Learn what’s happening at the Foundation and in the communities where we work. Hear from staff and partners about their accomplishments and lessons learned along the way.
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Over the past year or so, we’ve been exploring Human-Centered Design (HCD). At a super-high level, HCD is a process of developing products or programs that places the end-user at the center of the process. It involves a deliberate set of stages and activities that helps designers get closer to end-users to get a better … Continued
I am reminded daily by the amazing grant partners I get to work with that there is huge demand by nonprofits to build their capacity to be stronger, more sustainable organizations, but that there are not enough resources to do so. Ninety-five percent of the organizations that responded to a Tower Foundation survey in 2016 … Continued
The New York Times reported yesterday that the Federal Communications Commission recommended shortening the 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number (1–800–273–8255) to three digits. This would effectively make it a “911” for suicide prevention. This is an excellent suggestion, and it echoes what Michael Hogan, Ph.D. recommends in the first installment of the 2019 Think … Continued
The Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation is pleased to announce its recent grant awards totaling nearly $1.1 million to 11 organizations for projects benefitting Barnstable, Dukes, Essex, and Nantucket Counties in Massachusetts; and Erie and Niagara Counties in New York State. According to Tracy Sawicki, the Foundation’s Executive Director, “These projects show many different ways … Continued
Our guest blogger for this post is Maureen McElhinny with Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services Substance use for adolescents can escalate from a dangerous discovery to a heartbreaking dependency, putting youth at long-term risk and damaging families and whole communities. Team Fourteen is a group of clinicians who serve adolescents and their families with … Continued
Back in 2014, the Foundation’s Trustees and staff went through a strategic planning process. Nothing new, right? What made this strategic plan (which we later decided to call a strategic direction) different is that we built the entire thing around a process called Results-Based Accountability (RBA). Without getting too wonky, RBA takes a page out … Continued
This May I attended a GEO conference in Seattle, Washington with a singular focus on the role of learning in philanthropy. Things kicked off with a call to honor the land where we were gathered and acknowledge that its indigenous people (the Suquamish, Duwamish, and many others) were harshly treated and marginalized by Seattle’s white … Continued
Authored by: Tracy Sawicki, Executive Director at the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation and Jane Feinberg, Founder and Principal, Full Frame Communications In 2013, a group of philanthropists gathered together in Beverly, MA for an education roundtable. One of the guest speakers was Jeff Riley, currently the Education Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who … Continued
The Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation is pleased to announce its recent grant awards totaling nearly $1.3 million to 15 organizations for projects benefitting Erie and Niagara Counties in Western New York, as well as Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Essex County in Eastern Massachusetts. “It’s a great privilege to support these organizations as they work … Continued
What applicants thought about applying to the Tower Foundation in 2018 I can’t say it enough: we love feedback. Don’t get me wrong – some of it is not easy to hear. But we truly appreciate feedback from applicants and grant partners in all its challenging, validating, and sometimes surprising forms. It helps us … Continued
