Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who returned to his native Chicago earlier this year after nearly seven years with the Obama administration, said on Thursday that he will join a philanthropic campaignA underwritten by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Duncan, 51, will join the Emerson Collective as a managing partner, leading a acomprehensive efforta to improve opportunities for young people in Chicago.

The work will initially focus on young people aged 17 to 24 who are neither working nor in school, many of whom have criminal records and lack high school diplomas, the organization said. “And picking up a gun and shooting someone is just that in the extreme.”

Moments into his farewellA speech, Duncan’s voice shook as he recounted one grim statistic: About 16,000 young people had been killed, he said, in his first six years in Washington.A The total after seven years was likely “north of 18,000,” or an average of seven children killed every day, he said. And are we willing to think long-term?”

Duncan on Thursday said he will also work with Powell Jobsa XQ SuperSchool Project, an experimental effort that seeks to remake high school for a high-tech, post-factory era.A Funded to the tune of $50 million over five years, it will select five or more promising new public high school models later this year and underwrite experimentation a $2 million per year per school.

The organization on Thursday said nearly 700 design applications have been submitted so far.

Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo

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TEANECK, N.J., March 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) today announced it is awarding 40 grants to expand afterschool, in-school, and summer programs across more than 60 sites in 25 states through its Making the Future education initiative. Shawn Hirsch, Director at The Monarch School in Houston, Texas. Lyn Pentecost, Founder and Executive Director of the Lower Eastside Girls Club in New York.

Arizona
Zaharis Elementary, Mesa, Ariz.
Arkansas
Rogers Public Library, Rogers, Ark.
California
Alum Rock Educational Foundation, San Jose, Calif.
ReCreate, Roseville, Calif.
San Diego Makers Guild, San Diego, Calif.
Florida
Tampa Hackerspace Inspiration Labs, Tampa, Fla.
Georgia
Nsoromma School, Atlanta, Ga.
Illinois
Chicago ACE Mentor Program, Chicago, Ill.
Indiana
John H. Boner Community Center, Indianapolis, Ind.
Iowa
Jewels Academy, Des Moines, Iowa
Louisiana
Young Aspirations Young Artists (YAYA), New Orleans, La.
Maryland
Digital Harbor Foundation, Baltimore, Md.
Massachusetts
The Possible Project, Cambridge, Mass.
Michigan
Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan, Detroit, Mich.
Minnesota
St. Paul, Minn.
Missouri
St. Charles Community College, Cottleville, Mo.
New Jersey
Piscataway Public Library, Piscataway, N.J.
Newark Museum, Newark, N.J.
Boys & Girls Club of Paterson & Passaic, N.J.
Morris Museum, Morristown, N.J.
New York
Lower East Side Girls Club, New York City, N.Y.
Dreamyard Project, Bronx, N.Y.
Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering (ELiTE), New York City, N.Y.
All Star Code, New York City, N.Y.
North Carolina
Behailu Academy, Charlotte, N.C.
Granville County Schools, Oxford, N.C.
Schiele Museum of Natural History, Gastonia, N.C.
Ohio
Tech Corps, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio
Oregon
YMCA of Columbia-Willamette, Beaverton, Ore.
Pennsylvania
University Science Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
South Carolina
College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.
Children’s Museum of the Upstate, Greenville, S.C.
Texas
The Monarch School, Houston, Texas
Girlstart, Bryan and Austin, Texas
Skillpoint Alliance, Austin, Texas
Transmit Receive Labs Inc., Houston, Texas
Utah
Utah State University Extension 4-H, Iron, Kane, and Washington Counties, Utah
Virginia
Vector Space, Lynchburg, Va.
Washington
YMCA of the Inland Northwest, Spokane, Wash.

through a variety of initiatives, including: DonorsChoose.org in funding classroom projects, Maker Corps in hosting sites to train making facilitators, and Maker Faires in New York and California in hosting the Young Makers Pavilion.

The 40 organizations receiving Making the Future grants in 2016 are:

Arizona
Zaharis Elementary, Mesa, Ariz.
Arkansas
Rogers Public Library, Rogers, Ark.
California
Alum Rock Educational Foundation, San Jose, Calif.
ReCreate, Roseville, Calif.
San Diego Makers Guild, San Diego, Calif. Boner Community Center, Indianapolis, Ind.
Iowa
Jewels Academy, Des Moines, Iowa
Louisiana
Young Aspirations Young Artists (YAYA), New Orleans, La.
Maryland
Digital Harbor Foundation, Baltimore, Md.
Massachusetts
The Possible Project, Cambridge, Mass.
Michigan
Penny W. Charles Community College, Cottleville, Mo.
New Jersey
Piscataway Public Library, Piscataway, N.J.
Newark Museum, Newark, N.J.
Boys & Girls Club of Paterson & Passaic, N.J.
Morris Museum, Morristown, N.J.
New York
Lower East Side Girls Club, New York City, N.Y.
Dreamyard Project, Bronx, N.Y.
Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering (ELiTE), New York City, N.Y.
All Star Code, New York City, N.Y.
North Carolina
Behailu Academy, Charlotte, N.C.
Granville County Schools, Oxford, N.C.
Schiele Museum of Natural History, Gastonia, N.C.
Ohio
Tech Corps, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio
Oregon
YMCA of Columbia-Willamette, Beaverton, Ore.
Pennsylvania
University Science Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
South Carolina
College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.
Children’s Museum of the Upstate, Greenville, S.C.
Texas
The Monarch School, Houston, Texas
Girlstart, Bryan and Austin, Texas
Skillpoint Alliance, Austin, Texas
Transmit Receive Labs Inc., Houston, Texas
Utah
Utah State University Extension 4-H, Iron, Kane, and Washington Counties, Utah
Virginia
Vector Space, Lynchburg, Va.
Washington
YMCA of the Inland Northwest, Spokane, Wash.

