Message from the President

Derrick Davis

Reflections on 2009

December 30, 2009

Dear Friends,

Today is one of those spirit-lifting Vermont winter days with nary a cloud in the sky, still winds, and two feet of fresh snow on the ground outside our home in Stowe. From my office window I can see the trails on MT. Mansfield with hordes of skiers navigating their way down. At $87 per skier per day, that is a good sign for the Vermont economy! (It also helps support the bottom line of AIG, if you care about that).

2009 was a year of subtractions and additions for The Permanent Fund. Our co-founder, Carl Ferenbach, graduated to Permanent Fund board emeritus status which allows him to step away from regular board activities. Carl and his wife, Judy, continue to be strong supporters of The Permanent Fund and we will seek their counsel and keep them up to date on Permanent Fund work while riding a chairlift on good ski days.

An addition to the Permanent Fund family came with the birth of a lovely daughter, born to our executive director, Christine Zachai, and her husband. With both of their children, Christine and family are doing their part in building bright futures in Vermont!

2009 was an especially strong year for the work of The Permanent Fund. In spite of a weak economy and cutbacks on many fronts, our funding remained steady and we were able to make real progress on our signature projects.

With exceptional people on the ground, The Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative (VCPC) gained real momentum in 2009 working to create a state-wide system for high quality universal preschool for all 3 and 4 year olds. In a time of extremely tight budgets, this is a savvy approach as the science shows that the return on investment for school success is greatest during these early years.

Now, more than ever, superintendents are embracing the notion that 10 hours/week of preschool should be a part of the K-12 System. To date VCPC has created over 800 preschool slots that qualify for public funding which will have the effect of injecting over $2,000,000 each year in to the child care system.

The Vermont Mentoring collaborative (VMC) is also a smart approach to getting children the assets they need to thrive in very difficult economic times. Adult/child mentoring is based on the volunteer effort of a caring adult. As the research indicates, when done well, mentoring is extremely effective and can provide a substantial, short term return on investment. The VMC, with the help of strong leadership, is focusing on promoting high quality mentoring programs in every elementary school in Vermont with an emphasis on sustainability. We have learned that it is essential for mentoring programs to have the benefit of community advisory boards which help with local fundraising and mentor recruitment in order to achieve real sustainability. To date, our funding has supported the creation of over 1000 adult/child mentoring matches in Vermont! Our goal is to contribute to a culture of mentoring in every Vermont community so that mentoring a child becomes the norm and not the exception.

These two initiatives have taught us that we must have the patience and resolve to stay at the table, longer than foundations typically would, in order to get the results we are seeking. We have been working on VCPC for five years and Mentoring for ten. The indisputable science and research keeps us committed and in 2009 we saw the potential of soon reaching a “tipping point” on both of these initiatives that will lead to the creation of the system and culture we are after.

Also, our persistent efforts to put children of incarcerated parents on the radar screen for the Vermont Department of Corrections is beginning to bear fruit in terms of improved state policy as it affects this vulnerable population. This is also an initiative that has required real patience; however the Permanent Fund continues to take the lead on this issue because the potential human return on investment for both the Permanent Fund and our state is significant.

Talking about strategies, policy, systems, institutions, and cultures, can lead to pretty dry discussions. It is important to circle back and visit the children and families we support, speak with the talented folks on the ground, and stay connected to our work. It does not take long, sitting in those tiny preschool chairs engaging 3 and 4 year olds in conversation and play or visiting with a volunteer adult mentor and a 10 year old boy who has been struggling in school, to remember why we are doing this work.

But once we speak with the moms, program leaders, superintendents and principals, we start talking again about how to sustain such good practices, or how to spread these good practices throughout Vermont. And, invariably, we get right back to discussing strategies, policy, systems, structures, and cultures.

When Carl and I first spoke about starting The Permanent Fund we agreed that we did not want to “go it alone” and wanted to attract the very best people to the work. Thankfully, we were able to develop a board of directors with people more experienced and knowledgeable than us in childhood issues, the research, the Vermont non-profit sector, and Vermont State policy and politics as it relates to our mission. We made the wise choice of becoming a supporting organization with The Vermont Community Foundation which has allowed us to focus our resources on our mission. And we agreed at our first board meeting that we would seek out and collaborate with other foundations and individuals who were interested in and active in our field. This collaborative approach has unquestionably made us a stronger, more effective foundation.

As we enter 2010, it is my hope that we will leverage the strong momentum from 2009 and continue to make great strides with our signature projects. We will continue to take our cues from research and best practices from people like Dr. Robert Shonkoff of Harvard who wrote “Science-Based Approaches to Early Childhood Development”. We will look further upstream to include the very early years as we seek to get greater and greater returns on our investments. We will take a good look at Home Visiting in Vermont to see if we can have a positive impact on that important service delivery system for children birth to three. And we will continue to look at ways we can help strengthen the work of family home child care providers since so many of Vermont’s infants and toddlers spend many hours in their care.

Christine reminds us that there is no single strategy or approach that will get us the outcomes we seek. Rather it is the reinforcing effect of many efforts and a holistic approach that is apt to achieve the best long term results. To that end, Christine has joined Vermont’s Building Bright Futures Council and in 2010 she will help that organization coordinate and establish an early childhood system that has the potential to produce better outcomes for Vermont’s children.

