Archive

Yesterday, Maryland Daily Record named OSI’s Director of Community Fellowships Pamela King one of Maryland’s “Top 100 Women” in a virtual ceremony. The honorees were initially announced in March. The latest print edition of the Daily Record includes a brief interview with King, below. King founded the OSI Community Fellowships program more that 20 years […]

Today is the last day of Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance’s (BNIA) Data Week. OSI was proud to participate in two sessions, which were recorded and are available to watch, along with all of the other sessions on BNIA’s YouTube page. This morning, OSI Director Danielle Torain participated in a discussion on “Using Data to Support […]

This week, the People’s Commission to Decriminalized Maryland held a virtual press conference to introduce the commission and its mission: To advocate for specific changes to Maryland’s criminal codes to stop the criminal justice system from targeting marginalized communities. You can watch the full presentation below. As Tara Huffman, Director of OSI’s Criminal and Juvenile […]

OSI-Baltimore sadly notes the passing of Avis Ransom, a 2002 Community Fellow, whose program, Income and Equality for All, sought to engage low wage and unemployed citizens in the process of creating and implementing innovative workforce solutions including worker cooperatives to increase their economic stability. An anti-racism consultant and workshop facilitator for Baltimore Racial Justice […]

For ten years, the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance has hosted Baltimore Data Day, a perennially fascinating deep dive into the ways that data can be leveraged to create positive change in communities. The tradition continues this year, albeit in slightly different form, as Baltimore Data Week, a week of virtual sessions engaging a wide range […]

Today, Open Society Foundations announced a $220 million investment to support Black-led movements for racial justice in the United States. This includes $150 million in five-year grants to build power for Black-led national organizations, including Black Voters Matter, Circle for Justice Innovations, Repairers of the Breach, and the Equal Justice Initiative. An additional $70 million […]

MARYLAND – Maryland residents are demanding change in our system of justice. Six months ago – at the invitation of Open Society Institute-Baltimore, before COVID-19 began ravaging black and brown communities, before the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others – a group of Maryland advocates and activists came together to demand […]

On Thursday, OSI-Baltimore Director Danielle Torain participated in Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle’s (LBS) virtual discussion on “Building Black Power: Creating Sustainable Change in the Black Community.” Dayvon Love, LBS Director of Public Policy, moderated the conversation, which also included business strategist Bakari Jones, Changa Oyango of AO Services, and Heber Brown, III, of Pleasant Hope […]

OSI has raised concerns before about the dire consequences that COVID -19 has had on students – especially poor students in Baltimore. These children lack digital equipment and Internet connectivity, while also facing food scarcity, due most recently to an inability to access the regular meals provided by schools. Comcast recognized the fact that these […]

BALTIMORE—Baltimore City residents think the city’s top priorities should be youth programs, affordable housing, and small business and neighborhood development, according to the Blueprint for Baltimore survey, which canvassed more than 5,000 Baltimore City residents in the fall. These priorities are sharply at odds with the proposed Baltimore City budget for fiscal year 2021, which […]