City Election 2023:
What the City Council candidates say about the value of nonprofit expertise + access to funding
Cambridge's City Council election is coming up on Tuesday, November 7 (with ample vote-by-mail and early voting opportunities - learn more & check your voter registration status here).
We received responses from 21 of 24 candidates to our nonprofit questionnaire, the full details of which you can see on our website (click on each photo to see that candidate's answers), in addition to information about upcoming candidate forums.
4 takeaways for our upcoming nonprofit advocacy:
- Every candidate committed to the "incorporating the expertise of nonprofit leaders in planning around current City priorities." As a sector, we should hold the next Council to this promise.
- All incumbents and most candidates support limiting the Anti-Aid Amendment, which hampers municipalities' ability to directly fund nonprofits in Massachusetts. (Six candidates said they didn't know enough to answer.) We should build on this momentum to educate leaders and advocate for a more flexible interpretation.
- With one exception (Carrie Pasquerello), candidates either supported or didn't know about having the City help with nonprofit workforce challenges. This represents an opportunity to advocate for some of the workforce ideas candidates suggested — or our own.
- Except for a few answering "I don't know," all councilors committed to help expedite and increase transparency around the City's release of ARPA funds to nonprofits.
Additional election resources:
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Cambridge's ARPA funding delays highlighted in Cambridge Day article:
"Somerville used installments, fronting some money to organizations."
We were delighted that Day covered this important story. They quoted our Executive Director Elena Sokolow-Kaufman, who said, in part:
“There’s a need going forward to figure out how to best support the [nonprofit] sector, because it really does impact services,” she said. “The Arpa conversation is certainly a piece of the puzzle. But there’s a larger picture here about resourcing these kinds of services in an ongoing and sustainable way.”
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👍 Ensuring the press covers nonprofit issues
Sign up for Cambridge News Matters's Nonprofit Focus Group
- Next Wed, 10/4, 5-6:30pm
- In-person at CCTV (Central Square - 438 Mass Ave)
- Sign up here.
By sharing our expertise with this group, our sector can develop valuable connections and influence how much and how the local press will cover issues that matter to us.
If you can't attend the focus group next Wednesday, please do fill out their survey (nonprofits only).
About the Cambridge News Matters Advisory Group: A volunteer group looking into how to shore up Cambridge's local news coverage, given the recent loss of the Cambridge Chronicle coupled with the Cambridge Day's near-end (see Globe article).
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 🙌 Recap: CDSC Conflict Skills Training
Thank you to the nonprofit leaders who attended our free conflict skill training last week by Community Dispute Settlement Center.
It was an informative session in which, among much more, we learned:
- Most people attach a negative association to conflict, but it can also be very helpful in identifying issues, repairing harm and making space for something new.
- There are several styles of responding to conflict and many influences on those styles (spoiler alert: it is complicated!).
- Simple strategies can be used to de-escalate a conflict including: active listening, pause and paraphrase, ask questions to uncover what people really care about.
- CDSC has many resources to help nonprofit leaders navigate conflict and make it productive. Learn more.
We can't thank CDSC enough for offering our members this engaging and interactive training.
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Hanging out with Dante: September's Executive Director (ED) Lunch
Last week, ten local Executive Directors discussed important topics, such as our 🎃💀🧛 Best-Ever Halloween costumes. (Interesting note: a small minority of EDs dislike Halloween, while the rest of us are very pro!)
Whatever our proclivities, we all posed with Dante himself at the beautiful Dante Alighieri Society (between Central and Kendall Squares - as a few noted, near Halloween staple The Garment District).
Thank you to Darrin Korte of Cambridge Community Center for facilitating in his trademark lively style, and to the Dante Society for Hosting. We also enjoyed fabulous food from Dig Kendall.
Standing (from left): CNC intern Tianxin Yang, Farhana Khorshed of NEBAF, Melissa Wu of Seeding Labs, Andrea Shapiro of Second Chances, Sasha Purpura now of Y2Y Cambridge, CNC's Eugenia Schraa, Elena Sokolow-Kaufman of CNC, Aygün Şahin of Cancer Education and Research Institute, and Sal Bramante of the Dante Society.
Sitting (from left): Bonnie Bertolaet of Science Club for Girls, Maija Pratt of Navigation Games, Darrin Korte of CCC. |
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🥙🤗 Save the Date for October's ED Lunch
- When: Friday, 10/27, 12-1pm
- Where: Zoom
- About: Executive Director lunches are an opportunity for nonprofit leaders to connect, network, support each other, and share valuable information. They're particularly helpful for those new in their role, new to Cambridge or both.
- Register.
Thank you to our ED lunch sponsor Berkshire Bank
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CNC Member Corner
💌 They've spoken: We're creating a listserv for CNC members!
Thank you to everyone who responded to our inquiry — how best to create a forum where nonprofit leaders and staff can ask questions of each other and discuss issues that matter to our sector.
