L E A D E R

WINTER 2016 | DALLASFOUNDATION.ORG

1 #Gen. Colin L. Powell Highlight of Early Matters Dallas Summit

2 #Dallas Foundation Brings Early Learning Leaders to Dallas

3 #Letter from the President and CEO

4 #Supporting Socially Relevant Filmmaking #Inspiring Generations of Philanthropy

5 #Dallas Foundation’s Fall Snapshots

6 #Giving for Good Cards#Good Works Under 40 Winners

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They don’t know it yet, but infants born in Dallas this year are just a little luckier than those born a few years ago.

hose 2016 babies will benefit from a new citywide commitment to improving early childhood learning and welfare called Early Matters Dallas (EMD). The coalition includes top business and nonprofit executives and civic, philanthropic and

educational leaders. The Dallas Foundation is an active member of the effort.

Although the group announced its mission last fall with a full-page newspaper ad, Early Matters Dallas held its first major events on November 1. In the morning, two dozen corporate leaders met to hear about EMD goals and strategies. Next was a luncheon for the business community at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas focusing on the long-term economic benefits of providing high- quality early education to all kids. The finale was a near capacity lecture by

former Secretary of State Gen. Colin L. Powell (USA, retired) at the Meyerson Symphony Center downtown, sponsored by the University of Dallas, the Moody Foundation and Early Matters Dallas.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings welcomed the audience for Gen. Powell’s speech, which was part of the University of Dallas McDermott Lecture series. Mayor Rawlings stressed that improving access to high-quality early childhood education can help reduce the city’s yawning wealth gap. Without it, many low-income

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t The Dallas Foundation, we have a simple motto: Here for Good. Our goal is to serve our community, and the people who live here, forever. We do that by

linking philanthropic resources with the agencies and programs that need and deserve them. The nonprofits we fund help educate, heal, shelter, feed, comfort,

uplift and inspire residents of Dallas County. We work hard to lead and to listen, and to be responsive to donors who entrust us with their dollars and the

nonprofit agencies that seek funding from us. We all want to improve life in North Texas and the world beyond. When we do good together, we accomplish more.

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“Early education can change individual children’s lives,” Gen. Powell said. “Thanks to Early Matters Dallas.”

Early Matters Summit features Gen. Colin Powell

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Kim Leeson Photography

T he Dallas Foundation and the Boston Consulting Group convened more than 200 early

education leaders from across the country to share best practices and discuss mutual challenges. The day-long event was held November 2 at Union Station in downtown Dallas. Nineteen communities, including Seattle, New Orleans, Chattanooga and New York City, sent teams to participate in the event, called “Driving Impact for Tomorrow: A National Convening on Early Learning.”

“This was not an event to convince educators or public officials about the importance of high-quality early education,” said Mary M. Jalonick, president and CEO of The Dallas Foundation. “This was an invitation- only conference for communities that already have committed to that goal and are trying to figure out how to achieve it. These teams are eager to learn from one another and take home practical ideas.”

The idea for the conference originated with Dr. Libby Doggett, a Texan serving as deputy assistant secretary for policy and early learning in the U.S. Department of Education. She suggested to Jalonick that The Dallas Foundation bring together cities that are finding ways to increase access to high-quality early childhood education. Each community would send representatives from a variety of sectors, including public education, higher education, philanthropy, and nonprofit organizations.

Immediate Past Board Chairman J. Puckett, a senior partner and manag-ing director of The Boston Consulting Group, committed to co-sponsor the event, bringing both planning and staffing to the convening.

Dr. Doggett opened the convening with a national perspective on early childhood education. The definition of “high quality” early learning continues to evolve, she said.

“Children learn not just from the teacher, but from one another,” she told the audience.

She said the country needs more research into what environments are best for the youngest children and to think of early childhood education as a continuum that extends from preschool to third grade.

Dr. Doggett urged audience members to learn everything they could from one another, especially about raising standards and increasing funding.

“States can’t wait for the federal government to act,” she said. “Cities can’t wait, and they haven’t waited. Cities are leading the way.”

