In 2017, the Raikes Foundation launched an initiative focused on increasing the impact of giving by individual donors, who are by far the largest segment of giving in this country—more than 70 percent of giving is directed by individual donors. We posit that the philanthropy sector has developed infrastructure to support institutional philanthropy (large foundations with professional staff), but we have not paid enough attention to supporting individual donors—who are largest segment of giving—to be effective.Read More

In every city and state across the country we are seeing the same alarming and disturbing trend: People of color are dramatically overrepresented in the population of people experiencing homelessness. Here in Seattle, African Americans make up just 6 percent of the overall population, but make up 29 percent of people experiencing homelessness.Read More

A few weeks ago, I designed and moderated a panel at the Philanthropy Northwest Annual Conference titled, “Philanthropy, Community & the Free Press: How and Why We Support Local Journalism.” Investing in journalism is an important part of the Raikes Foundation’s toolkit, and my goal was to bring light to how philanthropy can fund journalism to both expose and address social problems, as well as elevate underrepresented voices.Read More

At the 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival Jeff Raikes, Darren Walker, and Michele Norris discussed color-blindness and its implications for our lives and social policies. You can listen to their conversation here. Read More

America has a long-standing tradition of generosity. As a nation, we contribute nearly $400 billion each year to issues and causes. Though we often think of large foundations when we think about philanthropy, more than 70 percent of giving in this country is directed by individuals writing checks or giving online. Read More

We’re thrilled to announce the two newest members of the Raikes Foundation team. Both bring a wealth of experience that will help as our foundation thoughtfully expands its work and—we hope—our impact.  Dina Blum, Education Strategy Program OfficerRead More

People often ask me what we focus on at the Raikes Foundation (empowering young people to transform their lives) and how we do it (investing in capable people addressing under-resourced challenges where our dollars can have an outsized impact on the systems that serve youth.) Read More

Yesterday, Washington Governor Jay Inslee took an historic step to improve the lives of young people in our state. The governor issued an executive order to begin the process of creating a Department of Children and Families in our state. Such a change would ensure that Governor Inslee, and future Washington governors, hear frequently and directly about issues affecting our most vulnerable children and families.Read More

Woody Allen famously said “80 percent of success is showing up.” At the Raikes Foundation, Jeff and Tricia have defined showing up as thinking big, rolling up your sleeves, and creating positive change for young people. The size of the initial action is not as important as the long-term effect it creates. Jeff and Tricia have proven that showing up can positively impact thousands of lives.Read More

If you’ve spent any amount of time with me or my Raikes Foundation colleagues, you’ve likely heard us emphasize that youth homelessness is a community-wide issue that demands a community-wide response. It’s an important refrain that reflects our emphasis on collaborative, systems-level solutions. As simple as that saying is, though, I’m regularly intrigued by how much our understanding of it continues to evolve.Read More