secondly, Mackinac works on the ground in other states through strategy session, speaking engagements, and public education programs aimed at responding to union tactics. Finally, Mackinac hosts their annual Labor Policy Training Camp offering intense instruction in labor law and reform strategies. In the past two years Mackinac has worked in Oregon, Missouri, New Mexico, Delaware, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, Florida, and Washington, DC. Lehman also chairs strategy meetings among 10 state think tanks most committed to labor reform convened several times a year by State Policy Network. On education, among other things, Mackinac annually analyzes collective-bargaining agreements in Michigan to see if and if so, how, they are adhering to the teacher tenure and evaluation policy changes. Over and above focusing on labor reform across the states, the Mackinac Center has other noteworthy program priorities in 2016 They include the following: defending school choice in Detroit; providing autoworkers with information about right-to-work; researching corporate welfare programs in Michigan such as state-sponsored tourism and the 2131 Century Jobs Fund; and researching and speaking publicly about reforming public pension in the education sector by switching teacher to a defined contribution plan. A grant of $75,000 is requested in support of general operations. BUDGET INFORMATION: Mackinac?s overall 2015 budget amounts to $5,850,000. The Center is supported by numerous foundations, corporations and individuals. Its labor and education work in particular is funded by the Dow, Herrick and Foundations. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: The Mackinac Center is among the most aggressive state think tanks, especially in the area of labor and education reform. Its research and public education activities were key to the right-to-work victory in Michigan. Indeed, under Joe Lehman the Center has laid the ground work for advancing paycheck protection and ending illegal union forays into private, home-based businesses. The Center?s work in this regard is serving as a model for strategic thinking on right-to work and taking on the domination of public-sector unions across the nation. A grant of $75,000 is recommended. Mackinac Center Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support general operations $75,000 21241201 5 Regular To support a mobile-app project $100,000 21241201 5 Regular To support general operations $50,000 2125/2014 Regular To support a public-education project $100,000 2125/2014 Regular To support the Labor and Education Project $50,000 212612013 Regular To support the Labor and Education Project $50,000 2/28/2012 Regular To support the Labor and Education Project $40,000 212212011 Regular To support the Labor and Education Project $50,000 212312010 Regular To support the Labor and Education project $50,000 212412009 Regular To support the Labor and Education Project $75,000 1111312007 Regular To support the Labor and Education Project $75,000 8/22/2006 Regular To support the Labor and Education Resource Center $100,000 1118/2005 Regular To support the activities of the Center's new education and $100,000 111912004 Regular labor program To support a feasibility study of LocaI~On y Teacher Unions $72,500 8/26/2003 Regular To support general operations $40,000 1111312001 Regular To support general operations and a study of school choice $50,000 812912000 Regular To support general operations $50,000 812411999 Regular To support general operations $50,000 212411998 Regular To support general operations $30,000 212511997 Regular To support education reform projects $30,000 112311995 Regular To support research on educational reform in Michigan $45,000 912711993 Regular Grand Totals (21 items) $1,282,500 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Nevada Policy Research Institute ADDRESS: 7130 Placid Street Las Vegas, NV 89119 CONTACT: Ms. Sharon J. Rossie AMOUNT REQUESTED: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: PROJECT TITLE: BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: MEETING DATE: PROPOSAL $50,000 $25,000 To support National Employee Freedom Week Mike Hartmann 2/23/2016 20151056 BACKGROUND: The Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI) in Las Vegas requests a grant award of $50,000 in first-time support of National Employee Freedom Week (NEFW). Founded in 1991, NPRI is Nevada?s conservative state think tank. It has contributed to some success there, including in the contexts of school choice and zero-based budgeting. The state has the largest Education Savings Account program in the country. Under the leadership of its president Sharon J. Rossie, NPRI actively participated in the Barder Fund's state-infrastructure request-for-proposals process -- working very hard, with some success, to garner partners among other state think tanks and allies in making NEFW bigger and better. NEFW is basically an advertising campaign to educate workers about that which they can do with their dissatisfaction about union representation -- including, if and when possible, decertification or opting out of paying certain dues portions, about which see the report on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association