Next, Regen Fearon, a former Dallas Foundation governor who has been deeply involved in improving early childhood education, described how Dallas is addressing the issue. She talked about the Zero to Five Funders Collaborative, which brought together more than 30 foundations and donors to strengthen families and early learning in the Bachman Lake area of Dallas. Derek Little, Dallas ISD’s assistant superintendent for early learning, then focused his remarks on how early education has evolved in Dallas, highlighting key accomplishments, including Dallas ISD’s long-term strategic planning, the success of a county-wide marketing campaign resulting in increased pre-K enrollment in Dallas County, and the unification of organizations under Early Matters Dallas for ongoing advocacy.

A “gallery walk” followed the morning plenary session. Each city had a station and a poster that highlighted its most promising practices. Attendees toured the stations and asked questions of each city’s representatives.

Dr. Dale Farran of Vanderbilt University and Mendy Coe of Metro Nashville Public Schools, led a plenary about determining quality in early education.

Dr. Farran found what she calls the “Magic 8” – a set of interactions and

approaches exhibited in the best early childhood classrooms. Some were simple, such as reducing transitions between activities. Some were more complicated, such as increasing the quality of instruction. But a pre-K that doesn’t follow these practices probably won’t produce lasting positive results for children.

Coe, who has taught preschool and coached teachers, said school administrators and early learning advocates need to focus on the transition from pre-K to kindergarten. Too often, kindergarten repeats large portions of pre-K. And the health and social services available in some pre-school programs, such as Head Start, disappear at kindergarten.

After lunch, the audience attended panel discussions about funding, teacher training, comprehensive

services for children and encouraging collaboration among professionals who work with infants, toddlers and children. Attendees reconvened for a motivational debriefing with Todd Williams, founder of the Commit! Partnership in Dallas.

After the convening, Dr. Lisa Roy of the Denver Public Schools said

she appreciated that the conference focused on cities and school districts, because that’s how education is organized in Colorado. “We’re going to have a debrief session with everyone about what they learned and which ideas they would like to implement. People who attended seemed very excited about it.” Dr. Roy said.

Resources:For information about the conference, please visit: http://bit.ly/2gP6RxeTo learn about Dallas County’s new community partnership for early education, visit earlymattersdallas.org.

“States can’t wait for the federal government to act,” she said. “Cities can’t wait, and they haven’t waited. Cities are leading the way.”

Dr. Dale Farran, Mendy Coe and moderator Nicole Stockdale

Libby Doggett

The Dallas Team: Susan Hoff, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, Ivan Duran, Tori Mannes, Kenneth Gilbert, Terry Ford, Derek Little, Regen Fearon and Jessica Trudeau (not pictured: Heather Bryant, Todd Williams and Mary Jalonick)

Peter Beck, George Kaiser, Mary Jalonick and Mayor Mike Rawlings

eaders to

Dallas Foundation Brings Early Learning

DALLAS

2 | The Leader

Jason Janik Photography

children start formal education behind more affluent peers and then never catch up.

“Early education can change individual children’s lives,” he said. “Thanks to Early Matters Dallas, we have a county-wide plan to get 80 percent of kids ready for kindergarten by 2025.”

Gen. Powell walked onstage to a standing ovation. He offered a few stories about life as a retired four-star general and former secretary of state. For example, he said, police officers in the Washington, DC, area often have a military back-ground. When he gets pulled over for speeding, they salute before they write him a ticket.

Then Gen. Powell turned serious. As he has grown older, he has become more concerned about young people, he said. In 1997, he became founding chairman of America’s Promise Alliance, a partnership striving to ensure that all children have the basic resources they need to succeed at home, in school and in the community.

His work initially targeted school-age children and teenagers.

“But with each passing year, I kept coming back down the age ladder,” he said. “A few years ago, it occurred to me: It starts at birth.”

He urged everyone in the audience, and the organizations and businesses they represent, to become involved with young people.

“Don’t deny yourself the opportunity to invest in the future of your community,” Gen. Powell said. “We have to tell kids, ‘We have expectations for you. We believe in you. We love you. We want you to be successful.’”