In 2010 we will continue to work closely with our excellent funding partners. As an example, we would like to support the leadership of The A.D Henderson Foundation in developing a strategy to provide an effective system for professional development in child care and early education. We will continue to convene the brightest minds on all these issues knowing that we do not have all the answers and are always eager to learn.

The Permanent Fund could not do this important work without the financial support that many of you provide. Our budget in 2010 will be more than three times the $250,000 it was just over ten years ago when we started. It is my hope that in 2010 and forward The Permanent Fund will continue to grow. There is challenging work ahead and it is my belief that Vermont can benefit substantially from the approach of The Permanent Fund.

Vermont’s budget constraints in 2010 may be far greater than in any year in recent memory. We will continue to advocate for smart policy as it affects children and families and will be realistic in our advocacy. It is important to note that not all good policy requires additional resources. We remain passionate about our mission and believe that all Vermont children should have the opportunity to lead healthy, happy lives. We also know that smart, early investments in children can reap financial rewards for Vermont, even in the short term.

Happy New Year!

Rick

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAST MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT

Slow Philanthropy

As I was reading an article about local Vermont food, I realized that there are parallels between the “Slow Food” movement and the brand of philanthropy we practice at the Permanent Fund.

Slow Food involves the coming together of the food community – connecting producers and co-producers, coming together on the farm, in the market, and at the table. It is about taking the time to think about where our food comes from and savoring each bite!

The Permanent Fund’s approach to philanthropy encourages developing of relationships with funders who share an interest in promoting the well-being of Vermont’s children. We learn a tremendous amount from other funders and, by coming together to identify important issues and develop solutions, we become better informed and more effective grant makers. And, by making these connections with other funders, we are able to undertake initiatives we could not tackle alone.

In “Slow Philanthropy” we also make strong connections with the service providers in our areas of interest and develop ongoing relationships with the people working day in and day out in these fields. We take the time to work closely with our grantees as well as the children, families, and community members because these relationships and sharing of ideas provides a deeper understanding of the issues.

How, for example, could we truly understand the issues facing children with incarcerated parents if we did not take the time to visit with mothers and fathers who are incarcerated and speak with children whose parents are in jail? How could we possibly be effective in this area if we did not take the time to visit with the Department of Corrections and involve key legislators and other stakeholders in the conversation? Knowing that it is the people involved who make the difference, how could we truly leverage our grants if we did not take the time to identify and partner with the leaders in these fields who are addressing the issues and developing effective solutions?

By establishing connections with all the players, including the children, families, and communities we serve, we ultimately hope to have a greater impact in our communities. “Slow Philanthropy” requires patience and a willingness to stick with initiatives. Over the past 10 years we have learned a great deal about responsible and respectful grant making and have experienced the joy and rewards to this approach.

There’s much important work to do for Vermont’s children and the vexing issues they face. Join us. From the seed of an idea to taking the time to think about all the players involved, when we sit down at the table we can contemplate each outcome and savor each bite!

It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. - Mother Teresa

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a number of years I have had the opportunity to see first hand the impact we can have on the lives of children when we give them a helping hand. Often it is a small boost at the right time that is all that is needed. At other times it may be a more comprehensive effort or systematic change in a child's environment that is needed. But in every case, I have discovered that when we genuinely care about the children in our community and believe in their potential, the sky is the limit for the difference we can make in their lives.

This first hand experience has led to a passion for the work of promoting the well-being of Vermont children. I firmly believe that this is important work, knowing that when we provide children with the assets they need in order to thrive, Vermont reaps significant benefits down the road. It is this belief and passion that led me to join with my friends, Carl and Judy Ferenbach, to found The Permanent Fund for The Well-Being of Vermont Children in 2000.

But passion, alone, was not the genesis of The Permanent Fund. We saw this as an opportunity to create a proactive model for our philanthropy where we would invest in, not just good programs, but in community-based strategies where we would be active participants. Our commitment to hiring a full-time executive director is an indicator of our belief that engaging actively in community work enhances our opportunity to create real leverage and produce tangible results.

Collaboration has been a hallmark of The Permanent Fund from the start. We became a supporting organization with The Vermont Community Foundation with the firm belief that if we work closely with others, rather than going it alone, we will be a stronger and more effective foundation. And by collaborating with other foundations and philanthropists within our mission area, we are able to learn from the experience of others as well as join together to fund projects we could not undertake alone.

“It is all about the people”, stated one of our board members after a day of visiting early childhood programs in Northern Vermont. We all know that the best strategies in the world are not effective unless there are good people involved to carry them out. We want to work with strong leaders and exceptional individuals because we know that the success of any project is directly related to the people involved.

The Permanent Fund would like to stay nimble, be opportunistic, and fill gaps in services whenever possible. We are always learning and want to continually check our own progress in achieving clearly stated outcomes.

The Permanent Fund board and staff have a deeply held commitment to improve the lives of Vermont children. Our philanthropy is a bond between people and all of our work and the grants we make are based on the value of strong human relationships. We are fortunate to be able to do this work and feel extremely gratified when we know we have made a difference.