VOLUME 9 / NUMBER 3 / FALL 2006 TrustThe Pew Charitable Trusts

Beyond Hawaii: A Permanent Marine Park Religion in Foreign Policy Ready for the Next Pandemic? Notes from the President

That this fragile environment needed always merged the two, and Americans extraordinary conservation action must recognize that fact, particularly was not guesswork but the result of in foreign affairs and in an era of many studies in biology, oceanography, faith-based conflicts. history, cultural heritage and policy. To shed light on religion’s effect Navigation “Successful ocean stewardship,” on U.S. foreign relations, the forum, a the president said when he made his project of the Pew Research Center, is declaration, “depends on informed raising the pertinent question: What “ policy makers and an informed public.” role, if any, should religion play in nowledge may have its pur- The Trusts could not agree more, the making of U.S. foreign policy? Kposes,” wrote the poet W. H. and we are proud to support good Through convenings and publications, Auden, “but guessing is always more science as well as the wise steward- the forum offers reasoned ways to fun than knowing.” ship of this spectacular resource for reduce the guessing and provide He has a point: People with an abun- future generations. diplomats a navigational tool for their dance of knowledge are not always Hawaiians have an incisive name important negotiations. the greatest visionaries. Thomas for this territory—the Kupuna, or Edison’s contemporary Henry Morton, Ancestor, Islands, because, like wisdom- nowledge, and not guess- a distinguished physicist, chemist bearing elders, this natural marine work, is also the basis for and educator, called the inventor’s environment is a laboratory of ocean the Trusts’ initiative in claims for the incandescent lamp “a life and diversity that expands our pandemic preparedness. fraud upon the public.” (Edison’s retort: knowledge and teaches respect for KThere are fundamental unknowns He’d build a statue of Morton and marine ecosystems, which are noth- about the next public health crisis. illuminate it with light bulbs.) ing less than the foundation of our No one can predict with certainty even In an editorial in 1920, The New York planet’s life-support system. what it might be—avian flu, a toxic Times rejected the science on which spill, a bioterrorist chemical release or rocket scientist Robert Goddard based nowing also beats guessing a natural disaster like a hurricane—or his claim that travel to the moon could in understanding the role of when or where it will occur. But we all be possible, saying, “He only seems religion in American foreign know that planning trumps chaos. to lack the knowledge ladled out daily policy. Religious feeling and And it must be based on good infor- in high school.” (On July 17, 1969, as Kexpression have always strongly influ- mation, including reliable disease- Apollo 11 was in flight, the newspaper enced the nation’s political processes, tracking and early detection, effective printed a correction, noting, “The and polls by the Pew Research Center vaccines and medicines, clearly articu- Times regrets the error.”) and others show that Americans want lated duties and well-coordinated, In 1946, movie mogul Daryl F. Zanuck their elected officials to hold religious functioning communication. derided television’s potential: “People beliefs. Yet polls also show that many Trust for America’s Health is ensur- will soon get tired of staring at a ply- Americans prefer religious commit- ing that key decision-makers at the wood box every night.” And in 1977 ments to be kept personal rather than federal, state and local levels are devel- Ken Olsen, founder of the computer- overtly directed to influence policy. oping plans to manage the effects of a making Digital Equipment Company, Up to recently, that view constituted major public health crisis such as pan- said, “There is no reason anyone would a majority and reflected how the peo- demic flu. The project is also engaging in want a computer in their home.” ple’s business was conducted—includ- preparedness exercises to help partici- We definitely do not want to be so ing foreign relations. As Luis Lugo, pants navigate a very uncertain future. mired in detail, analysis or accepted the director of the Pew Forum on We must be ready to confront any thinking that we censor our imagina- Religion & Public Life, puts it, “Much potential hazard with good data that tion. But knowledge can help us doubt of the American diplomatic establish- inform smart strategy. To turn Auden’s wisely, making it easier to avoid pitfalls ment for quite some time has believed idea on its head: Guessing may be and expand the possibilities. that religion is best left to the private fun, but we are more likely to address realm and should not intrude on the difficult problems effectively when we elying on a solid base of practice of statecraft.” bring the power of knowledge to bear facts, President George W. The Pew Research Center has for the public good. Bush in June established documented Americans’ increasing the Northwestern Hawaiian acceptance of religion in politics. But Rebecca W. Rimel RIslands National Marine Monument. the politics of many other nations have President and CEO Trust / Fall 2006 1 Trust The Pew Charitable Trusts VOLUME 9 NUMBER 3 FALL 2006

Trust Policy Faraway, Natural and Beautiful— Published three times a year by And It’ll Stay That Way 2 The Pew Charitable Trusts © 2006 The Pew Charitable Trusts A marine sanctuary in Hawaii became a national monument in June, saving this ISSN: 1540-4587 environmental treasure permanently.

The Board of Information The Pew Charitable Trusts Robert H. Campbell Eyes Wide Shut Susan W. Catherwood 12 Religion has a vital role in foreign policy. Gloria Twine Chisum Many people try to ignore it, but, like the Alan J. Davis proverbial elephant in the room, it’s J. Howard Pew II there, regardless. J.N. Pew IV, M.D. Mary Catharine Pew, M.D. R. Anderson Pew Policy Sandy Ford Pew If and When the Time Comes Rebecca W. Rimel 19 Robert G. Williams Is the U.S. ready to confront a flu Ethel Benson Wister pandemic successfully? Trust for America’s Health is working on pan- demic preparedness. President and CEO Rebecca W. Rimel

Managing Director of Public Affairs Deborah L. Hayes Departments The Pew Charitable Trusts serves the public Editor interest by providing information, advanc- Marshall A. Ledger NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT Inside ing policy solutions and supporting civic front life. Based in Philadelphia, with an office Knowledge helps us steer. cover in Washington, D.C., the Trusts will invest Editorial Assistants $248 million in fiscal year 2007 to provide Colleen A. Miller organizations and citizens with fact-based Renee S. Wagoner research and practical solutions for chal- LESSONS LEARNED lenging issues. One Commerce Square Report cards. 26 The Trusts, an independent nonprofit, is 2005 Market Street, Ste. 1700 the sole beneficiary of seven individual charitable funds established between 1948 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 and 1979 by two sons and two daughters of Phone 215.575.9050 RECENT GRANTS AND Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew ALLOCATIONS and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. On the Internet: 29 The official registration and financial www.pewtrusts.org information of The Pew Charitable Trusts may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, Design/Art Direction BRIEFINGS within Pennsylvania, 1.800.732.0999. Lewis & Nobel Design Gen Next and Judy Woodruff, PEJ, Registration does not imply endorsement. SoundAboutPhilly, Creative Philanthropy33 (the book), Pew Internet Project exam- ines blogs, Pew Biomedical Scholars win prizes. Kimberlee Acquaro’s Rwanda, Portfolio’s data on the local arts scene.

Cover art: Northwest of Hawaii, La Pérouse LETTERS Pinnacle at French Frigate Shoals. See credits on pages 2-11. 34 2 Policy Trust / Fall 2006 AND FARAWAY, AND – IT’LL THAT NATURAL BEAUT IFUL STAY WAY n o i t a r t s i n i m d A c i r e h p s o m t A d n a c i n a e c O l a n o i t a N

.

E

Y E

E H T

L IL F , II O A T F H O AW A G R H L U M F L O O O Y N RE ST OU E TH E C AN AN THW AN TH A T OR DO RE HOUSAND MILES N IS MO LOOK. AND THERE’S Trust / Fall 2006 3 AND – IT’LL THAT T IFUL STAY WAY By Colin Woodard

Athousand miles northwest of the freeways and high-rises of

Honolulu, there is another Hawaii,

a sprawling chain of uninhabited

islands, atolls and submerged

reefs sheltering one of the most

spectacular marine ecosystems in

the world. Now, in a move sup-

ported by the Trusts, it has be-

come the world’s largest marine

. protected area. E

Y E The Northwestern Hawaiian E H Islands, which stretch for 1,200 T

L miles across the north-central IL F , II O Pacific, are literally in the A T F H O AW A G middle of nowhere, so R H L U M F L O O O Y N R T OU E E T ES C AN HAN HW AN TH A T ORT D RE HOUSA ILES N O IS MO ND M LOOK. ERE’S AND TH La Pérouse Pinnacle at French Frigate Shoals. J a Policy m 4 Trust / Fall 2006 e s

W a t t

“When you add it all up, it’s a world-class ecological jewel. From both a national and global perspective, this really is a landmark conservation event.” Joshua S. Reichert, Managing Director, Policy Initiatives and the Environment Program, The Pew Charitable Trusts, quoted by the Associated Press Hawaiian squirrelfish at French Frigate Shoals. “We’re doing justice to the ocean.” Jean-Michel Cousteau, Ocean Futures “This federal action complements our Ad- ministration’s recent designation of all J a state waters in the Northwestern Hawai- m e s

W

ian Islands as a fully protected state ma- a t rine refuge. This seamless partnership t between state and federal governments, environmental conservationists and Na- tive Hawaiian organizations will preserve the 1,200-mile chain of atolls and reefs as a natural and cultural legacy.” Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are one of the marine ecosystems still dominated by apex predators like the sharks pictured here.

n A Laysan albatross chick. o i P t a a r u t l s o i

n i M m a d u r A i

n c i r e h p s o m t A

d n a

c i n a e c O

l a n o i t a N Trust / Fall 2006 5 t t

remote and unassuming that humans a

A colony of gold corals. W

A s m have largely left them alone. Apart e y m

B a J

a from occasional visits by Native Hawai- c o -

T ians and long-distance fishermen, a y l o human activity has focused on Midway r Atoll, which served as a waypoint for trans-Pacific cable lines, Pan Ameri- can clippers and the U.S. Navy, which successfully deterred a Japanese invasion there in 1942. The rest of the chain looks much as it always has, both above and below the water: a vast coral reef ecosystem supporting an astonishing array of marine life. Fourteen million seabirds, Divided flatworm. 70 percent of the United States’ coral reefs and some 7,000 species make their home in the archipelago, includ- National Marine Monument is larger ing the endangered Hawaiian monk than 100 Yosemite National Parks seal, short-tailed albatross and threat- and slightly larger than Australia’s ened Hawaiian green sea turtles. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Sharks and other large predators “We will protect a precious natural have been decimated in much of the resource,” Bush said. “We will show world, but here they’re abundant, our respect for the cultural and histor- providing ecologists with insight into ical importance of this area, and we how the web of life functions in its will create an important place for natural state. research and learning about how we Now the Northwestern Hawaiian can be good stewards of our oceans Islands will stay that way. In a sur- and our environment.” prise move this past June, President Much of the region has had some George W. Bush invoked the 1906 form of protection for nearly a century. Antiquities Act to fully protect the President Theodore Roosevelt created chain and 50 miles of ocean in all the nation’s second wildlife refuge directions. The new 140,000-square- here to stop hunters from extermi- mile Northwestern Hawaiian Islands nating the chain’s birds in order to secure feathers for ladies’ hats. (He had to dispatch Marines to Midway to enforce the order.) Subsequent presidents expanded protection from birds to include other D a

v wildlife and extended the protected i d

L i

i area to include Midway and large t t s c

h portions of the surrounding sea bot- w a

g tom. In 2000, President Bill Clinton e r

a

n signed an executive order directing d

S

u the National Oceanic and Atmos- s a

n pheric Administration (NOAA) to

M i d begin the process of turning the d l e t o region into a national marine sanctu- n ary to protect the ecosystem as a whole. Spanish Dancer. From there, the process became bogged down as NOAA personnel Policy t 6 Trust / Fall 2006 t a W

s e m a J “While we and others in the conservation community have not always agreed with President Bush’s environmental policies, we believe it is important to acknowl- edge a significant policy achievement when it occurs. . . . Just as we have pro- tected spectacular areas on land from destructive activity, we know it is equally important to do so for the sea. The presi- dent’s announcement is an important step in what we hope will be greater ef- forts to safeguard the ocean, while also addressing broader problems of overfish- ing, pollution and habitat destruction.” Joshua Reichert and Theodore Roosevelt IV, op-ed in The New York Times “This is just amazing. This is an important first step in protecting some of the world’s healthiest reefs for future generations.” Ellen Athas, ecosystems-protection director, Ocean Conservancy “They could break me (financially) if they could kick me out, but if they could compen- sate me and the others, I’d be in favor of leav- ing the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands alone.” Bill Wakefield, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands fisherman “Our duty is to use the land and seas wisely, or sometimes not use them at all.” President George W. Bush Lisianski beach shows signs of visitors. 103 YEARS OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS

Theodore Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Lyndon B. Johnson Ronald Reagan 1903: In response to U.S. Navy 1940: His presidential procla- 1967: Under his administration, 1988: He signs legislation desig- reports of the killing of massive mation changes the name of the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service nating Midway Islands as a numbers of seabirds at Midway Hawaiian Islands Reservation to designates French Frigate Shoals, National Wildlife Refuge to Islands and complaints about the Hawaiian Islands National Gardner Pinnacles, Laysan Island, protect and manage their Japanese squatters and poachers, Wildlife Refuge and broadens Lisianski Island, Necker Island, biological and historic resources. he places the atoll under control refuge purposes to protect all Nihoa Island, and Pearl and of the Navy. He also sends 21 wildlife. Hermes Reef and surrounding U.S. Marines to stop the slaugh- submerged lands within the ter of seabirds for feathers and Hawaiian Island National Wildlife eggs and to secure Midway as a Refuge as Research Natural Areas.