The evening ended with former Dallas ISD Assistant Superintendent of Early Childhood Education Alan Cohen and EMD organizer and former Dallas Foundation Governor Regen Fearon presenting Mary Jalonick, the Foundation’s longtime president and CEO, with an award named in her honor. The annual Early Matters Dallas Mary Jalonick Award will recognize an outstanding, inspiring, indefatigable local advocate for early childhood education.

Completely surprised by the award, Jalonick deflected the credit toward colleagues and then thanked audience members for their commitment to help youngsters.

“Thank you for caring about children,” Jalonick said. “We’re going to make this happen.”

For more information about Early Matters Dallas, please visit earlymattersdallas.org.

“Don’t deny yourself the opportunity to invest in the future of your community,” Gen. Powell said. “We have to tell kids, ‘We have expectations for you. We believe in you. We love you. We want you to be successful.’”

>> Ea r l y Ma t t e r s Summi t Fea tu res Gen . Co l i n Powe l l ( Con t i nued f rom page 1 )

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Letter from the President & CEO This has been a remarkable year for The Dallas

Foundation. Progress on our decade-long

effort to improve early childhood welfare in

Dallas County accelerated dramatically.

In May, we helped cut the ribbon on the

Bachman Lake Together Family Center, an

outgrowth of the work begun by the Zero to

Five Funders Collaborative. In November,

we helped organize two days of events about

early learning, including an invitation-only

conference with experts and practitioners

from across the country. This is exciting news

for our county’s youngest residents.

This has been a remarkable year in American

philanthropy, too. For the first time, the

organization that raised the most charitable

donations was not a traditional nonprofit like

the United Way or The Salvation Army. It was

the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, the nonprofit,

donor-advised fund sponsor affiliated with the

Fidelity investment company.

While we support philanthropy in all its

forms, we think there’s a big difference between

commercial sponsors of donor-advised funds

and community foundations. Charitable giving

isn’t the core mission of Fidelity.

In contrast, community foundations, such

as The Dallas Foundation, exist to serve the

local community, work with donors and their

families to help them articulate their values

and goals and evaluate nonprofit organizations.

We also work closely with nonprofit agencies.

They can apply for grants from The Dallas

Foundation, which we award following a

rigorous selection process. We view donor-

advised funds as a valuable philanthropic

tool, but only when they’re paired with an

organization knowledgeable about the local

community and dedicated to community good.

If you’d like to learn more about this or

other philanthropic trends, please call or email

me. The Dallas Foundation welcomes inquiries

into the work we so proudly do on behalf of

our donors and our community.

With best wishes,

Mary M. Jalonick

President & CEO

University of Dallas President Thomas Keefe, DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, Mary Jalonick and Gen. Colin Powell

Alan Cohen and Regen Fearon present Mary Jalonick with the inaugural Early Matters Dallas Mary Jalonick Award

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> > I n s p i r i n g G e n e r a t i o n s o f P h i l a n t h r o p y

Each community fund at The Dallas Foundation has a specific purpose, but the Filmanthropy Fund is one of the most unusual. It gives philanthropists and film lovers a way to support the production of socially relevant films that also raise funds for a cause. Filmanthropy’s most recent movie, Tower, uses animation, archival footage and current interviews with survivors to recount the horror of the 1966 sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin.

“A lot of documentaries are for the greater good – they do more than entertain.” said Melina McKinnon, a co-founder of the fund. “We crafted this concept of ‘filmanthropy’ because, unfortunately, documentaries are very hard to get financed because they tend to cost more than what they can generate.”

McKinnon and her husband, Michael Cain, look for projects on inspirational or challenging topics. Donors interested in supporting a film can give to the Filmanthropy Fund and receive a charitable tax deduction for their donation.

“The Dallas Foundation is a perfect partner for us,” McKinnon said. “It’s such a reputable, wonderful organization.”