While a few people did say they liked the Slack, for now, the large majority is more comfortable with a listserv. After refining our ideas with CNC's Membership Committee, we're moving on to an internal testing and piloting period.
We expect to unveil the listserv for members later this Fall.
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Have a job to fill?
Want a boost for your social posts?
→ CNC will promote members' jobs in this newsletter + your free events/news on social media and beyond.
Let us know what you'd like us to promote by replying to this email.
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M ember Spotlight
Everything you've wanted to know about
✨The Young People's Project✨
This exchange is edited for length.
Read the entire Q&A w/ YPP on our blog.
What are your guiding principles?
YPP develops the abilities of Elementary through High School students to succeed in school and life through math literacy. In doing so, we involve them in efforts to eliminate institutional obstacles to their success.
We envision a day when every young person — regardless of ethnicity, gender, or class — has access to a high quality education and the skills, attributes, and community support s/he needs to successfully meet the challenges of their generation.
Tell us more about your services.
Through a cycle of learning, practice, teaching, and reflecting, YPP Math Literacy Workers (MLW - students) learn math concepts they teach others, and develop social and professional competencies to collaboratively facilitate the learning experience for younger students in a cascading near-peer model.
Over time, students age and opt into leadership roles from MLWs to college MLWs to program coordinators or directors. MLWs' job is to help younger school-aged children value learning math. As MLWs see how their efforts fuel younger students and develop relationships, their self-confidence increases. They begin to develop an identity as an agent of change in the community, imbuing their work with a strong sense of purpose and meaning.
Are there any upcoming projects you'd like others to know about?
We're excited to start the year off strong with partnerships with Cambridge Public School District. Flagway teams are being established this year right now.
Please share a recent story/event that embodies the work of your organization.
This spring, YPP hosted its annual Math & Computational Thinking Labs at the MIT Campus. This year’s institute centered on a series of 10 labs, which provided 75 high school and college Math Literacy Workers the opportunity to deepen their learning and dedication to math and coding content.
You could be next!
Get your nonprofit featured in our newsletter, on social media + our website. Blog post examples here.
We're looking for our next member nonprofit to feature. Simply email Caroline to get in the queue.
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For nonprofit leaders & staff
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Funding & Resources
Multiple Arts Grants (Cambridge Arts Council via Mass Cultural Council)
- Learn more about all three opportunities.
- Apply to all three opportunities by Tues, Oct. 17.
The grants are:
- Local Cultural Council Grants for Individuals or Organizations (guidelines): Up to $5,000. Additional state application.
- Art for Social Justice Grants (guidelines): $7,500.
- Organizational Investment Grants (guidelines): $9,000
Latino Equity Fund (The Boston Foundation)
- Eligibility: Cambridge-serving nonprofits.
- Deadline: Sun, 10/22 (midnight).
- Learn more & apply.
The Boston Foundation Nonprofit Updates
Contains information on multiple grant opportunities and other resources.
Member Job Opportunities
Looking for additional places to post your jobs? The Job Connector by MIT posts jobs on their website for local organizations. For more info, call 617.253.7854 or email jobconnector@mit.edu.
Events & Professional Development
TONIGHT! "It's Basic" Documentary Premiere
Join Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and Mayors for a Guaranteed Income for the premiere of the It's Basic documentary.
- When: Tonight, Thurs, Sept. 28 | Hors d'oeuvres reception, 5:30-6:30pm | Program and documentary screening, 6:30-8:30pm.
- Where: American Repertory Theater, 64 Brattle Street (Harvard Sq.)
- RSVP
Uncharitable the Movie is showing in Cambridge for one night of the theatrical release.
- When: Tues, Oct. 2
- Where: Landmark Kendall Square Cinema
- CNC will be hosting an event around this film later in the year. Stay tuned for more information.
Supreme Court Ruling on Affirmative Action:
Exploring Potential Implications & Opportunities for Nonprofits (The Boston Foundation)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (opportunities we featured last month)
Plain Language Workshops
- Host: City of Cambridge's Human Rights Commission, Language Justice Division
- Upcoming workshops: Th, Oct. 5 + Th, Dec. 14 | both 10-11:30am.
- Learn more & sign up.
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The ‘Overhead Myth’ Debunked, Again: A Q&A With Dan Pallotta (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
The fundraiser and activist’s new film Uncharitable, a polemical adaptation of Pallotta’s 2008 book of the same name, once again takes aim at the so-called overhead myth, the dogma that nonprofits ought to be rewarded for minimizing their overhead costs, even for essentials like salaries, rent, or insurance.
Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (24-min video, Harvard Radcliffe Institute)
An introduction to the first phase of the initiative’s work—the history—and is intended to be presented in the context of the Faculty Committee’s recommendations for action.
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 🎉 Check out Cambridge Volunteers' great new logo and website!
Need VOLUNTEERS?
Add your volunteer job to CV's list.
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