Archive

This week, the Baltimore Sun featured 2018 OSI Community Fellow Brittany Young and her project, B-360, which uses Baltimore’s dirt bike culture as a way to introduce young people to educational and career opportunities in STEM fields. Young, who is an elementary school technology instructor and a former chemical engineer, also hopes to change the perceptions of […]

Suzanne Cohen, a fierce advocate for equity and the arts and a longtime supporter and Advisory Board member at Open Society Institute, died last week at the age of 83. “All of us at OSI-Baltimore benefited from Sue’s talents, passion and many contributions,” said OSI-Baltimore director Diana Morris. “We will miss her.” Cohen supported many […]

A recent Justice Policy Institute report based on OSI-Baltimore’s five-year investment in providing reentry services to aging people being released from incarceration was the subject of a lengthy story in the Maryland Daily Record today. An excerpt: There is usually very little social support for people coming out of prison, according to Deputy Public Defender […]

This spring, Open Society Institute-Baltimore Director Diana Morris will go on a four-month sabbatical as part of Open Society Foundations’ (OSF) sabbatical program. The program allows all full-time employees who have worked for the organization for at least five years to apply and be considered for a four-month leave of absence to pursue projects of […]

On Tuesday, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a grantee of Open Society Foundations, filed a class action lawsuit against an unlicensed bail bonds company operating in Baltimore. The lawsuit challenges 4 Aces Bail Bonds Incorporated’s unlawful and predatory practices, including collecting bail bond premiums without a license. Bail bond companies must be […]

Last night, 150 Baltimore City Schools students and their chaperones attended the Washington, D.C. stop on the book tour for Michelle Obama’s recently released memoir, “Becoming.” As the Baltimore Sun describes, Obama was able to connect with the students thanks to OSI-Baltimore Advisory Board member Alicia Wilson, who met Obama last year and talked about […]

On Friday, OSI Director of Strategic Communications Evan Serpick moderated a panel on Criminal Justice and Opportunities for Legislative Success at the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Maryland Policy Advocates Meeting. The panelists included Nikki Thompson, Senior Policy Advocate at the Job Opportunities Task Force, and Delegate Erek Barron of Prince George’s County. Serpick was filling […]

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that, in response to criticism of its handling of alleged election-tampering, “Facebook employed a Republican opposition-research firm to discredit activist protesters, in part by linking them to the liberal financier George Soros.” In response, Patrick Gaspard, president of Open Society Foundations (which was founded by Soros), sent a letter […]

This Saturday, November 17th, the Baltimore Museum of Art hosts the opening celebration for an exhibition of work from Get Your Life! (GYL!), a youth-run production company that was based out of 901 Arts, the community arts center led by 2010 OSI Community Fellow, Sarah Tooley. The GYL! exhibit, which features presents videos, costumes, props, and documents created […]