Tower, based on a 2006 Texas Monthly article about the mass shooting, had already received some PBS funding. But it fit Filmanthropy’s mission because it focuses not on the perpetrator, but on the victims and those who put their own lives at risk to rescue them and stop the sniper. The film has received enthusiastic reviews in Variety and The New York Times, and is one of five nominees for best documentary at the 2016 IFP Gotham Awards in New York City.

Filmanthropy currently has several other projects underway, including biographical films about Dallas retailer Stanley Marcus and the Texas playwright Horton Foote. Another film, called The Diewell Project, addresses the emotions surrounding death, dying and grief. It aims to help viewers develop empathy for people facing a terminal illness or trying to recover from the loss of a loved one.

For more information about the fund, please go to: http://bit.ly/2gE3Nm1

H. Wayne and Alice Marie Dortch had clear priorities. They needed to raise five daugh-ters while saving enough to pay for their college expenses and

weddings. Only then could Wayne Dortch retire and do something he’d planned for a long time: start a private foundation that would ultimately involve the whole family in philanthropy.

“In the beginning, he did it,” his second-oldest daughter, Monique Bower, said. “After that, he wanted to bring us all in. He designated an amount for each of the five girls, and left us to determine how we wanted to give it.”

The Dortches’ strategy worked. Although Wayne died in 2008, and Alice in 2011, charitable giving is a Dortch family tradition that now involves a third generation.

“I think Dad would be very happy,” Bower said. “We have taken it a step further than what he had intended.”

Wayne and Alice met in Paris and had their first date at the Eiffel Tower. But that storybook romance belied the hardships they’d endured during their youth. He had

been a Texas farm boy growing up during the Depression; she had been a French child growing up in Nazi-occupied Tunisia. The couple married and settled in Dallas.

After his daughters were grown, Wayne established the private foundation. Several years later, he Dortch decided to convert the family foundation into a donor- advised fund at The Dallas Foundation.

“When he started the foundation, I don’t think he realized what a burden it would be,” Bower said. “Giving it to The Dallas Foundation allowed him to do the fun part without the paperwork.”

It also allowed the family to tap into The Dallas Foundation’s donor services. When the daughters organized a summer “cousins camp” for the far-flung grandchildren, they asked Lesley Martinelli, senior director of donor services, to arrange a group service project. One year, they furnished an apartment for a homeless family. Another time, they served breakfast at a Dallas nonprofit.

Wayne and Alice Dortch endowed their

family fund through gifts in their estate plans. Now, Bower organizes the philanthropy, notifying her siblings and their children annually about the amount available for grantmaking and asking for grant requests. That third generation ranges in age from 13 to 32.

“For the most part, they’re eager to give,” Bower said. “One of our kids has special needs and went to the Notre Dame school [in Dallas], so he gives a portion to Notre Dame. One gives to Student Bonfire at Texas A&M. They give to something they are passionate about.”

Without realizing it, the Dortches did exactly what family philanthropy experts recommend, Martinelli said. Wayne told his daughters what he was doing and why, but the parents didn’t try to control their children’s charitable choices.

Those children are grateful for that approach.

“It was really nice our parents let us know their hopes and dreams for us and let us take over control when they were still around,” Bower said. “It was important that we taught the next generation.”

If you’d like to learn more about giving as a family, please contact Lesley Martinelli at lmartinelli@dallasfoundation.org or 214.741.9898.

upporting Socially Relevant Filmmaking through The Dallas FoundationS

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Fall SnapshotsWe’ve enjoyed the many opportunities provided this fall to visit with friends of the Foundation. From our Women’s Philanthropy Institute to our Early Learning Convening and beyond, the photographs below are just a few of the highlights.

