BTW News

BTW Senior Associate Nadia Salibi recently attending the 6th International Conference on Health Issues in Arab Communities sponsored by ACCESS Community Health & Research Center. Local and international attendees, presenters, exhibitors and partners came together to discuss the health inequities—including social, cultural, and economic factors—facing Arab communities. The conference focused on three important themes affecting Arab communities: social determinants of health, genetics and health on chronic disease, and quality health care. The conferences fostered a forum for collective sharing, learning, and open dialogue to improve health among Arab communities locally and abroad.

BTW welcomes Jay Sherwin to our team! As Director of BTW’s education practice, Jay will design and lead projects focused on education and philanthropic initiatives. Jay has extensive experience in these fields and has consulted for foundations and nonprofit organizations on strategic planning, communication and evaluation issues. During his tenure as Vice President for Programs at the College Access Foundation of California and Senior Program Office at the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, he designed and directed multi-year grantmaking initiatives to improve students’ academic achievement and promote college access and completion.

Join one of BTW’s founders, Fay Twersky, as she discusses the importance of the philanthropic community in listening to the perspectives of their intended beneficiaries in her Chronicle of Philanthropy article, “Foundations Can Learn a Lot From the People They Want to Help.”

Ellen Irie and Kim Ammann Howard were selected to present at the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference, Evaluation 2011: Values and Valuing in Evaluation. The conference will take place November 2-5 in Anaheim, CA and will include Ellen Irie’s demonstration session, “Fairness for Participants in Evaluation Studies: An Easy-to-Use Toolkit to Identify Issues for Consideration”, and Kim Ammann Howard’s panel session, “Evaluating Networks: The Evolving Practices, Their Promises and Perils.”  For more information about BTW’s participation in the conference, visit our Presentations page.

BTW is pleased to announce that Kim Ammann Howard’s session, “Building Capacity to Promote Community Health,” has been selected for the American Public Health Association’s 139th Annual Meeting (October 29–November 2, 2011) in Washington, DC.  For more information about Kim’s session, visit our Presentation page.

BTW is excited to be a part of the Cal Career Center Externship Program. We will be hosting a sophomore extern from the University of California, Berkeley. Our extern will observe BTW’s daily work, shadow staff and explore the role of consulting in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors

BTW Consultants has just been accepted as a new firm member of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers. As a member of NNCG, BTW will be a part of a learning community where we will contribute our work and knowledge to the discussions among consultants dedicated to the philanthropic sector.

The Jewish Daily Forward, a national weekly newspaper, recently published an Editorial entitled “Making Service Matter” in response to BTW’s report The Worth of What They Do.

On Monday, December 13, BTW Principal Ellen Irie participated in conference call with Jon Rosenberg, CEO of Repair the World, to announce the results of a recent study by BTW. Around sixty five attendees listened to Ellen present highlights from the exploratory study which examines the effects of immersive Jewish service-learning (IJSL) projects on the communities they serve. Podcasts of this presentation will soon be available.