U.S. possession. R o n

1909: By an executive order, he e n

creates the Hawaiian Islands Bird Z i l b e

Reservation around islands from r m a

Nihoa Island to Kure Atoll, to n / A

further protect these islands and s s o

their resources. c i a t e d

P r e s s Midway Atoll. Trust / Fall 2006 7 D r . L a r r y

B a s c h

responsible for fisheries management sparred with those who design and operate marine sanctuaries. “It had been six years, and they still couldn’t

resolve their differences,” says Jay J a m

W. Nelson, director of the Trusts’ e s

Rock-boring urchin. W

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Pro- a t ject, which was advancing a ban on t commercial fishing within the pro- posed sanctuary. “The White House was frustrated with the stalemate, and people in Hawaii had started pointing out that it didn’t take this long to fight World War II.” The sticking point was whether or The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most not to allow commercial fishing within endangered marine mammals in the U.S. the sanctuary. Fishing proponents, including the industry-dominated Western Pacific Fisheries Manage- Conservancy showed that the bot- ment Council—Wespac—argued that tom-fishing fleet, despite its modest existing fisheries were too small to size, had overfished the waters cause any damage. Only eight boats around the islands nearest to Hawaii had permits to fish in the archipelago, in six of the 16 years between 1988 hooking grouper, jacks, snappers and and 2003. other bottom fish. “We argued that it’s valuable for Opponents were skeptical, noting scientists to have a place without that fishing has caused considerable fishing so they can see what a natu- damage in the past. Overfishing in ral system looks like and be able to the 1980s and 1990s caused a crash compare it with the impacts else- of the area’s lobster populations, which where on the planet,” says Nelson. may explain why large numbers of “If any places are to be left untram- lobster-eating monk seals starved to meled in the world, this should be death over the same period. An October one of them.” 2005 study by the Marine Conserva- Elliott A. Norse, Ph.D., president tion Biology Institute and the Ocean of the biology institute and a Pew fellow in marine conservation, says it was vital that the sanctuary’s big fish not be fished. “In just 50 years, we’ve Bill Clinton George W. Bush 2004: NOAA releases draft goals eliminated 90 percent of the large 1996: He transfers full jurisdiction 2002: His administration prepares and objectives for the proposed predators in the oceans: big sharks, of Midway Atoll and surrounding interim management measures NWHI sanctuary and identifies whales, groupers,” he says. “In the reefs from the Navy to the U.S. designed to protect the Coral the purpose of the proposed Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, you Fish and Wildlife Service. Reef Ecosystem Reserve. The sanctuary as the “long-term 2000 and 2001: He directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric protection of the marine ecosys- can still see an ecosystem function- development of a plan to protect Administration holds a series of tems in their natural character.” ing with its dominant predators still the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands public meetings to define an 2006: By the authority of the in the system. That’s something we coral reef ecosystem and calls for appropriate level of protection for 100-year-old National Antiquities desperately need to study and under- public participation in the design the proposed NWHI sanctuary Act, the president proclaims the stand so that five, 50 or 500 years from of additional protection measures and disapproves rules allowing NWHI area a National Monument. for the refuge. As a result of harvest of precious corals as now, we can still live on this planet.” public comments and negotiations inconsistent with the fishing restric- The commercial fishing ban had t t between the president and Con- tions established by the executive a strong support in Hawaii, most signifi- W

gress, the 2000 amendments to orders. s e cantly from Hawaii Governor Linda m

the National Marine Sanctuaries a J Lingle, who in September 2005 decided Act authorize creation of a NWHI reserve. Subsequent executive orders create the NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. Masked booby. 8 Policy Trust / Fall 2006 i b i d

“It’s as important as the establishment of Yellowstone.” Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense

“It is time to give thanks that something so right to do was done right.” Ed Case, U.S. representative, Hawaii

“Americans are united in the belief that we must preserve our natural heritage and safeguard the environment. This be- lief has affirmed our laws, and today we reaffirm that commitment once again.” President George W. Bush Debris from afar: A Laysan albatross chick (right) on Kure Atoll, whose stomach was filled with cigarette lighters, shotgun shells, broken clothespins “Our job is to protect [the Islands monu- and hundreds of plastic bits. It would have been fed by a parent, who ment], learn from it and look to it as a sought the chick’s proper food in mid-ocean gyres—where the fish are, but where the trash gets trapped as well. The chick, which naturally vomits source of inspiration for stewardship of indigestible organic parts, stored the debris and probably starved to death.

the marine resources on which we all y e l l i T

depend for food, for transportation, for h c t u recreation, for science and for education. B We must use and enjoy these wisely, too.” James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

“Believing that our tag-and-release sport fishing program contributed invaluable scientific information, I supported contin- ued sport fishing. However, overwhelming public support for a complete marine sanctuary and my personal knowledge of that extraordinarily unique marine ecosystem eventually led me to endorse a complete closure of all NWHI fisheries.” Rick Gaffney, president, Hawaii Fishing and Boating Association, and member, Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council

The David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton photographs in this story are from their 2005 book Archipelago: Portraits of Life in the World’s Most Remote Island Sanctuary, published by the National Geographic Society. On this spread, they include the top photograph and the bottom two on Blue Dragon Nudibranch. this page and the top left of the next page.

Laysan albatross chick. Trust / Fall 2006 9 J a m e s

W a t t

to ban all commercial activities in the state-controlled waters of the archi- pelago: three miles from each island except Midway, a federal territory. Keiko Bonk, campaign director of the Honolulu-based Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Network, says: “Since statehood, in 1959, people in Hawaii have been working hard to get real management plans for our land and ocean. We had some big successes in the early years, followed by a lot Lobe corals grow in huge colonies in the NWHI, but not so elsewhere in the world. of setbacks in recent decades. This J a m looks like the beginning of a new era e s

W of progress. Many people, including a

t Red-footed boobies. t Governor Lingle and commercial fishermen, rallied around the sanctu- ary as something we could do proac- of ocean conservationists were invited tively, something monumental in scale.” to the White House for dinner and a Although the Bush Administration viewing of a film about the North- had already invested five years in western Hawaiian Islands by Jean- planning for protection of the area— Michel Cousteau, son of the late ocean partly driven by overwhelming grass- explorer Jacques Cousteau. “I assumed roots support from a broad spectrum that the president, who is a busy per- of the public in Hawaii—the White son, would just do a ‘drive-by’ photo-op House was reportedly growing in- so we could say we saw him,” recalls creasingly frustrated. The stalemate Norse, who attended the dinner. “But at NOAA forced it to postpone an- that wasn’t what happened.” nouncing the creation of the new sanc- To Norse’s surprise, Bush watched tuary from Earth Day (April 22) to the entire 65-minute movie and then World Oceans Day (June 8) to Ocean sat down to dinner next to Cousteau Week (ending June 10). “They were and ocean explorer Sylvia Earle. “They facing the possibility that this might talked through the whole dinner, and drag on beyond the end of the presi- the president was so interested that dent’s term in office,” says Nelson. he stayed for fifteen minutes even One turning point came on the after Mrs. Bush got up and wanted night of April 5, 2006, when a group to leave,” he recalls. At one point Bush exclaimed, “I wish we could just designate the thing.” J a

m On June 15, Bush did just that, using e s

W his powers under the Antiquities Act a t t to make the islands a National Monu- ment, administered by the Depart- ment of Interior, thereby circumvent- ing the stalemate at NOAA, which is under the Department of Commerce. His order phases out all commercial fishing over five years. “The beauty of [creating] the monu- ment is that it settled the debate over what extractive uses would be allowed in the sanctuary by basically saying Red pencil urchin. 10 Policy Trust / Fall 2006

“This at both a substantive level and sym- bolically will help to encourage, hopeful- ly, more efforts that are similar in nature. And there certainly are a lot of other places in the world that merit this level of protection, and hopefully they’ll get it in the years to come.” Joshua Reichert, the Trusts, on Marketplace, Minnesota Public Radio

“This administration and future ones should follow up with similar actions to protect other ecologically sensitive ma- rine systems. America began protecting its land-based national parks and monu- ments a century ago, but the country has lagged in shielding its underwater treasures. Mr. Bush’s action offers an exciting example of assertive action to put essential areas beyond further hu- man destruction.” Editorial, The Washington Post

“In some ways, Mr. Bush’s decision was supremely easy—the end of commercial fishing will affect only eight fishermen. But even so, the mind reels a little at what Mr. Bush has done. The Northwest- ern Hawaiian Islands are a vast place few Americans have ever visited or ever will. But they are being protected any- way—not for divers, fishermen or cruise ships, but for their own sake, for science and forever. Mr. Bush made exemplary use of presidential power yesterday. We hope he does more of it.” Editorial, The New York Times

Table corals (Acropora): common in parts of the new National Monument but absent in the main Hawaiian Islands. The fish at Rapture Reef are pennantfish, pyramid and milletseed butterflyfish. Trust / Fall 2006 11 J n a o m

that there weren’t going to be any,” t e e l s d

W says William Chandler, vice presi- d i a M t t dent of the biology institute. “If the n a s Sanctuary Act process had continued u S

d

at NOAA, there would have been a n a

r e

prolonged battle over keeping the g a w

fishery.” h c s t t i There are only two exceptions to i L

d i

the fishing ban. The first allows Native v a Hawaiians to catch fish for subsis- D tence and ritual purposes during visits to the island chain, a measure with near-universal support. “Caring for the land and ocean is a fundamen- Portulaca. tal belief within Hawaiian culture, so the creation of the monument goes to the core values of our culture,” says William Aila Jr., a Native Hawaiian The Trusts is also supporting the fisherman. “Allowing for cultural phase-out of commercial fishing by access makes it clear that Hawaiians offering to buy out the eight fisher- have a role in the protection of the men who hold permits to fish the Northwestern Islands and the preser- area. Because of the distance from vation of the Hawaiian cultural con- the main islands of Hawaii—and fierce nection to the land and sea.” competition from Asian imports— The second exception—allowing fishing the islands is not particularly visitors to fish, most of whom will be profitable, Nelson says, making scientists and officials—is opposed fishermen open to the prospect of a by the Trusts. “They’ve closed the buy-out at fair market value. “We region to recreational and commer- want to buy all of them out, not just cial fishing, but they’ve effectively some of them,” he says. At press created a sport fishery for bureaucrats time, negotiations were expected to and scientists,” says Nelson, who is continue into the late fall. working to get that exception removed Meanwhile, Aila says he’s pleased on fairness grounds. that commercial fishing will stop on the outer islands, sooner or later.

A “There’s a fear that we may not be m y

B successful at caring for the marine a c

o resources of the main Hawaiian - T a y

l Islands,” he says. “Now there’s the o r hope that the Northwestern Islands could provide a source of stock replacement, becoming part of our insurance policy against disaster.” ■T

For more on the Trusts’ oceans work, go to www.pewtrusts.org and click on “Protecting ocean life” under Advancing Policy Solutions.

Colin Woodard is an award-winning journalist and the author of Ocean’s End: Travels Through Endangered Seas and The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier. He lives in Portland, Maine, and has a Web site at colinwoodard.com.

