New Strategic Initiative to
Enhance Capacity of Youth-Serving Nonprofits in the County
The Prince George’s County Council and Venture Philanthropy
Partners (VPP) announced the new Ready for Work Nonprofit Capacity Building Initiative to strengthen nonprofits to better serve youth across the county.
There are currently more than
4-thousand nonprofits operating in Prince George’s County and most are without
the capacity to successfully apply for major grant support or fully achieve
their objectives.
Council Chair Derrick L. Davis says the Council is working to change that with a $250,000 commitment to Ready for Work.
“The Council appropriated FY 2018 funding to support this pilot
initiative and the power of nonprofits to serve the community. We are especially excited to partner with VPP
to build up nonprofits in Prince George’s County dedicated to improving the
lives of young people, and the Council congratulates the selected nonprofit
participants. This is a critical
investment in our youth and the future of our County.”
Carol Thompson-Cole, President and CEO of Venture
Philanthropy Partners added, “At VPP, we strive to improve the lives of youth
in Greater Washington. With the Ready
for Work Nonprofit Capacity Building Initiative, we are investing in Prince
George’s County nonprofits so they can expand their ability to help young
people achieve their goals. We are excited to see the long-term impact that
this will have on youth.”
Ready
for Work is a six-year, $15 million investment to help young people in Prince George’s County successfully transition to career and college ready adults.
A key goal of Ready
for Work is to build networks of community-based organizations that can provide integrated supports for students. The Nonprofit Capacity Building Initiative will strengthen the capacity of these nonprofits to provide more students in the county with high-quality services.
Following a competitive process, four nonprofits in the
County were identified as organizations specifically focused on providing high
school students with academic achievement, high school completion,
post-secondary preparation, career readiness and healthy behaviors.
· First
Generation College Bound
• The Foundation for the
Advancement of Music and Education (FAME)
• Joe’s
Movement Emporium
• End-Time Harvest Ministries
VPP has selected Fair Chance, an experienced provider of nonprofit capacity building, to co-manage the initiative and work with the nonprofits to improve organizational outcomes in
• Effective
leadership
• Strategic
governance and stewardship
• Organizational
management practices
• Program
design, implementation and evaluation
• Communications
• Collaboration
Selected nonprofits will receive support to become
high-performing organizations, and be provided the opportunity to strengthen
grant writing, management and report writing skills and capacities. Each nonprofit
will compete for mini-grants for use over a three-year period to further
enhance select organizational and programmatic capacities. The program will
also focus on strengthening the boards of the participating organizations.
By the end of the three-year period, participating nonprofits may be invited to begin serving students in the Ready for Work high schools.
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