Duncan is working with the philanthropic Emerson Collective to build a small team in Chicago focused on creating job opportunities for young black men. Arne Duncan makes his last speech as U.S. It made headlines last year when it launched XQ, a nationwide movement to reimagine high schools that includes a $50 million grant competition.

Duncan said he was driven to focus on youth unemployment by “the unprecedented level of violence” in the city and a study put out in January by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago that found staggering unemployment rates among youth in some communities.

The report found that 47 percent of 20- to 24-year-old black men in Chicago are out of school and out of work, compared with 20 percent of Hispanic men and 10 percent of white men.

The disparities among 20- to 24-year-old women are also great, with 35 percent of black women neither in school nor working, compared with 18 percent of Hispanic women and 3 percent of white women.

The out-of-school, out-of-work rates were worst in highly segregated neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides that are experiencing high levels of violence. Police have blamed intensifying gang conflicts.

To combat the hopelessness that breeds criminal activity, Duncan said, young people need to be reconnected to the legal economy.

“If we can work in communities and provide real training that leads to real skills that can lead to real jobs, I have confidence that these men and women will make different choices,” he said.

The most crucial, and probably most difficult, challenge will be lining up employers to offer concrete jobs on the back end, Duncan said. But he said it’s the right thing to do from a business standpoint, as companies don’t benefit from the city’s violence and many have talent shortages they struggle to fill.

“These kids are smart, they’re entrepreneurial, they’re hardworking, they’ve just never had a chance,” Duncan said.

Though the details of the initiative are still being worked out, Duncan said he intends to target new economy jobs, such as coding and tech, as well as the traditional economy, such as retail.

He also hopes to create opportunities within disinvested communities where many unemployed young people live, perhaps by creating a pool of funds to invest in local, community-owned businesses.

“I constantly hear there’s no access to capital, there’s no way to grow,” Duncan said.

Though the immediate goal is to get disconnected youth into jobs, Duncan said he intends to eventually work with federal, state and local agencies including Chicago Public Schools and start earlier in kids’ lives.

The work will include partnering with community-based organizations that are already tackling the problem, investing in entrepreneurs who can bring innovation and job growth to neglected neighborhoods, and collaborating with local leadership to expand the best solutions.

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Point Clear zoning request withdrawn

The Baldwin County Commission planned to vote on a zoning request in the historic Point Clear district at its Tuesday meeting, but the applicant withdraw the request before a vote could take place.

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Not those option appraisals with one credible option, one clearly ridiculous option and one no change option, but appraisals of credible alternatives to existing services alongside ongoing reflection for more radical overhauls.

It means having a discussion about the relative value of different mixes of changes in different groups of people’s wellbeing. It means having more granular and detailed information about changes that have to be aggregated in order to report to funders and commissioners who often need data to be summarised across groups.

Could we have created more value with the resources we have available?

This thinking process is much less about ‘evaluation to prove’ and much more about constantly trying to create more value for those we are working for, and thinking about the viability of different offers for different sections of people we work with. It means accepting that information is not always designed to be objective but designed to bring more transparency of the issues relating to value to any group that are trying to make decisions to increase value. He reckons that this has led to trust and opportunities that have far outweighed the initial lost income.

Social Value International’s Principles are designed to help maximise value, not just report on how much value has been created. However, in order to embed this approach, organisations will need a culture where the board is asking the question could we have created more value with the resources we have available?

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Alfred Davis, 70, allegedly used money intended to improve senior health to fund his own virility, among other things.

BOSTON, MA – The former head of a Boston elder services program was accused of stealing thousands of dollars that were intended to benefit the city’s seniors and using the money to fund elaborate personal vacations and Viagra-like supplements for himself, officials said. Conley and other officials announced Wednesday.

Davis was the director of elder services for the Boston Housing Authority in 2008 when the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation named him a “Community Health Leader” and awarded him a grant of $105,000 to improve the health of Boston seniors living in public housing, officials said.

Davis was also awarded a $20,000 stipend for his own personal development as a community health leader, according to officials.

The alleged misuse of funds caused the Elder and Disabled Housing Division of the Boston Housing Authority to be eliminated and its operations taken over by other City of Boston offices, officials said.

“This defendant was a trusted member of the elder services community. But rather than fulfilling the commitment he made to Boston’s seniors, he allegedly used his position of trust to cash in at the expense of vulnerable elders and the agencies dedicated to meeting their needs,” DA Conley said in the announcement.

A multi-agency investigation alleged Davis used some of the money to help the seniors, but pocketed about $20,000, officials said.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) announced today that the Irene W. Pennington Foundation of Baton Rouge has awarded $100,000 to the Gulf Coast Resilience Innovation (GCRI) Fund in response to record flooding in Louisiana. The gift kicks off a national campaign to fund recovery efforts for northwest, northeast, and southeast Louisiana. CDP will serve as a long-term anchor to the local relief funds already created by the experienced community foundations in this region, and will partner in these efforts with the Community Foundation of North Louisiana, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, and the Northshore Community Foundation.

CDP was originally created out of donor experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and was co-founded by Louisiana donors in order to encourage donors to collaborate on effective, long-term giving throughout the life cycle of disasters.

“The slow-motion disaster taking place now in Louisiana demands that we lead with a gift that inspires others to join us in supporting a full recovery,” said Lori J. “The devastating flooding in Louisiana requires that the philanthropic community follow their lead and embrace long- and mid-term recovery efforts built on partnerships that maximize the impact of their dollars.”

A large part of our giving is focused in the Greater Baton Rouge area and surrounding parishes, including East and West Feliciana and Pointe Coupee.