A diverse group of deep-sea corals, octocorals and zoanthids. 12 Policy Trust / Fall 2006 Eyes Wide Shut By Sue Rardin Trust / Fall 2006 13

t noon, in a quiet confer- from foreign-policy leaders. In testimony terrible price—the price of good ence room of Capitol Hill’s before the U.S. House International analysis.” Rayburn House Office Relations Committee in October From this point of view, there are Building, arriving invitees 2004, Timothy S. Shah, Ph.D., a Pew two certainties underlying the Capitol Atake seats around a U-shaped confer- Forum senior fellow in religion and Hill presentation by Professor Nasr: ence table. Conversation is minimal. world affairs, put it this way: (1) the major involvement of religion These are busy senior staffers from in current international affairs and the offices of key senators, represen- For too many foreign-policy makers (2) a scarcity of good analysis about tatives and legislative committees, and analysts, religion remains the that involvement and our national who have wrested time from fierce elephant in the room. Most carry tendency—indeed, a strong Western schedules to come to this roundtable on as if the elephant really isn’t tendency—to shy away from ad- on religion and U.S. foreign policy. there. Among the few who do dressing it. Designed especially for them, the acknowledge the existence of the event—on Islam and democracy—is elephant, there are mainly two The Issue, Part 1: The Role of presented by the Washington pro- groups. One group insists that the Religion in International Relations gram of the Council on Foreign elephant will quietly stay in the Relations and the Pew Forum on corner and can’t possibly upset the A truism is necessary at this point: Religion & Public Life. furniture. The other group orders Religion is important in human affairs Nancy E. Roman, vice president of the elephant to leave the room. because it affects the opinions and the council and director of its Wash- actions of individuals, groups and ington program, introduces the expert If that’s so, what explains the discrep- national leaders. Some of these opin- that these policy professionals have ancy? If Haass is right that religion ions and actions are political. In the come to hear: Vali R. Nasr, Ph.D., of now carries an importance in inter- U.S., for example, white evangelical the Naval Postgraduate School in national relations that has been unpar- Protestants, who are about a quarter Monterey, Calif., whose expertise alleled for centuries, why does it of the electorate, gave George W. on political Islam is voluminously garner so little attention from foreign- Bush 40 percent of his votes in the documented in the handout supplied. policy makers and analysts? 2004 election, an election which To outsiders, it might not seem One answer, as explained at a forum resulted in distinctive directions in surprising that religion would be the event by Robert A. Seiple, former U.S. U.S. domestic and foreign policy. topic. After all, according to Richard N. ambassador-at-large for international And as we have certainly seen in Haass, Ph.D., president of the coun- religious freedom and chairman of recent years, religious differences can cil, “Both at home and abroad, reli- the board of the Institute for Global cause or exacerbate violent confronta- gion is playing a greater role than it Engagement, is that “it’s hard to talk tions. A list would have to begin with has for centuries in the politics of about religion in the inter-agency Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about foreign policy and in international process of Washington. After all, we Islam in September and the Danish relations more broadly.” have this separation of church and cartoon controversy earlier, but But, in fact, what’s most unusual state, and the discussion of religion would then range far wider to include about this lunchtime event is that it’s somehow is not supposed to happen conflicts between Roman Catholics happening at all; and what’s most in polite company. We’ve developed and Protestants in Northern Ireland, unusual about Haass’s observation is good governance in separation of Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, that such a statement is seldom heard church and state, but we’ve done it at a Muslims and Christians in the Balkans

It’s as imprudent to ignore the role of religion in foreign policy as it is to pretend that the elephant is in some other room, rather than right here.

Illustrations by Wally Neibart 14 Information Trust / Fall 2006

Addressing religious differences means entering discus- and Hindus and Muslims on the Indian subcontinent. sions where ultimate moral values—our own as well The list would continue with terror- as those of others—may not be governed by reason ist attacks in the United States, Eng- land, Spain, Cyprus and the Nether- alone, but may be held more fiercely than if they were. lands, and with rioting in France. It would comprise many conflicts in Africa, including those in the Ivory In both cases, members of opposing religious differences as a cause for Coast, Sudan, Chad, Uganda and faith traditions are being brought interfering in the internal affairs of Nigeria. To the south, Peru, Brazil, together by non-governmental organ- other territories. With some exceptions, Mexico and Haiti have recently experi- izations in a series of faith-based recon- the Westphalian model has retained enced religion-related violence, as ciliation seminars. its strong influence against religion- have India, Bangladesh and Sri Finally, a number of efforts toward based international conflicts through- Lanka in South Asia and Indonesia global, governmental, inter-religious out Europe and beyond over the and East Timor in Southeast Asia. dialogue have cropped up since 9/11. following centuries. Meanwhile, many diplomatic negoti- For instance, the Alliance of Civiliza- As a result, many of today’s foreign- ations also involve religion. A prime tions project, led by Spanish Prime policy experts tend to pay little atten- example is the vigorous debate among Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero tion to the elephant in the room, and members of the European Union—a and Turkish Prime Minister Recep many were actually taught that it is group of nations with primarily Christ- Tayyip Erdoan, aims to increase unimportant. In spite of what the Pew ian roots—over whether to admit largely Christian-Muslim understanding. Forum’s Shah calls “an astonishing Muslim Turkey. Europeans who resist religious upsurge around the world” Turkey’s inclusion cite the continent’s The Issue, Part 2: Avoiding the that began more than three decades 1,300 years of troubled relationships Elephant ago, American university programs with Islam and worry that the reli- in international studies were gener- gious beliefs of Turks will make it A major reason Americans avoid ally very slow to take heed. He cites hard for the country to accept some addressing religion’s role in interna- a survey showing that, among the of Europe’s central values, including tional affairs is the U.S.’s commitment 1,600 articles appearing between democracy, tolerance and equal rights to the separation of church and state, 1980 and 1999 in the nation’s four for women. which has at its heart the national leading journals of international There is growing recognition of principle of religious freedom. In fact, relations, only about a half dozen the increasingly important role by law the U.S. Census does not ask addressed the role of religion in religion plays in international devel- about respondents’ religious affilia- international affairs. opment, humanitarian assistance and tions. As a result, any analysis of the When both Shah and the forum’s conflict resolution. Because fighting size and opinions of various American director, Luis E. Lugo, Ph.D., were poverty and providing social safety nets religious groups comes from volun- completing their graduate education— (often through health and education) tarily supplied information, such in Shah’s case, as late as the early are at the core of most of the world’s as the data gathered in surveys 1990s—they and other American major religious traditions, faith groups conducted by the Pew Research Center. students of comparative politics were and development professionals find The history behind the church- taught that the contemporary evolu- themselves sharing common concerns. state doctrine is strong. J. Bryan tion of nations happened through a Couple this with the high level of Hehir, Ph.D., a professor at Harvard’s process of modernization twinned trust that faith-based organizations Kennedy School of Government and with secularization. After all, that’s engender and their ability to reach one of the country’s leading Catholic what had occurred in Europe. Students deep into the communities, and one intellectuals, explains that the doc- were further instructed, Lugo ob- can see why development agencies trine originated in the 1648 Treaty of serves with a chuckle, that the only are looking to faith groups as an Westphalia, which ended Europe’s alternative models were “varieties of important tool in their own efforts. devastating and religiously fueled neo-Marxist frameworks—which also Religion has also been useful in Thirty Years’ War. postulated a secularized world.” conflict resolution, or “Track II The treaty signaled the emergence By now, that astonishing religious Diplomacy,” in the world’s conflict of modern sovereign states, whose upsurge has grown for more than 30 zones, such as Sudan and Kashmir. leaders were to refrain from using years, summarizes Shah, “and yet it’s Trust / Fall 2006 15

still considered a novelty in some Hoagland wrote: “Americans—espe- better if they were able to see the circles to look at the role of religion cially politicians, policy makers and whole elephant and compare notes. in foreign policy.” journalists—need to put aside their By early 2004, several people Experts or not, all of us may have constitutionally endowed reluctance emerged who were eager to get and reasons for ignoring the elephant to recognize and discuss the role disseminate good information about in the room. We may fear that even that religion plays in politics and religion’s role in international relations: catching the elephant’s eye will civic life at large. . . . As a nation, we in New York, Walter Russell Mead, agitate it further. Addressing religious need broad global strategies that the Council on Foreign Affairs’ Henry differences means entering discus- explicitly take into account religion’s A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. sions where moral values—our own changing role around the world and Foreign Policy; and, in Washington, as well as those of others—may not the great potential for harm as well Roman, who would shortly become be governed by reason alone, but as for good that those changes offer.” the director of the council’s program may be held more fiercely than if For approaching the task, Ambas- in that city, and Lugo, then the new they were. sador Seiple recommends: “Under- director of the Pew Forum on Reli- As James Lindsay, a vice president stand your own faith at its deepest gion & Public Life. The three would soon work together to offer foreign- policy leaders the kind of high-quality roundtables on religious issues represented by the event at which Vali Nasr spoke. A project of the Pew Research Center, which is located in Washing- ton, D.C., the forum has functioned as a “fact tank” and a town hall for journalists, civic and political leaders and advocacy groups. It’s an inde- pendent, nonpartisan project that does not take positions on the policy issues it addresses, most of which, until recently, have been domestic and all of which are affected by religious opinions. Examples include bioethics, the death penalty, same-sex marriage and school vouchers. The forum’s town-hall meetings, of the Council on Foreign Relations and richest best. And understand featuring speakers on various sides and formerly a senior fellow at the enough about your neighbor’s faith of important religion-related issues, Brookings Institution, has written: to respect it.” soon drew full houses, and its invita- “When people become certain of their He doesn’t use the word tolerance: tion-only events for journalists built a moral rectitude, they can easily drift “In my way of thinking, tolerance is strong following. Jody Hassett, a into sanctimony, so anybody who nothing more than a cheap form of former producer at ABC and CNN disagrees with them must, by defini- grace applied to people that I don’t who now heads her own production tion, not really be interested in moral really care for. Respect speaks to firm, says, “Whoever does all the issues. That tends to poison debate what we have in common.” booking for that really thinks about rather than advance it.” who is doing the best thinking and Nonetheless, many observers are Joining Forces to Promote Good who is ahead of the curve.” now concluding we can no longer Analysis What’s more, in forum events, “it’s afford to neglect the international not about the clash—it’s about thought- effects of religious attitudes. In a Another truism wrapped in a familiar ful disagreement and engagement on column that appeared in The Wash- fable: Blind men try separately to the ideas,” she says, noting that this ington Post in January, two-time analyze an elephant, each feeling a is very different from “that talk-show Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jim single part. Obviously, they would do mentality where everyone’s looking 16 Information Trust / Fall 2006