and related recommendations at the beginning of this section of these materials. In 2014, trying to mimic that which it saw other groups doing on other issues, NPRI provided 10 ?micro- grants" of between $1,500 and $2,500 to some of the more-active NEFW groups to run their own public-education campaigns in their own respective States with active states. National Employee Freedom Week These campaigns consisted of websites, billboards, e-mail communications, talk-radio appearances, and social-media commentary. groups California Budget information: NPRI's overall annual expense budgets usually exceed Colorado $900,000. Illinois Louisiana The 2016 budget for its NEFW in particular is $195,000. Michigan RECOMMENDATION: While NEFW's material has a little bit of a ?one-size- Eonh Claim!? fits-all? aspect to it, staff believes it worthy of a modest level of support -- if Tennsy ?an'a even only to offer encouragement to those behind it. Any help would be ennessee . . . . . Washington In at least concept and motivation With that for the muchmore . targeted, expensrve, ?shoe?leather" efforts of the Freedom Foundation, which IS an NEFW group, too. Staff thus recommends a $25,000 grant to the hard-working NPRI for NEFW. Nevada Policy Research Institute Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund NONE -- C. Foreign policy national security GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD International Center for Religion Diplomacy ADDRESS: 1003 Street, N. W., Suite 400 Washington, DC 20001 CONTACT: Dr. Douglas M. Johnston AMOUNT REQUESTED: $60,000 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: $50,000 PROJECT TITLE: To support a research study BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: Dan Schmidt MEETING DATE: 2/23/2016 PROPOSAL 20150950 BACKGROUND: The International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) is seeking the Foundation's support a study of strategies for countering the influence of Jihadi-Salafist groups like ISIS. Established in 1999 ICRD conducts a program of research, public education and grassroots activities aimed at identifying the religious factors at issue in the practice of international politics. Under the direction of Douglas Johnson since its inception ICRD has focused a considerable amount of time and attention on projects of benefit to both the Christian and Muslim communities throughout the Arabic Muslim world. ICRD's work has taken in to a number of countries including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and Pakistan. For the past two years, for example, ICRD has worked to purge Wahhabist content from their textbooks and teacher training materials that have served to inspire terrorist groups like al?Qaeda and lSIs to wage jihad who does not subscribe to their particular brand of Islam. In Syria ICRD has been working to bring together Syriac Christians and Kurds. In Yemen Johnson and his colleagues have been designing a project for a new national transition project that would include marginalized communities in the south of the country which have been excluded in the past. Since 2004 ICRD has engaged Pakistani madrasa leaders in teacher training programs promoting curricular and pedagogical enhancement, with an emphasis on religious tolerance and critical thinking. The project is designed so that madrasa leaders treat the reform effort as their own, and that suggested educational changes are grounded in Islamic principles. To date 5,000 madrasa leaders have participated in the program, with many of them coming from the more radical areas of the country. Eight years following the launch of the teacher training programs ICRD established an indigenous NGO in Pakistan which has continued the work by: establishing teacher training institutes in Pakistani universities certifying madrasa faculty; developing model madras curriculums based on the best educational practices from throughout the Muslim world; and increasing its interfaith training programs to promote cooperation between Muslim clerics and Christian pastors in reducing religious extremism. Building on its work in Pakistan ICRD proposes to undertake a research project in Tunisia, the only Arab Spring country in which democracy currently weighs in the balance. The project will conduct a cross- national assessment of the effectiveness of existing government and civil society strategies for countering Jihadi-Salafism and determine how conservative Muslims can be more effectively engaged in development and implementation of such strategies. Utilizing the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy and Manouba University in Tunisia, ICRD will develop information on which programs and strategies will appeal to imams or madrasa teachers as tools for directing you away from the influence of religious extremism. ICRD's work product will be shared with the National Intelligence University and National Defense University. A grant of $60,000 is requested in support of field research in Tunisia. BUDGET INFORMATION: ICRD's 2016 operating budget amounts to $1,151,000. The total cost for the Tunisian field study project will be $141,630. The Murdock Charitable Trust and Dr. Scholl Foundation have contributed $315,000 to ICRD to conduct field research in Yemen and Morocco, as well as expanding work with the madrasas and imams in Pakistan. Over the past few years ICRD has received project support from the Luce, National Christian, Shelby Cullum Davis, Smith Richardson and Washington Times Foundation. