Open Society Institute – Baltimore
Open Society Institute (OSI) – Baltimore : Audacious Thinking For Lasting Change
Today, The Daily Record announced the 2013 Most Admired CEOs. Diana Morris, Director of OSI-Baltimore, was among the winners. The award recognizes men and women who have excelled professionally and in serving their communities.
For the last fifteen years we’ve helped launch programs, some that have floundered and many that have flourished. Given the urgency of the issues we address, we’re very willing to take on risk and, with our partners, try new approaches. We’re here to test what’s possible and create new pathways to opportunity and justice. Fifteen years is a blip in time for our undertaking. We’re in it for the long haul—because, sometimes, it’s not until years later that the change for which we advocate is proven as the right road taken.
Maryland’s preparation for the full implementation of health care reform on January 1, 2014 offers an exciting opportunity to make significant changes to our substance abuse treatment system. Open Society Institute-Baltimore and our grantees have spent many hours working to ensure that comprehensive substance abuse services are part of the essential health benefits in Maryland. This is an enormous step forward and will undoubtedly increase the number of individuals who are able to access substance abuse treatment next year.
This summer, the United States dominated the Summer Olympics by receiving more medals than any other country in the world. Sadly, the U.S. also leads the world in the number of people it incarcerates—about 2.3 million. And, most people in this country’s prisons and jails are disproportionately African American or Latino.
Addiction is truly a brain disease and not simply a behavior that someone can stop automatically. It is neurochemically driven, and not due to “moral weakness” or lack of “will power.” Unfortunately, it is one of the few chronic diseases where normally caring health care providers treat patients poorly because of misguided notions like “it’s their own fault, they should just stop using drugs.”
As an Indian-American woman who finds it important to regularly talk about the impact of race in our daily lives, Baltimore City fits me well. Yet, in a city where race pervades all discussions about improving Baltimore, when will Asian and Latino voices be welcomed into the fold? When provided space, our voices are relegated to “special forums,” perpetuating the foreignness of Asian and Latino experiences.
All children in Maryland, well behaved or otherwise, are guaranteed the right to an education. Yet, schools across the state are pushing children out with high rates of suspensions, primarily for non-violent acts.
After an extensive national search, last Thursday the Open Society Foundations announced the appointment of Kenneth Zimmerman as the new executive director of US Programs.
Zimmerman will take office on July 9th and, as his transition in New York begins, Diana Morris will be returning to OSI-Baltimore full time after a year of serving as the interim executive director.
During his visit to Baltimore yesterday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a gift of $5 million to the Open Society Institute-Baltimore for its Accelerated Pathways Initiative. This five-year initiative will create rigorous, supportive and accelerated high school options in Baltimore that will significantly increase graduation rates and post-secondary success, particularly for the city’s African-American […]
Today we are launching a brand new version of Audacious Ideas. With its new features, we hope it will become a versatile and easy way for us to interact with each other. As has been the case since 2007, each week you will still receive a new “audacious” idea aimed at changing Baltimore for the […]
OSI-Baltimore has permanently closed. It has been our honor and privilege to partner with and serve the Baltimore community for the past 25 years.
This website is available for historical purposes. It is no longer being updated.