Foreigners often struggle to understand why—with for the points of disagreement.” The project’s Web site is found at this kind of relatively new, open religiousness among http://pewforum.org. It carries up-to- U.S. leaders—Americans continue to firmly support the date information on the crossroads of religion and public affairs, includ- separation of church and state. ing transcripts of many of its events, original reports and legal background and violence drew staff members he says, “is wonderful for us, because papers, recent surveys and links to from the Department of State, the on this religion and foreign-policy pertinent news stories from major Department of Defense, USAID and issue, there’s very little going on in U.S. publications. Visitors can sign up the intelligence community, along disciplined study. There are a lot of to receive the site’s weekly updates. with representatives of foreign good scholars and university people When Luis Lugo, a former professor embassies and non-governmental who have expertise, and there are of political science with expertise in organizations. people in the mission field who have religion and public policy and former Both the council and the forum another sort of expertise. But an director of the Trusts’ Religion pro- hail the benefits of working together. institution that’s trying to create an gram, became the forum’s director, “It’s a strategic partnership,” says integrated body of knowledge and one of his main goals was to add Erin O’Connell, the forum’s program support the creation of a discourse on religion in foreign policy to the manager, “a way for us to get to a the subject—that’s something that project’s issues list. This focus is ready-made audience of bipartisan just wasn’t there and badly needs to currently expressed through round- heavyweights—the gathering of the be there.” tables and other events, as well as influentials in American foreign through the partnership with the policy, left, right and center.” The Forum and Foreign Audiences Council on Foreign Relations. Timothy Shah adds: “Over the long The foreign-policy events address term, the influence [that the council The forum has also become a regular wide-ranging subjects including has] on the thinking of [the foreign- stop for foreign-government officials Islam and democratization, Turkey policy] community—through their and opinion makers. By the end of and the European Union, American journal Foreign Affairs, through these 2005, project staffers had briefed evangelical attitudes toward Israel, meetings, through the task forces that roughly 550 representatives from religious fault lines in West Africa, they have—is incalculable. To have more than 60 countries, including a the rise of global Christianity and even a small impact on that organiza- group of high-level Iraqi religious contemporary Vatican foreign policy. tion ultimately yields a huge return.” and political leaders. More than two- To measure domestic religious atti- On the council’s side, Richard thirds of the total were either guests tudes, the forum often draws heavily Haass, the organization’s president, of the State Department’s Interna- on surveys, especially data from the says, “Our meetings on religion have tional Visitor Leadership Program or Pew Research Center. elicited some of the most positive foreign journalists. In Washington, besides the congres- feedback we have ever received from Others—including political coun- sional roundtables, the forum collab- our members.” selors from more than 30 embassies— orates with the council to provide a For Nancy Roman, the council’s are drawn to some of the forum’s series of events for policy makers in Washington host at those congres- public activities and resources. A the military, defense, intelligence and sional roundtables, policy makers presentation titled “Does ‘Muslim’ security communities as well as for trying to honor the separation of Turkey Belong in ‘Christian’ Europe?” foreign-policy specialists and journal- church and state might be anxious was attended by more than three ists. In New York, shared events are about addressing religion; but “be- dozen foreign officials, including the likely to be aimed at Wall Street and cause the forum is nonpartisan and ambassador from Cyprus and embassy the business community plus the straightforward and academic in its representatives from Croatia, the Czech city’s international audience, intel- approach,” it provides “a good an- Republic, Germany, Greece, Pakistan lectual and academic leaders and chor” for the joint events. and Romania as well as Turkey. journalists. At the council’s main base in New An Austrian embassy official de- Many of the forum’s own programs York City, Walter Russell Mead works clared that a forum colloquium on in Washington, too, are aimed at a closely with the forum’s Lugo on “Secular Europe and Religious Amer- range of policy makers. For example, programming. The forum’s presence ica” was the best Washington think- a forum program on religion, security as “a major policy-oriented institute,” tank event he’d ever attended. When Trust / Fall 2006 17

Britain’s Prince Charles came to pletely devoid of any religious restraint. guy, Al Gore.” Then Lugo told them Washington in November 2005, he But in other parts of the world, America about Gore’s vice presidential candi- requested a special seminar on faith is hated because it’s seen as the land date, a practicing Jew—Orthodox, no and social responsibility, and the of the fundamentalist idiot squad, a less—who spoke freely about his faith. forum’s Lugo was one of the invited bunch of bigots who are going to Foreigners often struggle to participants. destroy the world through their understand why—with this relatively Foreign visitors are often especially stupidity.” Offering clear, statistically new, open religiousness among U.S. interested in Americans’ religious supported information is an essential leaders—Americans continue to firmly attitudes. Lugo reports that when part of furthering understanding. support the separation of church and staff members present statistics Many foreigners are also surprised to state. John Judis, a senior editor of demonstrating the highly religious learn that religion in American public The New Republic, met this question nature of the nation’s grassroots, life is not confined to the Christian when speaking in Germany to an many foreign listeners are stunned. right or even to social conservatives, audience uneasy about the role of Shah says, “The Europeans are but that both parties have strong religion in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. As he related afterward, he told the Germans, “You have in your country a party called the Christian Democrats. Now, do you realize that if we had a party in the United States that was called that or was called the Christian Republicans, it would be a major scandal?” In Europe, Judis reminded his audience, historical church-state relationships have allowed the sur- vival of old religious names for parties that are now militantly secular and composed of people who often fear the zealotry of religion. “In the U.S., it’s almost the oppo- site,” he continued. America’s original immigrants, though usually religious, were also opposed to governmentally established religion. That view lives on, in our discomfort with associating political parties closely with religion. “But at the same time,” he added, “religion has been intrinsic to our shocked; the Muslims are pleasantly religious bases. Presenting the keynote discourse, and it’s acceptable in a surprised. We’ve all briefed Europeans speech at a conference sponsored by way that it is not in Europe.” who have this visible look of horror.” the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in In fact, in the United States, “church” Europeans also express disbelief Germany in 2005, Lugo explained seems increasingly eager to speak its over forum findings that a strong that fact to an audience of journalists mind to “state,” and forum staff share majority of Americans believe God and political leaders. with foreigners their findings that created life on earth and that seven “For example,” he told them, “in religious influence on U.S. foreign out of ten Americans want a president 2000, we had a candidate who openly policy appears to have grown in the with strong religious beliefs, he adds. said he was a born-again Christian . . . last 10 years. According to forum As the Council on Foreign Relations’ and who promised the country that, polling, white evangelical Protestants Mead puts it: “In parts of the Middle if elected president, he would ask are increasingly active in supporting East, America is criticized for being himself this question before making international religious freedom, actions kind of atheistic, a producer of dirty any major decision: ‘What would Jesus against human trafficking, efforts to movies and a pop culture that is com- do?’ And that was the Democratic curb AIDS in Africa and the allevia- 18 Information Trust / Fall 2006

Among emerging religious trends and movements: with Muslims and Hindus. the burgeoning of religious diasporas caused by Lugo also points to the militant forms mass migrations that are “like nothing we’ve ever that some Muslim and Christian move- ments are taking in the weak states seen before,” says Lugo. of sub-Saharan Africa. Religious confrontations in strategically impor- tant countries like Nigeria will con- tion of poverty in the developing world. and others, which was heard on 90 tinue to present a major challenge for In some of these efforts, religious U.S. public radio stations and in 145 global security well into the future. groups have effectively joined forces countries. Another way in which religion will with liberal groups. To reach West Coast audiences, influence global public life, Lugo adds, Black evangelicals have also be- the forum affiliated with the Pacific is through its influence on the foreign come more involved in foreign policy, Council on International Policy (a policy of the United States, the world’s especially in supporting efforts against partner of the Council on Foreign most powerful country. If the last 10 the HIV/AIDS pandemic sweeping Relations) and the Annenberg years are any indication, religious sub-Saharan Africa. School for Communication at the influence on American foreign policy Christian immigrant groups, too, University of Southern California. will only increase in the coming years. have become more active. For example, Looking ahead, which emerging Lugo concludes the list by identify- Korean-American evangelicals played a religious trends and movements are ing a distinguishing feature of global- key role in the U.S. Government’s most likely to reshape global public ization: burgeoning religious diaspo- enactment of the North Korean Human life? Lugo names the rise of global ras caused by mass migrations that Rights Act of 2004. Islam, especially outside traditional are “like nothing we’ve ever seen Other ethnic groups have also Muslim areas, and the growth of before.” Some of these diasporas taken an active role in foreign affairs. global Christianity in the developing maintain a strong transnational Muslim Americans have become world, particularly Pentecostalism. In religious identity that often trumps highly critical of U.S. foreign and Latin America, for example, Pente- national identity. security policy toward the Islamic costals make up 15 percent of the For instance, the Pew Global world. Hindu Americans have lobbied population in some countries, and its Attitudes Project found that many for stronger ties with India and have adherents have become increasingly Muslims around the world think of been somewhat successful in blunting involved in politics. In parts of Asia, themselves as Muslims first and U.S. criticism of Hindu nationalist the growth of Pentecostalism and citizens of their countries second. policies—policies which many ob- evangelical and indigenous forms of Such a trend will undoubtedly influ- servers consider hostile to India’s Christianity has brought Christians ence the direction of global politics religious minorities, including Mus- into contact, and often into conflict, and challenge nation-states in major lims and Christians. Jewish groups new ways, Lugo says. have continued their support of Israel Following it all would challenge and also joined Indian Americans to the most adept of elephant watchers. strengthen the anti-terror alliance For the forum, he says, “the task is among India, Israel and the United to gather the best information on States. these trends worldwide and share it with an increasingly wide audience of Extending the Reach policy makers and opinion shapers.” The true measure of success will be The forum’s primary goal of ana- the extent to which these audiences lyzing and providing timely informa- notice and take seriously the elephant tion on such issues remains strong, in the room. ■T and its reach is expanding. In fall 2005, a new partnership with America The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life is located Abroad Media resulted in a one-hour at 1615 L Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036. Its phone is 202.419.4550, and its Web site public radio special on “Evangelicals is http://pewforum.org. and American Foreign Policy,” co- hosted by Ray Suarez, Marvin Kalb Sue Rardin is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer. Trust / FallBackground: 2006Turkey farm19 in Pennsylvania. Rick Smith/ Associated Press

and when the time comes By Colin Woodard

n the spring of 1918, as the IFirst World War was drawing to a close, a strange disease began spreading through the trenches of Belgium and France. On both sides of the front, soldiers fell ill by the thousands, their heads and joints aching, their bodies burning with fever. One in 20 of the afflicted died, A flu pandemic will affect all usually within the week, their faces sectors of society. Will they be turning blue as they drowned in ready to deal with it? The Pan- demic Preparedness Initiative their own body fluids. helps them plan. It saves time Many months later, this disease and resources—and quite possi- would be identified as the “killer flu,” bly its work will save lives. and its first appearance, according to 20 Policy Trust / Fall 2006

many historians, would eventually be China. All human viruses derive initially traced to an army barracks in Kansas. from birds, but with this flu, humans At the time, however, it was spread- had no resistance because nobody ing like wildfire, passing through the alive had ever encountered anything s

air from person to person, unit to like it before. That’s why it rolled on s e r P

unit, army to army and, by the middle with such virulence. d e t a

of August, among the third-class “What makes a pandemic virus i c o s

passengers crowded aboard a Nor- different from the seasonal flu is that s wegian steamship bound for New York there hasn’t been prior exposure,” says A City. By September, the city was seeing Jeffrey Levi, Ph.D., director of Trust hundreds of new cases every day. for America’s Health, a Washington- The disease spared no country, and based health advocacy organization mortality was shocking. In Philadelphia, established by the Trusts and other one of the hardest-hit U.S. cities, 752 funders in 2001. “What has everyone people died in a single day and more on high alert today is a new form of than 12,000 in the month of October avian flu, which appears to have jumped alone. By the time the flu ran its course, to people and could mutate into some- 500,000 Americans had died—more thing that is readily transmitted from than five times the number killed in human to human.” the war. The worldwide death toll is The current avian flu variant, H5N1, estimated at between 20 million and has been a pandemic in birds for more 50 million. than a decade, and, by June 2006, it Doctors, accustomed to dealing with infected birds in 53 nations, with the common flu, were flabbergasted at hundreds of millions of them dying. the death toll. The seasonal flu virus It was first identified in humans in changes from year to year, mutating 1997, when it killed a boy in Hong as it courses through the human Kong, prompting authorities there to population, but usually remains simi- order a mass slaughter of poultry that lar enough for a healthy person’s temporarily halted the spread to people. immune system to recognize and But the disease did not go away, and combat it. The common flu can be scientists are now growing concerned deadly—even today it kills 36,000 that this flu contains worrying paral- Americans each year—but its victims lels to the deadly 1918 flu variant. are usually people weakened by age Most bird flu strains aren’t equipped or illness. But of the millions the 1918 to invade human cells, and until re- Flu victims at Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1918. Top: An entry from the diary of Ethel Anderson, a writer, describing the situation in an evacuation hospital in France on September 25th of that year. virus swept away, many were young cently scientists believed the only way and healthy, yet unable to resist it. they could develop the capability was by first jumping to an intermediate nly in recent years have host species. Pigs were considered scientists begun to figure the most likely candidate, as they are tiny fraction of the 1918 deaths, pre- out why the 1918 flu virus capable of catching both avian and sumably because bird viruses that was so deadly. In the human influenza. A virus jumped had made an intermediate stop in Oprocess, they have realized how easily from birds to pigs, the theory went, swine were more familiar to human it could happen again. and, on further mutation, became immune systems, thus easier to combat. By examining tissue samples taken capable of infecting humans. Today’s epidemiologists are nervous from victims of the 1918 virus, ge- The theories weren’t wrong: This that the current H5N1 avian flu may neticists have figured out why people appears to be exactly how two of the mutate to share the rare quality that had so little resistance. The virus, 20th century’s pandemics happened. 1918’s H1N1 virus had: the ability to named H1N1 (the letters refer to its In 1957 and 1968, strains of bird flu move directly from birds to humans protein structure), had jumped to infected pigs and were passed on to and, subsequently, from human to humans from infected poultry that humans. A total of two million people human. It has already shown at least had been imported, possibly from worldwide died in the two outbreaks, a one similarity: Because H5N1 is so Trust / Fall 2006 21

Even if H5N1 fails to achieve a highly those measures would be paid for. contagious form, public health experts The plan invests $3.5 billion in help- say it’s only a matter of time before ing pharmaceutical companies ex- another strain does. After all, pandemics pand their vaccine-production capacity, occur three or four times every 100 “but not one penny to pay for the years—in that respect, there was purchase of those vaccines in the nothing exceptional about the 20th event of a pandemic,” says TFAH century. “It’s not a matter of if a Director Levi. “There’s additional pandemic flu will happen, but when,” money to expand the ability of state says Georges Benjamin, M.D., exec- and local health departments to pre- utive director of the American Public pare for a pandemic, but not one penny Health Association. “In this country to pay for the care that people will we’ve never really done a good job need.” dealing with seasonal flu, so the Assuming that the federal govern- concept of a worldwide pandemic ment will purchase all of the vaccine, event—that’s something society is some cash-strapped jurisdictions may totally unprepared for.” not be able to afford to buy enough necessary antiviral treatment med- oncerned about the ications, and millions of uninsured potential consequences of people may be reluctant to seek care— a pandemic flu event, The circumstances that could cripple efforts Pew Charitable Trusts, in to contain the spread of the disease. CDecember 2005, invested $1.5 million “Unfortunately, the federal govern- in an initiative to hold accountable ment has said that states and locali- federal, state and local officials to do ties are on their own,” Levi says. “We all they can to prepare for a possible saw with Hurricane Katrina what flu pandemic. “One of the most effec- happens when the federal government tive tools in policy-making is sunlight,” doesn’t play a major role, and by says Jim O’Hara, the Trusts’ manag- definition, a pandemic will be much ing director of Policy Initiatives and bigger than Katrina, since it will hit the Health and Human Services pro- almost every U.S. jurisdiction simul- gram. “If you want an effective plan, taneously. it’s important to have someone asking “Where you live,” he adds, “shouldn’t questions, making sure deadlines are determine whether you survive the n entry from the diary of Ethel Anderson, a writer, being met, and that the media are pandemic.” n France on September 25th of that year. aware of what is happening.” TFAH has identified another worri- The vehicle for those efforts is the some shortcoming: a failure to ade- Pandemic Preparedness Initiative, a quately communicate the risks and project overseen by Trust for America’s implications of a pandemic to various unlike anything people have been Health (TFAH). As part of the initia- sectors of society or to provide technical exposed to before, it has proved lethal. tive, TFAH’s staff has been assessing assistance to state and local health As of July 2006, the virus had infected the federal government’s pandemic departments, which are being left to more than 231 people and killed response plan and implementation of devise their own flu plans. The United more than half of them, an astonish- recommendations the organization States has more than 3,500 such depart- ingly high fatality rate. Among the has compiled. They have found some ments, and every one of them is trying dead is an Indonesian man who caught significant progress, but overall the to reinvent the wheel. it from his infected 10-year-old son, results have been slow in coming. confirming fears that the virus may The Bush administration’s govern- anchester, N.H., is a be capable of moving from human to ment-wide pandemic plan, released case in point. Today, human. If H5N1 mutates into a more last May, recognized the scope of the Manchester is merely infectious form, a 1918-style pandemic threat and many critical response the state’s largest city, could be in the making. measures, but failed to address how Mwith 110,000 residents, but it was 22 Policy Trust / Fall 2006 s s e r P

d e t a i c o s s A

once an industrial powerhouse of think about it if and when the time national importance. A century ago, comes. Then, of course, it’s too late.” the long, red-brick buildings lining But in August 2005, Rusczek received the Merrimack River housed the a parcel of full-color brochures pre- Amoskeag Mills, the world’s largest pared by TFAH’s Pandemic Prepared- textile manufacturer, which kept the ness Initiative. The materials were United States clothed for nearly a the first in a series targeted at specif- century. They also put Manchester on ic sectors—business leaders (in this the front lines of applied epidemiology. first case), health care professionals, The mills attracted tens of thousands the media, community groups, and of poor Irish, French and Italian immi- individuals and families—explaining grants who worked amid great heaps what pandemic flu was and the issues of raw wool and animal hides in the each sector needed to think about in hot, poorly ventilated mills. Disease preparing for an outbreak. Rusczek outbreaks were so common that and his colleagues began handing Manchester became one of the first them out at meetings and soon were cities in New England to create a even receiving requests for them. public health department. Good “These were wonderful,” he says, thing, too, because, in 1957, Man- “because they were something we chester’s Arms Textile Mill was the were able to pass out that came from site of the only accidental outbreak of outside government,” a particularly anthrax in U.S. history; four workers important consideration in New s

died before it was contained. Hampshire, with its long tradition s e r P

In a low-slung building just up the of skepticism toward public officials. d e t

hill from where the Arms Mill once “It really adds to the credibility of a i c o

stood, Frederick A. Rusczek, M.P.H., our message, both with the public s s heads the city’s venerable public health and other parts of city government.” A department. Rusczek says the past The brochures engaged local busi- Top: H.H.S.’s Leavitt. five years have kept him on his toes. ness leaders, agrees Timothy Soucy, Above: Deadly because humans have never been In the aftermath of the September 11 M.P.H., the city’s chief of environ- exposed to it: Avian bird terrorist attacks, someone started mental health. “We could have tried flu H5N1 (stained gold) mailing weaponized anthrax to people to get people to pay attention until in epithelial cells in other states, and suddenly the we were blue in the face,” he says. (stained green) people of Manchester were reporting “When there’s a recognized, reliable, Right: A supermarket in suspicious white powders in letters, non-governmental source that’s com- The Hague, Netherlands, offered chocolate eggs sugar bowls and vacuum cleaners. In ing out with the same message, it backs when an outbreak of 2003, there were both the SARS scare, up what we are saying and has really bird flu in 2003 created which had public officials meeting helped get people’s attention.” a shortage of real ones, as the sign indicates: flights at Toronto’s airport, and the Kim Elliott, deputy director of TFAH, “There are no eggs invasion of Iraq, when President Bush says the organization started devel- available.” s

issued an abortive order for public oping pandemic brochures in 2005 s e r P health departments to inoculate mil- when it realized that critical informa- d e t a

lions of Americans against smallpox. tion wasn’t being made available by i c o s

None of those threats reached the anyone else. “We started with the s A / y

city, which has made it all the more business community,” she says, “so b n u

difficult for Rusczek to get Manches- corporate executives could be aware G . S

terians, from the mayor on down, to of how to keep a workplace healthy w e h t take the pandemic flu threat seriously. and of the steps that they could be t a “The biggest challenge is that most taking now in terms of ensuring busi- M people just don’t believe it,” he says. ness continuity during an outbreak.” “They haven’t experienced it in their Most large businesses have plans own lives, so they figure that they’ll to ensure that vital records and other

Will there be enough to go around? Trust / Fall 2006 23

The federal govern- critical business elements can survive We were really at a loss.” ment can’t rescue a relatively localized event like a fire, In July 2005, Tan met TFAH’s Jeff hurricane or bomb. “But a pandemic Levi at a pandemic-planning confer- every community, says is not a single event,” Elliott says. ence and shared his concerns. Levi U.S. H.H.S. Secretary “It will last over a period of several showed him the brochure they had months and affect society at large,” prepared for business leaders. “I Michael O. Leavitt: creating a situation few businesses looked at it and said, hey, that’s exactly “It’s not because we have considered. what we need,” Tan says. A few months don’t care, don’t want “The big culprit is sustained em- later, the two organizations had put ployee absenteeism, projected at 40 together a carefully vetted brochure to, or don’t have the percent and affecting not just your for health-care professionals, which money, but because it’s business, but everyone else as well. has since been distributed to 380,000 We live in a just-in-time economy, so physicians across the country. logistically impossible.” what happens when 40 percent of the Because it would take six months air-traffic controllers, pilots, truck or more to develop and produce a drivers, railroad engineers and factory vaccine capable of countering a novel Yet “where you live workers are too sick to come to work? flu strain, the brochures warn, hospi- shouldn’t determine Business in the U.S. as we know it tals will be quickly overrun. Ventilators whether you survive will cease to exist.” and antiviral drugs capable of fighting “Few industries are going to be the infection will likely be in short a pandemic,” says insulated from the pandemic,” says supply, and hospitals will be forced Jeff Levi of Trust for Ann Beauchesne, executive director of to ration care. Practices, clinics and homeland security at the U.S. Cham- hospitals should be developing plans America’s Health. ber of Commerce, which collaborated now that will help them stay up and on the business-sector brochures running during a pandemic event. and distributed them to more than “The public expects the hospital is S e

r 3,000 state and local chapters. “Our going to be there for the care that is g e

L message to our members is that the needed,” says Sandra Demars, director i g t e

n pandemic will happen, we’re overdue of safety and emergency management b e r

g for one, and it’s not a waste of time at Manchester’s Elliot Hospital, the / A s

s and resources to prepare.” city’s largest, which has been prepar- o c i a ing for a pandemic event for months. t e d

P reparation is even more “We’ll be there for people to the degree r e s

s critical in the health-care we possibly can, but there’s a gap industry, which, in a 1918- between what we have and what we style scenario, would have to would need in a serious event.” Pattend to more than 55 million extra Example: A ventilator for an inten- patients, 10 million requiring hospi- sive care unit costs around $30,000. talization. But many doctors, absorbed Elliot has a dozen, more than enough with more immediate demands, know to meet patients’ needs in normal little about the pandemic flu. circumstances. In the event of a severe That worried L.J. Tan, Ph.D., direc- pandemic flu outbreak, says Demars, tor of infectious diseases at the Ameri- projections suggest the hospital would can Medical Association. “There really receive hundreds of patients in need wasn’t anything out there to prepare of ventilator care. It is looking into our physicians,” he recalls. “How do acquiring large numbers of cheaper, you distinguish between a seasonal less sophisticated ventilators, but and pandemic flu? What do you say inevitably not every patient would to your patients? What are the critical receive the standard of care a clinician things you will need to do to ensure would normally provide. that your practice will continue to That led to another realization for function in the event of a pandemic? Demars and her colleagues. In a 24 Policy Trust / Fall 2006

desperate situation where care has to be rationed, securing the city’s hospi- tals would be essential to their con- tinued operation. They realized that pandemic planning needed to be coordinated with the police department, emergency medical technicians, the fire department and competing hospi- tals. “We may need the police to be on hand to lock down our campus because there are 500 people trying to force their way onto our property,” Demars says. “We said to the police: ‘We’re good at health care, but you know how to control a riot.’” Fortunately, Manchester is a small place where people know one another, so it was relatively easy to get deci- sion-makers together, face-to-face, to work out a coordinated plan. Elliot and its rival hospital, Catholic Medical Center, have worked out what sort of cases each institution will handle tion among institutions. Most emer- dation and The California Endowment, during a pandemic. Emergency med- gency plans assume that help will will be attended by the directors of ical technicians and fire department arrive from the outside, but because both the California and Los Angeles rescue teams know which patients a flu pandemic would, by definition, County public-health departments, will go where, while the police have affect everyone at once, there would who, along with 15 to 25 other lead- plans to secure facilities and re-route be no “outside” to draw help from. ing officials, will play themselves in traffic. When the fire department “Any community that fails to pre- the simulation. The participants will was shopping for new respirator pare and expects the federal govern- represent a range of sectors and insti- masks capable of protecting their ment will come to the rescue is tragi- tutions, including city and other gov- personnel from infection, they worked cally wrong,” U.S. Health and Hu- ernment agencies, hospitals and with the police and public health depart- man Services Secretary Michael O. school boards. ment to buy models with interchange- Leavitt has told audiences across In the first phase, these decision- able filters. the country. “It’s not because we makers are informed that the World “This regional planning is essential,” don’t care, don’t want to, or don’t Health Organization has raised the Demars says, “and if you approach it have the money, but because it’s worldwide threat level: A flu pandemic in the right way, you can develop a logistically impossible.” has started. “They learn that there’s modular plan that can be applied to a Because each community may face a woman who had been traveling in range of other emergencies” from a pandemic on its own, it’s essential Vietnam and developed acute respi- smallpox and SARS to a chemical that they all do what Manchester has ratory distress while flying to Los spill or an accident at a nuclear power done, says Levi of TFAH. “Govern- Angeles,” explains TFAH’s Kim Elliott. station. “Then it’s vital to hold drills ments—local, state and federal—need Audience members begin the day by for each of those plans, so that every- to coordinate and communicate with withdrawing to breakout sections by body knows what to do if it really one another, and that’s something sector, where they will address happens.” that’s not often the focus of exercises,” possible issues and consider how he says. they would be resolved. anchester is well ahead To raise awareness of this point, in Later, when the “real-time” scenario of the game. In many October TFAH is organizing a daylong begins to unfold, the participants are other cities—particular- simulation of a pandemic flu outbreak shown professionally-produced, of-the- ly large metropolitan in Los Angeles. The drill, co-sponsored moment news reports, some accurate, Mareas—there is often little coordina- by the Robert Wood Johnson Foun- some not. They hear government Trust / Fall 2006 25