> > 2 0 1 6 G o o d W o r k s Un d e r 4 0

> > W o m e n’ s P h i l a n t h r o p y I n s t i t u t e

> > Dono r Bu s Tou r t o Bon t o n Fa rms a nd En c o re Pa r k

> > E a r l y L e a r n i n g C o n v e n i n g

1. During the site visit to Trinity Environmental Academy, located on the campus of Paul Quinn College, Diane Bumpas and Suzanne Jonsson learn about the Me over We Garden; 2. Women’s Philanthropy Institute Members visited Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning Libby Doggett with Immediate Past Dallas Foundation Board Chair J. Puckett and Mary Jalonick

1. Bonton Farms’ Daron Babcock and attendees of the Fall 2016 Donor Bus Tour; 2. Jenny Mullen with Encore Park Mural Artist Christy Coltrin

(from top to bottom, clockwise): 1. Good Works Under 40 Finalist Mandy Price (center) attends the Finalist Reception with Chris Rainbolt and Stephanie Garza; 2. Past Good Works Under 40 Winner John Dickey with his wife, Jodi, shown at the Finalist Reception; 3. Good Works Under 40 Committee Member Reena Rupani and her father, Dallas Foundation Board Member Amir Rupani, shown at the Awards Ceremony; 4. Nicole Small, President and CEO of the Lyda Hill Foundation, served as the plenary speaker for the 2016 Awards Ceremony

Chip Glispin and Gary Garcia, Senior Director of Development

Mary Jalonick with Michael Alost John and Kathleen Palter

> > A C o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h B r i a n C l o n t z

> > W h a t ’ s Up D a l l a s

Jason Janik Photography

Reagan Place at Old Parkland3963 Maple Avenue, Suite 390Dallas, Texas 75219

Nonprofit

U.S. Postage

PAID Permit #2791

Dallas TX

This holiday season, give the gift of giving. The Dallas Foundation’s Giving for Good cards look like traditional retail cards, except their value can be donated to any 501 (c)(3) nonprofit in the United States.

Giving for Good cards allow recipients to support their favorite charity and boost phil-

anthropic giving in local communities. They can be redeemed online or given directly to any nonprofit organization.

Next time you want to celebrate a special occasion, commemorate it with a Giving for Good card and inspire others to give back. To order cards, please visit dallasfoundation.org.

Katie Schlieve’s first child, Hudson, died in utero a month before he was to be born. She soon met another grieving mom, and out of their shared sorrow came a desire to help others facing the same loss. They co- founded One Wing Foundation, which supports programs to comfort families who have experienced miscarriages, still-birth, or the death of an infant.

For her compassion, determi-nation and many, many hours of unpaid work on behalf of One Wing Foundation, Schlieve won The Dallas Foundation’s 2016 Good Works Under 40 Award. The honor includes a $10,000 check for her charity.

“This is for Hudson…and all the other babies who are angels watching over us,” Schlieve said

at the November 10 Good Works Under 40 Award ceremony at Old Parkland. “We’re thrilled. Thank you.”

The Dallas Foundation launched the award program in 2009 to recognize and encourage volunteerism and philanthropy among young adults. An advisory committee, composed of volunteers under age 40, reads applications and selects five finalists. The Dallas Morning News co-sponsors the program, which has awarded $101,000 to finalists’ charities since 2009. This year, the advisory committee, led by Meg Boyd, received 55 applications.

The four other finalists included:John Mungioli, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for ChildrenAndrew Nguyen, Honor Courage Commitment, Inc. and 22KILLMandy Price, Texas Civil Rights Project-Dallas ChapterByron Sanders, KIPP-DFW and Big Thought

Each finalist received a $3,500 check for his or her nonprofit agency.

Guest presenter Nicole Small, president of the Lyda Hill Foundation and former CEO of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, praised the honorees at the reception.

“I love the fact that you’re not slackers -- those who spend their time watching the world go by,” she said. “Your stories inspire me.”

Small exhorted the finalists and other audience members to “help end slacktivism.”

“Make a positive change every single day,” she said, arguing that the challenge to all of us is “turning good intentions into good acts.”

To learn more about the Good Works Under 40 Award and this year’s finalists, please visit dallasfoundation.org.

oliday Season Give the Gift of Giving

Good Works Under 40

H 2016 Good Works Under 40 Finalists John Mungioli, Katie Schlieve, Byron Sanders, Mandy Price and Andrew Nguyen, pictured with Mary Jalonick (second from left)

Mary Jalonick, Holly Aldredge, Katie Schlieve and Meg Boyd

Confirmed in Compliance with National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations