Archive

Last week, Mayor Catherine Pugh visited Maunabo, a city on the Southeastern coast of Puerto Rico, as part of a mayoral exchange organized by Open Society Foundations. The program, launched in February, was created so that U.S. mayors could express solidarity and share expertise with their Puerto Rican counterparts as they try to rebuild after […]

The Coalition to Reform School Discipline is asking the Baltimore school board to create a new version of the Miranda warning to use in the event that they place students under arrest. The coalition, which includes Open Society grantees NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, ACLU of Maryland, the Public Defender’s Office, and Disability Rights Maryland, […]

On Wednesday, students in Dr. Lamarr Shields‘ (back row, right) Teacher Exchange program met with Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises (back row, third from right) to talk about the progress of their work and what they’ve learned. Dr Shields, and educator and 2016 OSI Community Fellow founded the Teacher Exchange with the idea that […]

On Tuesday, the Baltimore Teacher Supply Swap, which was co-founded by 2016 Open Society Community Fellow Melissa Badeker (pictured), officially opened its new headquarters at 1794 Union Avenue in Woodberry. The Supply Swap collects unused supplies that sit in teachers’ homes and school supply closets and gets them into the hands of teachers who can use them. […]

Today, several staff members from Open Society Institute met with about 20 representatives from Baltimore’s Latino community to talk about OSI’s program areas and Safe City Baltimore initiative, and listen to the representatives’ thoughts on what is most needed in their communities. Open Society Advisory Board member Veronica Cool (speaking in the photo above), arranged […]

2016 Open Society Institute Community Fellow JC Faulk hosted a conversation with Chelsea Manning, the activist and former Army intelligence analyst who served seven years in prison for leaking classified documents related to U.S. military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The facilitated conversation, part of Faulk’s An End to Ignorance-Circle of Voices series, focused on […]

The 2017 cohort of OSI Community Fellows gathered at the Jubilee Arts building in West Baltimore yesterday morning for their monthly gathering to learn more about each others’ projects and share ideas on issues and challenges that arise. At each of the monthly gatherings, all ten Fellows in the cohort offer and update and two […]

Last week, members of the Horticultural Society of Maryland (HSM) donated a pickup truck-load of plants and gardening tools and related items to the Cherry Hill Urban Garden (CHUG), led by OSI Community Fellow Eric Jackson, pictured here, right, with OSI Advisory Board member John Meyerhoff. OSI Leadership Council member Lenel Srochi-Meyerhoff, chair of HSM’s Community […]

This week, 2016 OSI Community Fellow, Gianna Rodriguez was one of seven artists selected for the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance 2018 Rubys Artist Project Grants in media arts and performing arts. The cohort includes artists working with electronic music, immersive sound, dance, video art, short film, and a multimedia variety show. As part of her […]

Last night about 150 community members gathered at the University of Baltimore’s Learning Commons for Open Society and Baltimore Ceasefire’s Talking About Race event, Mothers of the Movement Speak. Open Society Director Diana Morris opened the program, talking about OSI’s work on police accountability and the need for deep, systemic reform of the Baltimore Police […]