A day-long simulation of a pandemic flu outbreak in Los Angeles may be turned into a widely-aired documentary for Public Health Preparedness, which a wider audience so that hopes to address that “wheel-reinven- others don’t have to “reinvent tion” problem facing state and local governments by helping them trans- the wheel.” late public-health policies into effec- tive action steps. The project is being carried out by the Center for Infec- A l

G tious Disease Research and Policy at r i l l o

/ the University of Minnesota, under A s s

o the direction of Michael T. Osterholm, c i a

t Ph.D., M.P.H., one of the country’s e d

P foremost experts in public-health r e s

s preparedness. In the first part of this project, expected to be completed by next February, project participants will determine the aspects of a public- health response that are the most troublesome for state and local U.S. Geological Survey biologist Dan Ruthrauff watches a mist net for birds in the Anchorage governments, and then collect and (Alaska) Coastal Wildlife Refuge. Fecal samples from the netted birds are tested for the H5N1 virus. analyze alternatives; the second phase, from March through June announcements and are handed out California more aware of what 2007, involves dissemination and various sorts of documents. they need to be preparing for, but outreach. The Pew Center on the And they are openly observed: An TFAH hopes to bring some of those States is collaborating on the entire audience of 200 people—reporters, lessons to a wider audience. “We’re project but will play a particularly business leaders, educators and oth- looking into turning the exercise into important role in the latter efforts. ers—watch the events unfold, occa- a documentary which we hope to be “With the center’s expertise both in sionally participating in electronic able to air on a cable outlet and turn gathering state-based information votes on what they think should be into a training tool for other public- and circulating best practices, it done: Should the schools be closed health agencies,” says Levi, who hopes makes sense to partner,” says the now? shopping malls? the airport? not everyone will have to reinvent Trusts’ O’Hara. In the second phase of the exercise, the wheel. “There’s an enormous “It’s very easy for policy makers to the participants are thrown two weeks opportunity for replication and a start off with great intentions but to ahead: Hospitals are being over- sharing of experience.” be taken off track by new issues that whelmed, and thousands are sick. Meanwhile, TFAH continues to keep come up, so helping keep them fo- “Can you set up field hospitals?” Elliott the issue on decision-makers’ agendas. cused is very important,” he points continues. “Does anyone know how In addition to holding regular briefings out. “Being prepared for a pandemic to operate them besides the military? for federal policy makers, it leads the is really being ready for anything.” ■T Where is the military? Can the gover- public-policy and advocacy activities nor call the National Guard out?” of the broad-based Working Group on Trust for America’s Health is located at 1707 H In the third phase, the action has Pandemic Flu Preparedness, which it Street, NW, 7th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006, moved forward by four more weeks, has convened to share and dissemi- and its phone is 202.223.9870. Its Web site is when participants must confront the nate information about government http://healthyamericans.org, and its pandemic flu Web site is http://pandemicfluandyou.org. more lasting societal effects. Food is pandemic-preparedness initiatives. Information on the flu is also available at in short supply, the transportation TFAH also posts updated information www.cidrap.umn.edu, the Web site of the system is impaired, and people are and issue briefs to its comprehensive Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. unable to fill prescriptions for pre- pandemic-preparedness Web site, existing ailments, creating a whole www.pandemicfluandyou.org. A Mainer, Colin Woodard is an award-winning new set of crises. And now TFAH’s work is being journalist and the author of Ocean’s End: Travels The drill should make decision- augmented by a new Trusts project Through Endangered Seas and The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten makers in Los Angeles and through- called Strengthening State and Local Frontier. For more, see www.colinwoodard.com. Lessons Learned Head B CREPORT CARDS AS A GRANTMAKING TOOL BY NICHOLE S. ROWLES D e all can remember the report cards we received when we A W were in school. We B E relished the good individual letter grades and took exception to the bad A ones; in either case, they prompted + many of us to do better in class, D especially if they were accompanied + by guidance for improvement. F The Trusts uses report cards for C C much the same reasons and in much the same way but on a larger scale, + grading organizations in a particular sector or even states on certain per- F CC formance measures. During the past cations efforts, report cards can tiveness among organizations within B decade, Trusts-supported projects D have applied this tool in a range of generate interest in a particular a particular sector. Their public fields, including education, environ- issue and spur action among the nature can motivate poorly per- ment, health and human services, organizations being graded (e.g., forming organizations to improve. A public policy and journalism. public education systems), regula- Always within the context of a tors and funders (e.g., state agen- IMPACT CD broader strategy, report cards assess cies), consumers (e.g., college Report cards can have many kinds performance on specified measures by students) and the media. of impact. For example, if the goal is using an easy-to-understand grading •Serve as an objective, credible source to draw attention to an issue, then one system of A, B, C, D or F. The under- for evaluating performance. Through might expect to see that the report lying premise of a report card is that a technically rigorous and broad card is picked up by the press and collecting and widely disseminating consultation process, report card that the report card’s target audiences information on performance will developers create performance are engaging in new conversations. If provide incentives for better opera- standards that organizations—and the goal is to spur action, then one tions, reform or restructuring. Over their customers—can use to assess might look for broader use of the report time, the Trusts-supported report performance and track progress card’s findings by advocacy groups, cards have had various purposes and toward improvement. In this way, public officials and other agents, and impacts and provided program staff report cards also encourage ac- eventually, a change in the entities with lessons learned along the way. countability in the organizations being graded. Various effects that being graded. some of the Trusts’ report cards have PURPOSE •Highlight models of success. Orga- realized are: Report cards may be issued at nizations receiving good grades different stages of an issue’s life cycle, can represent models of success- •Media attention. In 2005, the Gov- ranging from issue identification to ful practices for others to draw ernment Performance Project, implementation of an agreed-upon upon. In this way, many report which publishes report cards on course of action. The goals prompt- cards help mark the road toward state management capacity by ing the use of report cards reflect improvement for low scorers by evaluating state performance in the this diversity; report cards can: drawing attention to best practices. areas of finances, human capital, •Provide motivation for desired im- infrastructure and information, •Draw attention to an issue. When provements. Report card grades was covered in 45 states in ap- combined with effective communi- allow for direct comparisons among proximately 300 newspaper and organizations and play to competi- broadcast outlets. Trust / Fall 2006 27 L e w i s

&

N o

b B e l

D e s i g n / N C C S House and Senate, along with a “Dear Colleague” letter, in an effort to raise congressional awareness D of public health trends and the need for nationwide tracking of A birth defects. B Prompted in part by the com- E mission’s final recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control A+ and Prevention issued an imple- mentation plan for nationwide D disease tracking, and Congress, + in turn, appropriated funds to F begin implementing the CDC’s C C plan. Furthermore, 17 states + passed legislation for increased funding to track birth defects. F CC •Improved performance. Between The 10th annual edition of Quality •Fostering change. Advocacy groups, the first and second iterations of B D Counts, the state report card for public officials and other change the Government Performance K-12 education, published in Educa- agents sometimes reference report Project’s report card, half of the tion Week by Editorial Projects in cards to further their cause. The states improved their grades. A Education in early 2006, generated Trusts-supported National Institute While it is not possible to determine more than 700 media stories. for Early Education Research, based whether these improvements can CD •New conversations. The Trusts- at Rutgers University, publishes an be attributed directly to the proj- supported National Center for annual yearbook of state prekinder- ect, many state agencies reported Public Policy and Higher Educa- garten policy that assesses how using the report card’s criteria, tion biannually publishes Measur- well states are serving their three- which they view as credible and ing Up, which grades each of the 50 and four-year-olds. In 2005, the relevant, to assess their own progress. states on how well their higher institute’s assessment of Arkansas’s In an evaluation that the Trusts education systems perform in areas preschool program as one of the commissioned in 2004, 55 percent such as preparation, affordability, best in the country helped moti- of state officials interviewed credited accessibility and degree comple- vate the state to support a sub- the project with motivating their tion. After the release of Measur- stantial expansion. states to take an interest in improv- ing Up in 2004, the center’s staff In late 1999, the now-closed Pew ing government. provided assistance to seven states Environmental Health Commission that sought guidance in interpret- released a report, “Healthy from LESSONS LEARNED ing their particular results and the Start: Why America Needs a While the responsibility of learn- assessing implications for state Better System to Track and Un- ing from a grade may belong to the policy. The center expects to under- derstand Birth Defects and the evaluated organization, the Trusts take the same kind of outreach Environment,” which included a have learned over the years some following the edition released this fall. report card on state birth-defects factors critical to a report card’s Similarly, after the Government surveillance programs. More than success: Performance Project released its 80 national and state health and report card last year, its staff worked environmental organizations re- •Rigorous methodology. The impor- with officials in 10 states, provid- ferred to “Healthy from the Start” tance of a meticulous methodology ing detailed presentations to help on their Web sites and in publica- that is scrutinized by experts in them understand their grades and tions. In addition, the Congressional the field cannot be overstated. An learn about best practices working Prevention Coalition distributed “airtight” methodology ensures elsewhere. the report to members of the U.S. that the results are valid and makes 28 Trust / Fall 2006

it more difficult for target audiences, understanding of the project and of peer advisors from high-graded including organizations being graded, enables them to produce materials states who will visit other states to to critique the results based on most likely to be effective with offer information and guidance. methodological concerns. targeted audiences—for instance, Similarly, to supplement the In developing a report card, press releases, editorials and op-eds 2002 iteration of Measuring Up, the considerations may include: work- that explore complex issues raised 50-state higher education report ing with an independent, nonparti- by report cards; versions of the card, the Trusts supported the san organization to design the report report card customized for partic- National Collaborative for Postsec- card; providing for input during the ular audiences (e.g., national or ondary Education, a joint project development phase from subjects state); and targeted packaging (e.g., of the National Center for Public being graded so that they under- full descriptions of the methodology Policy and Higher Education (which stand the methodology and can for researchers and practitioners publishes the report card), the voice concerns early in the process; and a streamlined version for jour- National Center for Higher Edu- using reliable and valid quantita- nalists, advocates, policy makers cation Management Systems and B tive measures whenever possible so and the general public). the Education Commission of the as to avoid subjective judgments; States. The collaborative worked and conducting a pilot test of the intensively in Louisiana, Rhode C data collection so that challenges Island, Virginia, Washington and may be addressed before rolling West Virginia, developing and out the larger effort. presenting policy options that ad- D •Realistic time frame. A year may be dressed each state’s unique con- needed to develop the indicators cerns and providing policy-imple- and methodology—a process that mentation support. AB may include vetting the approach E among well-respected researchers CONCLUSION in the field—and an additional year Report cards can be valuable tools A+ may be required for data collection. for eliciting change, but as with other D It goes without saying that an grantmaking tactics, their effective- + assessment of a single dimension, ness is not a foregone conclusion. F such as the Pew Environmental Because report cards can be used for C C Health Commission’s measure of a variety of purposes, program staff + states’ tracking systems for birth interested in this tool should begin defects, takes less time to develop with a clear understanding of what F CC than report cards looking across they hope it will accomplish. B D multiple dimensions, like those of •Complementary outreach. Although Once a report card project is under- the Government Performance many report cards seek change, taken, attention must be dedicated to Project and Measuring Up. release and broad dissemination ensuring, through a sound method- A A second iteration of a report of a report card will itself rarely ology and unassailable data, that the card, building on the methodology bring about the desired change. A grades are viewed as credible. Addi- CD in place, can usually be issued low-graded organization often tional investments in communications more quickly. benefits from a fuller understand- and outreach will further contribute •Effective communications. Report ing of both what went into the grade to the likelihood that a report card cards are more likely to produce and how high-graded organizations affects the graded entities much in their desired impact if they include achieved their success. the same way report cards affected a well-developed communications When the Trusts’ board renewed us as students by drawing attention to strategy that reaches the project’s the Government Performance important issues, highlighting best primary audience. Project earlier this year, the project’s practices and promoting improved A communications strategy that is outreach efforts and tailored assis- performance. ■T an integral component of the project, tance to states were expanded. rather than an add-on, provides Activities will include meetings of Nichole Rowles is an officer in Planning and Evaluation communications staff with a deep officials across states and a network at the Trusts. Trust / Fall 2006 29 Recent Grants and Allocations © B r a n d o n

C

o Health and Human Services l e National Program- Foster Care Initiatives

National Indian Child Welfare Association, Inc. Portland, OR, $350,000, 1 yr. For Ensuring a Better Future for Tribal Children in Foster Care, a project raising awareness among the tribal leaders about the need to act on the recommendations of ADVANCING POLICY Other Projects the Pew Commission on Children SOLUTIONS in Foster Care. Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future Contact: David L. Simmons Environment Harrisburg, PA, $1,320,000, 3 yrs. 503.222.4044 For general operating support. www.nicwa.org Conservation of Living Marine Contact: John Hanger Resources 717.214.7920 Children in foster www.pennfuture.org care and (above) a American Littoral Society grandfather and his Highlands, NJ, $200,000, 1 yr. Pennsylvania’s environmental grandchildren. Part of For the Campaign for Safe problems are serious. For example, the Trusts’ effort is to Liquefied Natural Gas in the Gulf of the state emits about 1 percent encourage federal Mexico, a final grant to administra- of the world’s greenhouse gas, support for legal tively secure new environmental more than 105 developing coun- guardianship for chil- control technology on proposed tries combined, and four of its dren in foster care liquefied natural gas terminals in metropolitan areas are among when reunification the Gulf of Mexico. the 25 worst in the nation for with parents or adop- Contact: Steve Ganey particle air pollution. tion is not possible. 503.230.0901 Recognizing a need for stronger www.littoralsociety.org environmental leadership in Pennsylvania eight years ago, Consultative Group on Biological The Heinz Endowments and the Diversity Trusts, joined by other funders, San Francisco, CA, $70,000, 2 yrs. established the Pennsylvania For general operating support. Conservation Center, now known NCSL Foundation for State Contact: Lynn Lohr 415.561.6576 as Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Legislatures www.cgbd.org Future (PennFuture). Denver, CO, $250,000, 1 yr. PennFuture has helped advance For Strengthening Child Welfare United States Public Interest a positive environmental agenda Financing and Court Oversight, a Research Group Education Fund in the state, and its efforts have project to educate state policy Washington, DC, $1,000,000, 1 yr. contributed to, among other makers about the Pew Commission For the Conserve Our Ocean Legacy achievements, the enactment of on Children in Foster Care’s recom- campaign to support strategic pub- the $625-million Growing Greener mendations and undertake activities lic education focused on the key bond, the largest environmental to improve foster-care financing of issues that are of importance in spending program in the state’s state systems and court oversight. maintaining and potentially strength- history. Contact: Jack Tweedie, Ph.D. ening the conservation provisions Over the next three years, Penn- 303.856.1546 would improve the financing of federal fishing policies. Future will continue to protect www.ncsl.org structure to help move children Contact: Anna Aurilio and improve the environment into permanent homes and would 202.546.9707 by supporting the enforcement The Pew Charitable Trusts for provide courts with tools and www.oceanlegacy.org of existing laws, the reform of Fostering the Future information so that judges could inadequate policies and the Philadelphia, PA, up to $800,000, make more timely decisions to Global Warming and Climate acceleration of the transition to 18 mos. ensure children’s safety and Change energy policies and technologies In support of the Trusts’ foster-care move them out of foster care. that reduce global warming as initiative. In early 2006, informed by the The Energy Foundation well as air, water and mercury Contact: Hope A. Cooper commission’s research, Congress San Francisco, CA, $1,800,000, 1 pollution. 215.575.9050 appropriated $100 million to facili- yr. www.pewtrusts.org tate implementation of the court- For the State and Regional Climate National Environmental Trust improvement recommendations. Initiative to support efforts to pro- Washington, DC, $6,000,000, 18 mos. In 2003, the Trusts launched an Through Fostering the Future, mote the adoption of state and re- For general operating support. initiative to help move children the Trusts will continue its support gional policies to reduce greenhouse Contact: Philip E. Clapp in foster care to safe, permanent of the Pew commission and other gas emissions through nonpartisan 202.887.8810 families more quickly and appro- organizations to promote the research and analysis, public and www.net.org priately. commission’s recommendations policy-maker education, and After a year of intensive analysis, and encourage action on them. outreach. the Pew Commission on Funding partners of this initiative Contact: Marcus Schneider Children in Foster Care issued a include Andrew and Michele 415.561.6700 x134 set of recommendations that Barclay. www.ef.org 30 Trust / Fall 2006

National Program-Other Initiatives Regents of the University of The Pew Charitable Trusts for nalists and policy makers about California, San Francisco Pew Center on the States contemporary issues and trends, George Washington University San Francisco, CA, $3,600,000, 4 yrs. Philadelphia, PA, up to $3,200,000, $1,412,000, 1 yr. Washington, DC, $1,600,000, 2 yrs. To support the research activities 1 yr. Contact: Andrew Kohut For Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol of the 2007 class of the Pew Schol- Contact: Mary Jo Waits 202.419.4361 Problems, a project to improve ars Program in the Biomedical 202.552.2169 www.pewresearch.org access to alcohol treatment by Sciences. www.pewcenteronthestates.org working with public- and private- Contact: Edward H. O’Neil, Ph.D. Pew Forum on Religion & sector health-care policy makers 415.476.9486 Recognizing the growing Public Life to remove obstacles to treatment. http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/ influence of state policy, the Washington, DC, $4,800,000, 1 yr. Contact: Eric Goplerud, Ph.D. pewscholar.html Trusts has developed projects Contact: Luis E. Lugo, Ph.D. 202.296.6922 designed to help states advance 202.419.4550 www.ensuringsolutions.org Other Projects effective policy approaches to www.pewforum.org some of the critical issues they New York University Children’s Country Week Association face. Ever since it was created in 2002, New York, NY, $3,464,000, 2 yrs. Downingtown, PA, $63,000, 2 yrs. The Pew Center on the States the Pew Forum on Religion & For the Retirement Security In support of food costs for was launched in December Public Life has established itself Project to advance practical policies residential summer-camp programs 2004 as an operating project to as a trusted source of high-qual- to promote retirement savings for low-income children and families. enhance the Trusts’ multi-funded ity information on how religion among moderate-income households. Contact: P. Andrew Schaum state advocacy initiatives, inform shapes the ideas and institutions Contact: Peter R. Orszag, Ph.D. 610.269.9111 explorations of potential new of American society. Among its 202.483.1370 www.paradisefarmcamps.org issues, and monitor the health major activities, it has functioned www.retirementsecurityproject.org and vitality of the 50 states in as a clearinghouse of impartial NPower Pennsylvania ways that effectively frame impor- research and a town hall for The Pew Charitable Trusts for Philadelphia, PA, $150,000, 2 yrs. tant issues for policy makers convening its key audiences of Strengthening State and Local To provide information-technology and foster the development of public leaders and journalists. Public Health Preparedness assistance to health and social- solutions. While continuing its role as a Philadelphia, PA, up to $270,000, 1 yr. service organizations in the The center conducts rigorous convener, the forum is broaden- In collaboration with the Pew Philadelphia region. policy research, brings diverse ing its agenda, especially by pro- Center on the States, to research, Contact: Lisa Shulock perspectives to bear on identify- ducing and disseminating identify, summarize and disseminate 215.557.1559 ing problems and developing original research. This year, it “best practices” to state and local www.npowerpa.org solutions, analyzes the experience will launch several significant governments in order to assist of states to determine what new projects, including a demo- them in strengthening their public- Retired Senior Volunteer Program works and what does not, and graphic survey on religious health response to a pandemic or of Montgomery County PA collaborates with other funders affiliation in America, a study other major public-health threat. Plymouth Meeting, PA, $30,000, and organizations to shine a exploring the religious character- Contact: H. Cheryl Rusten 2 yrs. spotlight on innovative, nonparti- istics and attitudes of Hispanics 215.575.9050 In support of the Volunteer Execu- san, pragmatic policy options. in the United States, a report on www.pewtrusts.org tive Consultants program to the “religious left” in contempo- provide technical assistance to Other Projects rary American politics and a The Project HOPE—People-to- small and medium nonprofit cross-national survey to investigate People Health Foundation, Inc. organizations in Montgomery Editorial Projects in Education, the expansion and influence of Millwood, VA, $150,000, 2 yrs. County. Inc. Pentacostalism around the world. To advance dialogue between the Contact: Lilibet Coe 610.834.1040 Bethesda, MD, $500,000, 1 yr. (See the feature story on the biomedical-research and health-policy x14 For Quality Counts to provide forum on pages 12-18.) communities. www.rsvpmc.org high-quality, state-by-state data on Contact: John K. Iglehart the status of education. Stateline.org 301.654.2845 State Policy Initiatives Contact: Virginia B. Edwards Washington, DC, $3,050,000, 2 yrs. www.projecthope.org 301.280.3100 To support the activities of Pew Center on the States www.edweek.org Stateline.org, a Web-based news Biomedical Research and Training organization that tracks and The Pew Charitable Trusts for the analyzes important policy develop- Regents of the University of Government Performance Project INFORMING THE PUBLIC ments and trends in the nation’s California, San Francisco Philadelphia, PA, up to $2,350,000, 50 states. San Francisco, CA, $700,000, 3 yrs. 2 yrs. Information Contact: Gene Gibbons To support the research activities To develop and disseminate the 202.419.4460 of the 2007 class of the Pew Latin fourth 50-state report card assess- Pew Research Center www.stateline.org American Fellows Program in the ing state government performance Biomedical Sciences and to provide and expand the project’s outreach The Pew Research Center a stipend increase for the second activities to help states explore Washington, DC CIVIC LIFE year of the 2006 class. promising approaches and learn I. To support the administrative Contact: Edward H. O’Neil, Ph.D. from each other. The Government infrastructure of the Pew Culture 415.476.9486 Performance Project is now a proj- Research Center, $4,397,000, 1 yr. http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/ ect of the Pew Center on the II. To support discrete research Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Inc. pewlatin.html States. (See summer 2006 Trust, and publishing activities of the Pew Baltimore, MD, $885,000, 3 yrs. “Lessons Learned,” pages 19-20.) Research Center in order to enhance In support of Pennsylvania Perform- Contact: Lori Grange 215.575.4801 its mission to inform citizens, jour- ing Arts on Tour, a program that www.pewtrusts.org Trust / Fall 2006 31

