Piper Trust expands sustainable health initiative

January 9, 2012

The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has announced grants totaling $4.7 million – an infusion of funds for the nonprofit community that will advance their work in the areas of arts and culture, services for disadvantaged children, youth mentoring, higher education research initiatives and civic engagement opportunities for older adults. A $3 million grant will expand the Center for Sustainable Health at Arizona State University.

  “Virginia Galvin Piper, who would have been 100 years old this past December [December 7, 2011], has had her grantmaking legacy in Maricopa County for 11 years now through Piper Trust. The diversity and quality shown in today’s collection of grant awards is a meaningful representation of Mrs. Piper’s wishes to strengthen and grow our community – she would be pleased,” said Judy Jolley Mohraz, president and CEO, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust.   Download Full Image

The Trust’s investment to expand ASU’s Center for Sustainable Health will further the Center’s innovative work addressing the collective power on how technology, economics and human behavior – when functioning effectively together – can greatly improve health outcomes and reduce the financial and human cost of disease. A key focus of the Center’s efforts with the grant will be healthy aging – a core area of engagement for Piper Trust.

“It’s imperative that health systems shift from an expensive and ineffective late-stage response to an effective prevention and early detection approach to health,” said Michael Birt, director, Center for Sustainable Health, Biodesign Institute, ASU. “We need to connect the elements of a health system – people, science, industry and policy – and create a new model that values quality, cost-effective, preventative healthcare focused on improving health outcomes. Piper Trust’s leadership and investment in this type of innovation and action will contribute to the transformation of health systems locally and globally.”  

Another significant community impact will come from a $245,000 grant award to expand the City of Tempe’s Experience Corps project (Experience Corps is a national leader in engaging older adult tutors to improve Kindergarten through third grade student literacy in disadvantaged schools). Piper Trust’s investment will enable the City of Tempe to serve 750 children in 12 schools by engaging 100 older adults as tutors and mentors.

Grants awarded August through December 2011 include  (listed by grantmaking area):

 ARTS AND CULTURE – TOTAL AWARDED: $122,000

• Alliance for Audience: Assess and develop a plan for the organization’s technology needs ( $16,500, 3 months)

• Fountain Hills Community Theater: Replace lighting and sound equipment on the Main Stage and Youth Theater ($55,500, 12 months)

• Musical Instrument Museum: Develop and execute a targeted marketing and communications campaign. ($50,000, 12 months)

 CHILDREN – TOTAL AWARDED: $305,000

• Assistance League of Phoenix:  Establish an Executive Director position and expand a school clothing program serving disadvantaged children ($150,000, 36 months)

• Back to School Clothing Drive: Expand a school uniform program serving disadvantaged children ( $155,000, 12 months)

 EDUCATION – TOTAL AWARDED: $210,000

• Arizona State University Foundation*: Support of Morrison Institute for Public Policy’s “Arizona Directions” research project ($10,000, 12 months)

• Greater Phoenix Youth at Risk, Inc.: Acquire and integrate “Arizona Quest for Kids” mentoring program. ($200,000, 24 months)

 HEALTHCARE AND MEDICAL RESEARCH – TOTAL AWARDED: $3,000,000

• Arizona State University Foundation*: Expand ASU’s Center for Sustainable Health ($3,000,000, 36 months)

 OLDER ADULTS – TOTAL AWARDED: $618,500

• City of Tempe Community Services Department:  Provide “Experience Corps” program in 12 schools ( $245,000, 36 months)

• Experience Matters Consortium*:  Develop and implement a staffing plan, funding strategy and six “Encore Fellowships” ( $373,500, 36 months)

OTHER – TOTAL AWARDED: $449,320

• Arizona Endowment Building Planning Initiative: Develop and implement the “Planned Giving and Endowment Building Educational Continuum” curriculum. ($150,000, 36 months)

 Piper Fellows Program – 2011 Fellows’ Sabbaticals

Provide $40,000 for each sabbatical over 12 months; fellowships support the exploration of leadership development practices, educational programs and best practice sites around the country.

• Back to School Clothing Drive: Karl Gentles, executive director
• Desert Botanical Garden: MaryLynn Mack, deputy director
• Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona: Barbara DuVal Fenster, executive director
• Southwest Shakespeare Company: Jared Sakren, producing artistic director
• UMOM New Day Centers: Darlene Newsom, CEO

Piper Fellows Program – Organizational Enhancement Awards 

Support specific projects that address opportunities or challenges facing Piper Fellows’ organizations.

• Adelante Healthcare:  Support for healthcare innovation consulting services through “The Center for Health Design/Pebble Project” and a research intern ( $49,320, 12 months)

• The Beatitudes Campus: Expand the internal non-medical home care program to older adults living outside the retirement campus ( $50,000, 12 months)

*A grant originally awarded to a foundation or 501c3 organization that funds an agreed upon program or product.

Media contact:
Karen Leland, kleland@pipertrust.org
480-556-7125

Lisa Robbins

Assistant Director, Media Relations and Strategic Communications

480-965-9370 lisarobbins@asu.edu

Social entrepreneurship: one approach to higher ed bubble bust

Economists are not alone in their worry of an impending higher education bubble bust; ASU will welcome 500 higher education leaders Feb. 10-11 to discuss solutions.

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Social entrepreneurship: one approach to higher ed bubble bust

January 9, 2012

Higher ed leaders gather at ASU Feb. 10-11 to address issue

Economists are not alone in their worry of an impending higher education bubble bust. Given the drastic increase in cost and decrease in relevance of a college degree over the past decades, Ashoka U Exchange participants – faculty and students across disciplines, administrators and social entrepreneurs – are united in their conviction that cosmetic changes to their institutions are not enough. Download Full Image

Co-hosted by Ashoka, the world’s largest association of social entrepreneurs, and Arizona State University, Ashoka will bring together more than 100 colleges and universities from 15 countries to discuss the "so what?" of higher education for an event at ASU, Feb. 10-11.

In debates on the higher education crisis, there has been much talk of the need to cut costs. However, in a world of accelerated change, we can’t afford not to educate the next generation of leaders to effectively address the world’s daunting social and environmental challenges. Social entrepreneurship education is one approach, gaining rapidly in popularity.

Interest in social entrepreneurship has experienced a mostly quiet, but dramatic growth in higher education over the past few years. Ashoka U Exchange participants see disruptive innovation as an opportunity for colleges and universities to become more entrepreneurial, identifying ways to leverage the entire spectrum of institutional resources for social impact, and creating a world-changing educational experience that makes a difference. Participants come to share new educational methodologies and strategies to catalyze universities as drivers of global social change.

The February event will highlight:

• the importance and impact of developing ecosystems for social entrepreneurship. Keynote speakers: Len Schlesinger (Babson College), ASU President Michael Crow and Scott Cowen (Tulane University).

• TEDx talks from Barbara Bush, president of Global Health Corps; Peter Diamandis, CEO of X-Prize and chairman of Singularity University; Liz Dwyer, education editor from GOOD Magazine; and Dale Stephens, founder and chief educational deviant of UnCollege.

• emerging trends workshop that showcases the relationship between technology and education with the founders and senior leaders from Google +, Knewton and KNO, moderated by Richard Culatta, deputy director, Office of Educational Technology, US Department of Education.

• innovation awards that recognize programs and practices at the forefront of social entrepreneurship education.

• pitch competition (ASU Innovation Challenge) that will show how students are creating their own jobs and addressing social problems at the same time.

For information about attending, contact Renata Chilvarquer.