NE Ohio Foundations Bolster ED Support

NE Ohio foundations will announce on Feb. 17, the creation of a $30 million fund to stimulate regional economic development. The Fund for Our Economic Future is being created by 25 civic, corporate and community foundations throughout Northeast Ohio. The fund is an outgrowth of a two-year-long effort to increase the foundations? investment in economic development. Organizers of the fund have received commitments of $22 million, including a $10.3 million commitment from the Cleveland Foundation. The first recipients of the fund?s money won?t be announced until April.

Speakers will focus on alternative economic practices from around the nation. Practitioners from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Louisville, St. Louis and Minneapolis-St. Paul will discuss their experiences. Keynote speakers on Tuesday are: Phillip Thompson, a leading expert in the areas of urban politics and community development, and Claire Gaudiani, a senior research scholar at Yale Law School and the author of "The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism."

Go here to read more.