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: experience with the Bradley-supported madrasas project in Pakistan over the past several years has demonstrated that working with local mediating structures, including religious institutions has promise of beginning to influence young people to turn away from and even reject the use of violence. The challenge ahead lies in converting more young people to this way of thinking. Even more critical might be the challenge finding ways to inspire key religious conservatives who are leading these schools and other social institutions to play a greater role in steering young people away from religious extremism. The Center?s project is a serious effort undertaken by an organization that has data and professional experience with respect to the many of the particulars of this complicated problem. The proposed Tunisian project is aimed at helping US. and Tunisian policymakers develop practical data on these leaders and their insights on the strategies necessary to reduce the number of young Tunisians, more than 3,000 already, who have joined ISIS. A grant of $50,000 is recommended. International Center for Religion 8. Diplomacy Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support the ?rst phase of an initiative to reform Pakistan's $40,000 11/4/2003 Regular educational system Grand Totals (1 item) $40,000 Page 1 of 1 D. Religious freedom GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Center for Public Justice ADDRESS: PO Box 48368 Washington, DC 20002 CONTACT: Ms. Chelsea Langston AMOUNT REQUESTED: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: PROJECT TITLE: BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: MEETING DATE: PROPOSAL $75,000 $25,000 To support the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance Mike Hartmann 2123/2016 20150924 BACKGROUND: The Center for Public Justice (CPJ) in Washington, DC, requests a $75,000 grant award in renewed support of its Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRFA). Founded in 1977, CPJ has argued -- with an explicitly Christian worldview -- for a place for faith in the public square and a strong civil society, including because of religious institutions healthily participating in it. It has been led since 2011 by chief executive officer Stephanie Summers, a former vice president of the Coalition for Christian Outreach. In 2014, in large part at the behest of Bradley?s strong philanthropic ally of Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr.?s Fieldstead and Company, CPJ became the institutional home of IRFA. Founded in 2008 by Stanley Carlson-Thies, a former top official of the President George W. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives . who used to work at CPJ, IRFA has argued for a place for faith-based groups in the provision of social services -- including by urging their participation in publicly funded or voucherized programs without being penalized for their religiosity in general or religion?based hiring in particular. From his previous experience, Carlson?Thies saw much reason to lament that which federal, state, and local regulations often do to restrict or inhibit the exemplary contributions of evangelical colleges, the Salvation Army, Sikh groups offering shelter, and Catholic foster care and adoption agencies to the common good. He and others created IRFA to combat this harm, by training faith-based Carlson-Thies entities in how best to handle their relations with these ill-willed existing or potential regulators, should they interface with government and its tempting funding.? With last year?s first-time Bradley support, IRFA developed, launched, and marketed web-based resources to help equip faith-based organizations and inexperienced attorneys who advise them to deal with religious?freedom issues. For this development and now on a continuous basis, IRFA built a network of highly respected legal experts, including constitutional-law professors and lawyers in private practice specializing in religious?freedom issues, and public?interest law firms including the Bradley-supported Becket Fund for Religious Freedom, Alliance Defending Freedom, and the Christian Legal Society. This year, IRFA would like to further help some of those smaller, neighborhood faith-based groups and others with limited financial resources ?build capacity" to be better at meeting their missions. Called the Lighthouse Initiative, it will assess the entities? pasts, presents, and futures, and coach their leaders on how make those futures better. The new initiative will select 75 such organizations by partnering with the Bradley-supported Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, led by Bradley Prize recipient Robert L. Woodson, Sr., and the Christian Community Development Association. It wants to be in a position to offer ?scholarships" to leaders of these groups, so they can perhaps travel and meet with their successful peers around the country. Budget information: CPJ's overall annual expense budgets approach $900,000. in particular is approximately $175,000. