The term “nonprofit” can convey the notion that organizations with that designation do not create wealth. Not true.
Nonprofits attract money as well as distribute it, and the best among them help drive social priorities. One of the best among them is The Rhode Island Foundation.
Led by President and CEO Neil Steinberg, the 96-year-old foundation set a record in 2011 by donating $30 million for education, health care, human services and other needs. But that’s just one piece of the story. The foundation brings large sums of public and private money into Rhode Island and directs that money toward building institutions and wealth.
“It is not just the for-profit sector that contributes to economic growth,” said Marie Langlois, former managing director of Washington Trust Investors and foundation board member. “There are many ways that the foundation has an impact on economic activity here.”
Paul Choquette, vice-chairman of Gilbane Inc. and a former foundation board member, said, “There was a time when [the foundation] was much more passive as a grant maker, but it has become more activist in recent years. Many areas it has gotten active in will have an impact on the economy.” Choquette credited this to an unusually dynamic board and to Steinberg’s work.
Langlois mentioned the foundation’s Innovative Fellowships, announced in October 2011. Providence philanthropists Lititia and John Carter wanted to encourage fresh solutions to the state’s social and economic problems. The Carters went to the foundation and together they hammered out the idea for the fellowships, through which the Carters will give $300,000 to recipients who present innovative proposals for improving the lives of Rhode Islanders.
“We hope to get some ‘A-ha!’ moments out of this,” said Steinberg.
Another example Langlois offered is the foundation’s help in bringing $75 million in federal Race to the Top educational reform funds into Rhode Island. Steinberg served on the committee for Rhode Island’s Race to the Top application, and the foundation gave the R.I. Department of Education $75,000 for the project.
The foundation helped bring Teach for America to Rhode Island, making a $300,000 commitment to the effort. Steinberg led the fundraising campaign to obtain the remaining $2.4 million needed to establish a local Teach for America presence. The program will bring 90 teachers to work in disadvantaged schools.
In the health care realm, there is a shortage of primary care doctors in the Rhode Island. In 2009, the foundation joined two other health care entities to help pay back loans of doctors who agreed to practice primary care in the Ocean State. Up to late 2011, the foundation had spent $1.6 million in grants toward primary health care initiatives.
Anne Szostak, a foundation board member, said, “The foundation is funding huge investments in the public school system as an investment in our future. If you have educated people and healthy people, you are going to have a much better work force.” She called Steinberg “a terrific leader. He is passionate about our state; he a do-er, not just a talker. He is a catalyst for positive change.”
Langlois also said the grants that the foundation gives to dozens of nonprofits – a varied as the Tiverton Land Trust and Crossroads Rhode Island – employ many and bring value into the state.
“If someone is thinking of locating a business and is looking at different states, they want good public schools, health care, quality of life, and a sense of community,” Langlois said. “The foundation is helping create an environment that is making the state a better place to live, and this contributes to economic activity.” •