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Unless often?skittish faith-based organizations understand the need and have the capability to be public about how religious freedom impacts groups like theirs, too much of the public and too many policymakers will continue to regard them as discriminatory rather than distinctive -- as negative influences rather than crucial elements of civil society. Along with its basic, legally oriented ?how-to? strategies, IRFA's new Lighthouse Initiative could help do for faith-based nonprofits what other Bradley grantees do for other nonprofits generally. In its desire to do so for smaller groups, any Bradley support of IRFA would be of a piece with that for the Interstate Policy Alliance and others, which similarly look to equip the more-numerous smaller to mid-sized conservative state think tanks. Therefore, staff recommends another $25,000 grant to CPJ for IRFA. If awarded, this would be the same level of support as that given last year. Center for Public Justice Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance $25,000 2/24/2015 Regular To support general operations $20,000 6/3/2003 Regular To support general operations $20,000 2/19/2002 Regular To support public education about charitable choice $50,000 6/5/2001 Regular To support general operations $50,000 11/14/2000 Regular Grand Totals (5 items) $165,000 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund ADDRESS: PO. Box 9520 Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 CONTACT: Mr. Charles S. LiMandri AMOUNT REQUESTED: $125,000 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: $100,000 PROJECT TITLE: To support general operations BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: Dan Schmidt MEETING DATE: 2/23/2016 PROPOSAL 20150927 BACKGROUND: The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund (FCDF) requests a grant of $125,000 in support of its general operations. Now, three years old FCDF is an organization with a mission to defend religious freedom by providing trial-level legal services for those who are persecuted because of their religious convictions. A nonprofit public-interest law firm FCDF defends the conscience rights and religious freedom of those of all faiths and no faith. Charles LiMandre, FCDF's President, is a civil litigator in the San Diego area. He has spent 25 years in litigating cases involving the dignity of life, the sanctity of marriage, and freedom of religious expression. Under his leadership FCDF has been out front in providing pro bono counsel to pro-marriage groups accused of violating campaign finance laws and been the subject of harassment and threats from advocates for same sex marriage. Within three years of its founding, FCDF has provided consultation and representation to dozens of different organizations and persons of conscience. services have been provided in liberty of conscience cases such as: the Center for Medical Progress Case involving the organization's investigative journalism study of fetal tissue procurement in violation of the law by Planned Parenthood and StemExpress; the JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing) Case litigated over a suit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center campaigning to shut down all forms of counseling for those struggling with unwanted same?sex attraction; the Mt. Soledad Cross Case in which FCDF protect religious expression, even on government property; the Jannuzzi Case with FCDF representing Patricia Jannuzzi?s when threatened with termination from her teaching position at a Catholic high school for voicing support on social media for Catholic teaching on sexual morality; and, representation of four Christian firefighters ordered against their will to participate in a San Diego Gay Pride Parade. In 2016 FCDF will continue to pursue public-interest legal and organizational issues involving religious liberty. It will also increase its research, development, and marketing capacities to better serve its clients including defending military chaplains and other ministers. The organizations will also conduct media appearances and participate in events to maximize exposure of its mission and directly educate 1,500 faith leaders, attorneys, and other across the nation regarding their religious liberty rights and how to defend them effectively. Finally, FCDF will lay the groundwork for a national movement of experienced attorneys who will provide legal representation to threatened groups, businesses, and individuals. A grant of $125,000 is requested. BUDGET INFORMATION: 2016 budget amounts to $570,000. FCDF receives support from among others the following group of organizations: the Chiaroscuro Foundation, GFC Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom, the Rivers Foundation, and the Caster Family Foundation. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Recent high profile cases involving the dignity of life, marriage, religious expression and religious liberty indicate a moment where there is a significant contentious clash between freedom of conscience and ideologically secularist objectives. These clashes raise serious Constitutional issues with respect to the place that religious freedom has in American law and history. FCDF, led by Charles LiMandri, has, in a few short years, established itself among the national leaders, like the Becket Fund, in providing trial-level legal services for those who are vigorously challenged for their religious convictions. Continued Bradley support in the amount of $100,000 for FCDF's general operations in 2016 is recommended. Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support general operations $100,000 2/24/2015 Regular To support general operations $75,000 2/25/2014 Regular Grand Totals (2 items) $175,000 Page 1 of 1 GRANT PROPOSAL RECORD Open Doors ADDRESS: PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 CONTACT: Ms. Ellen Grigsby AMOUNT REQUESTED: $150,000 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: 50,000 PROJECT TITLE: To support program activities BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH REQUEST: STAFF: Dan Schmidt MEETING DATE: 2/23/2016 PROPOSAL 20151031 BACKGROUND: Open Doors USA (ODUSA) requests a grant of $150,000 in support of its program activities in 2016. Established in 1955 Open Doors is an international non-profit ministry focused on identifying, publicizing, and relieving the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide. Apart from its evangelical work Open Doors is dedicated to rebuilding churches and homes, providing social and economic support, and offering immediate refugee support for persecuted Christians. Open Doors USA works in 60 countries and serves persecuted Christians on the ground in over 45 countries where Christians are physically abused, imprisoned, or discriminated against in education or employment. Historically, and even more so in the present, Open Doors' work has been concentrated on the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Bradley?s support is sought for a full schedule of Open Doors activities in 2016. First and foremost the organization would like to have the Foundation?s funding assistance to continue its work in service to the Christian refugees in northern Iraq. Many of the Arabic?speaking Christians from Syria, and Iraq have fled to the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq. They face a situation of continuing discrimination in the Kurdish North and are in urgent need of food, shelter, clothes and social, and job-related counseling. At present, Open Doors is supporting 15,000 Christian Iraqi and Syrian families (approximately 75,000 people.) ODUSA expects to reduce the majority of its assistance within six months to one year. Another of ODUSA's annual program activities is its advocacy on behalf of persecuted Christians aimed at persuading public and private decision makers to become more involved in the issue. Each month ODUSA's advocacy department sends out its mail newsletter to 10,000 supporters offering practical activism opportunities. it also mails its newsletter to some 1,000 public officials addressing relevant international religious freedom issues. Finally, ODUSA will retain a media relations firm De Moss this year to increase awareness of the escalation and impact of Christian persecution and inspire action among US Christians. Special efforts will be made to place news-of?the-day, interviews with national and international experts on the subject, and stories relating the daily impact of Christian persecution of individuals, families and communities. A grant of $150,000 is requested in support of program activities in 2016. BUDGET INFORMATION: 2014 operating budget totaled $1,005,056. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Open Doors International has been coming to the aid of persecuted believers across the world for the past 60 years. Its evangelical work accompanied by acts of mercy have been a source of comfort and inspiration to many Christians specifically, and believers in general, in the most difficult of circumstances. Open Doors is one of only a small handful of organizations that have the resources, experience and credibility to address both individual and large number of cases of mistreatment of people of faith. The current situation with respect to migration from and suffering in the Middle East and North Africa calls forth from Open Doors International and Open Doors USA significant commitment of time, talent and resources. ODUSA's contribution is of particular importance because it is attempting to address the plight of Christian refugees staying in Iraq. Over the last several decades more than 1,000,000 Christians have left Iraq for the West. Numbers of Christians are now between 200,000 and 250,000 through the whole of Iraq. Support for ODUSA in terms of its work with Iraqi and Syrian Christians on the ground in country (the organization has been working in Iraq for 20 plus years and has an extensive network of churches and other partners) and its activities in the US with respect to public education can provide support with impact. A grant of $50,000 is recommended. Open Doors USA Grant History Project Title Grant Amount Approved Fund To support program activities $50,000 11/8/2011 Regular To support publication of Compass Direct. Advocacy for $75,000 11/9/2010 Regular persecuted Christians and Worldwatch Undercover Grand Totals (2 items) $125,000 Page 1 of 1