Left: From Diane Burko: Flow at the Michener Art Museum ear- lier this year: Helema’um’a’u Crater #3, by Diane Burko, 2000, oil on canvas, 60”x84.” provides funding for tours and Collection of the artist, courtesy related activities throughout the of Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa. mid-Atlantic region by Pennsylvania performing artists of high artistic Below: Soprano Christine Brandes caliber. and bass-baritone Richard Bernstein Contact: Katie West 215.496.9424 starred in an all-but-sold-out run www.pennpat.org of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the Opera Company of The University of the Arts Philadelphia in May. Philadelphia, PA, $4,902,000, 3 yrs. Contact: Martin Cohen 267.350.4911 www.artshelp.org The Philadelphia Cultural Man- agement Initiative helps arts institutions in southeastern Pennsylvania address manage- ment problems and take advan- tage of opportunities to grow ArtReach, Inc. and thrive in an increasingly com- Philadelphia, PA, $45,000, 3 yrs. petitive and challenging environ- Contact: Michael L. Norris ment. 215.568.2115 Since it was established in www.art-reach.org 2001, nearly 100 of the region’s artistic and cultural organizations Asian Arts Initiative have participated in its profes- Philadelphia, PA, $48,000, 3 yrs. sional-development workshops Contact: Gayle Isa 215.557.0455 and executive-education programs www.asianartsinitiative.org in areas such as marketing, technology planning, financial Astral Artistic Services management and fund-raising. Philadelphia, PA, $48,000, 3 yrs. Among new projects, the cul- Contact: Julia H. Rubio tural management initiative will 215.735.6999 join with the Trusts’ Artistic Ini- www.astralartisticservices.org tiatives (which support dance, history, music, theater, the visu- The Bucks County Historical Society al arts and arts fellowships) to Doylestown, PA, $240,000, 3 yrs. significantly increase the audi- Contact: Douglas C. Dolan ence potential of several exhibi- 215.345.0210 x134 The Library Company of Opera Company of Philadelphia tions, performances and other www.mercermuseum.org Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA, $1,080,000, 3 yrs. cultural offerings through Philadelphia, PA, $120,000, 3 yrs. Contact: Robert B. Driver increased advertising, public Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia Contact: John C. Van Horne, 215.893.3600 x201 relations activities and marketing Philadelphia, PA, $48,000, 3 yrs. Ph.D. 215.546.3181 www.operaphilly.com research. Contact: Kim A. Shiley www.librarycompany.org Since November 2005, this 215.545.8634 People’s Light and Theatre project has been housed with www.choralarts.com Main Line Art Center Company the Artistic Initiatives in the Haverford, PA, $84,000, 3 yrs. Malvern, PA, $516,000, 3 yrs. Philadelphia Center for Arts Greater Philadelphia Cultural Contact: Judy S. Herman Contact: Helen Rigby 610.647.1900 and Heritage. Alliance 610.525.0272 www.peopleslight.org Philadelphia, PA, $144,000, 3 yrs. www.mainlineart.org Philadelphia Cultural Leadership Contact: Peggy Amsterdam Philadelphia Chamber Music Society Program 215.557.7811 x18 Philadelphia, PA, $96,000, 3 yrs.

www.philaculture.org r Contact: Derek Delaney

(in support of general operations) e g

d 215.569.8587 e L The Academy of Vocal Arts The James A. Michener Art Museum www.philadelphiachambermusic.org a h

Doylestown, PA, $240,000, 3 yrs. t Philadelphia, PA, $144,000, 3 yrs. r Contact: Bruce Katsiff a Contact: Robert W. Lyon M Philadelphia Company 215.735.1685 x16 215.340.0824 Philadelphia, PA, $192,000, 3 yrs. www.avaopera.org www.michenerartmuseum.org Contact: Sara Garonzik 215.985.1400 x103 Arden Theatre Company John Bartram Association www.phillytheatreco.com Philadelphia, PA, $168,000, 3 yrs. Philadelphia, PA, $60,000, 3 yrs. Contact: Peter Dunn 215.922.8900 Contact: William M. LeFevre Philadelphia Folklore Project www.ardentheatre.org 215.729.5281 x101 Philadelphia, PA, $48,000, 3 yrs. www.bartramsgarden.org Contact: Debora Kodish, Ph.D. 215.726.1106 John J. Tyler Arboretum www.folkloreproject.org Media, PA, $96,000, 3 yrs. Contact: Andy Brundage Philadelphia Young Playwrights 610.566.9134 x206 Philadelphia, PA, $54,000, 3 yrs. www.tylerarboretum.org Contact: Glen Knapp 215.665.9226 www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org

Cattails at Bartram’s Garden. 32 Trust / Fall 2006

to advance the field. Billy Graham Evangelistic Contact: Emily Wadhams Association 202.588.6000 Charlotte, NC, $3,000,000, 1 yr. www.nationaltrust.org Contact: Hugh Elder 704.401.2188 www.bgea.org The Pew Charitable Trusts for Philadelphia 2007: A Status Report For many years, the Trusts has Philadelphia, PA, up to $162,750, 1 yr. supported the work of the Rev. Contact: Suzanne R. Biemiller Billy Graham, including the Billy 215.575.4726 Graham Evangelistic Association, www.pewtrusts.org Christianity Today and the Gordon- Conwell Seminary. Graham and J. Eight years ago, the Trusts Howard Pew, one of the Trusts’ commissioned a study that founders, enjoyed a long-time pinpointed Philadelphia’s strengths friendship and partnership, as and weaknesses relative to well as a shared vision to promote other urban areas. It covered the link between faith in God the local economy, the impact and liberty. of urban institutions such as The current grant supports What was once a dusty hangout for vagrants adjacent to Philadelphia’s his- hospitals and universities, the construction of the Billy Graham toric district is now the site of vibrant green space and fun—a Philadelphia- state of schools and school Library, featuring multimedia themed alternative to indoor museum walking. reform, taxes, crime, business presentations, films, memorabilia Newly revitalized through a $6.5-million, three-year project by Once leadership, transportation systems, and the restored Graham family Upon A Nation, an initiative of Historic Philadelphia, Inc., Franklin Square and the credibility and effective- homestead. The Billy Graham reopened in August. ness of city government. Evangelistic Association envisions With the support of the Trusts and others, the square, located at 6th and The new study will again use Race streets, is now the site of a carousel built in the traditional demographic, economic and Philadelphia style (original molds of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company other relevant data to compare and Dentzel horses were used for some of the animals). Philadelphia to other major It also contains a mini-golf course with recognizable historic and cultural American cities and to its 1999 locales and two playgrounds as well as food vendors, traditional-crafts self. booths and merchandise kiosks. Just as the first report helped Its majestic centerpiece is a newly renovated fountain, one of the oldest spark a civic discussion on the in the city; it was built in 1837 when the square became a public park. future of the city and the role of Franklin Square was called Northeast Square when it was laid out in corporate and political leadership, William Penn’s initial plans for Philadelphia in 1683 and was renamed in 1825 it is hoped that the new report, in honor of Philadelphia’s most revered resident. Prior to this kid-friendly scheduled to be released a few makeover, the square had been, at one time or another, a grazing field, months before the May 2007 cattle market, burial ground, gunpowder reserve and drill field for soldiers. mayoral primary, will contribute Sara Friedman to discussion among candidates and media organizations of Philadelphia’s problems and Settlement Music School of For general operating support. progress. Philadelphia Contact: Robert Wiggans Philadelphia, PA, $600,000, 3 yrs. 202.467.0479 Teach for America, Inc. Contact: Robert Capanna www.cof.org Philadelphia, PA, $490,000, 3 yrs. this project as a means of sharing 215.320.2680 To build a Teach for America the inspiring story of this preacher www.smsmusic.org Historic Philadelphia, Inc. program in Philadelphia that has from humble origins who has Philadelphia, PA sufficient capacity to create a touched so many people, from The Wilma Theater I. To restore Franklin Square and successful teaching experience heads of state to villagers in Philadelphia, PA, $300,000, 3 yrs. reanimate this public park with for its corps members as well as remote parts of Africa, and has Contact: Rachel Cheetham-Richard history-themed rides and attractions an alumni network that provides been called “America’s preacher.” 215.893.9456 x114 for tourists and residents, $250,000, meaningful opportunities for its www.wilmatheater.org 1 yr. (See story, above.) young leaders to continue living National Public Radio, Inc. II. In support of the Lights of Liberty and working in Philadelphia after Washington, DC, $250,000, 1 yr. Civic Initiatives sound and light show that brings their two-year teaching commitment. To support the coverage of religion history to life in Independence Na- Contact: Tracy-Elizabeth Clay on National Public Radio’s array The Committee of Seventy tional Historic Park, $50,000, 1 yr. 215.592.9260 of popular news shows. Philadelphia, PA, $50,000, 1 yr. Contact: Amy R. Needle www.teachforamerica.org Contact: Melissa Thompson To provide operating support for 215.629.5801 x205 202.513.3261 the committee’s ongoing efforts to www.onceuponanation.org Religion www.npr.org promote a more ethical and efficient government and political system National Trust for Historic American Academy of Religion, Religion Newswriters Foundation in the city of Philadelphia. Preservation in the United States Inc. Westerville, OH, $327,000, 1 yr. Contact: Zack Stalberg Washington, DC, $100,000, 1 yr. Atlanta, GA, $50,000, 1 yr. In support of ReligionLink for a 215.557.3600 On the occasion of the 40th In support of Religionsource, a re- series of regionalized story re- www.seventy.org anniversary of the passage of the ferral service that links members sources for journalists that focus National Historic Preservation of the news media with academic on the issues of faith, religion and Council on Foundations, Inc. Act, to support a Preserve America experts on religion and public-life public life in the United States. Washington, DC, $150,000, 3 yrs. summit that would review the issues. Contact: Debra L. Mason, Ph.D. status of historic preservation in Contact: Steve Herrick 614.891.9001 x1 the United States and recommend 404.727.4711 www.rna.org policy and programmatic changes www.religionsource.org Trust / Fall 2006 33 Briefings

Sgt. Lazaro Arocha, a 25-year-old native New Yorker, joined the armed forces September 12, 2001, and, after serving in Iraq, is now a Marine re- cruiter. Mark Zuckerberg, 22, dropped out of Harvard University to run face- book.com, the popular social net- working Web site that he created. At the age of 24, Cole Carpenter is taking over his grandfather’s farm in Leoti, Kansas, dedicating himself to a difficult life at the mercy of the ele- ments but improving his chances by installing GPS systems to guide his farming equipment. Roxanne Nance, 19, currently resides in the bible belt Generation Next speaks up to Judy Woodruff. of Oklahoma, but was in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, an experi- or record players, they are the first the country. In its first few weeks, “Talk ence that has affected her faith in to mature in the digital age, when to Power” featured Senator Mary elected officials. revolutionary technology becomes Landrieu of Louisiana and Senator What do these people have in com- commonplace almost at the same John McCain of Arizona. mon? They are all members of Gen- lightening speed as the communica- There are many opportunities for eration Y—42 million people strong, tion it enables. the rest of us to see what it’s all about. aged 16 to 25. And they are four of Indeed, Gen Y enjoys an “e-literacy” PBS’s News Hour with Jim Lehrer is the hundreds of Y’s who talked to that often mystifies, and excludes, airing segments on the project this Judy Woodruff, the veteran journalist, their elders. The separation is ripe fall, and NPR is working with Woodruff last summer. for misunderstanding. Yet many of to produce a series of radio profiles Woodruff was traveling around the them have begun to step into the fray on the age group. USA Today reporter country in an RV, meeting young people of politics and society. The Genera- Sharon Jayson accompanied Woodruff of all backgrounds and situations at tion Next project is giving the older on parts of her journey and is writing college campuses, workplaces and generations insight into this emerg- companion pieces both in print and homes, asking them questions and, ing force and creating the potential online. In January, PBS has scheduled more importantly, listening to their of common ground across the genera- an hour-long documentary on Genera- opinions, and piecing together a por- tion gap. tion Next, and the Pew Research trait of this fast-moving, innovative— “I was aware that many in my Center is planning to release a com- yet often stereotyped—cohort. The generation think lightly of this gener- panion national survey of 16-to-25- year-long, Trusts-supported project is ation,” Judy Woodruff told The Denver year-olds. called “Generation Next: Speak Post in August. “And many of [Gen More information on the project can Up, Be Heard,” produced by Mac- Y] are not focused yet. But we have be viewed at www.generation-next.tv, Neil/Lehrer Productions. found a surprising number who are which features a blog written by the Generation Y, also called “millenials,” paying attention, thoughtful about young people manning the RV, video has grown up in relative prosperity, what's going on in their community clips and dialogues on important issues. but lived through many tragedies— and their relationship with their Sara Friedman the Columbine shootings, 9/11 and parents.” Hurricane Katrina—that shape their For the tech-savvy millenials, Yahoo! Joe “Bubbles” knows Philly. For 70 world view. They are now coming of is hosting a feature called “Genera- years, he has worked at Esposito’s age in a time marked by war and other tion Next: Talk to Power,” a forum butcher shop in the Italian Market, complex social and global challenges located on the Politics section of its which gives him insider knowledge created by older generations, but soon Web site where GenNexters interact on “who’s who and where’s what” in to be passed on to them. with people of influence, creating a South Philadelphia. Joe is one of the Their own expertise is electronic. dialogue between the younger genera- many engaging and expert hosts of Having no memory of rotary phones tion and those currently in charge of SoundAboutPhilly, a new series of 34 Trust / Fall 2006

Web-based audio tours that anyone city’s east-to-west development, with months, and the marketing corpora- can download onto an iPod or listen fact-based accounts not found in the tion plans future tours on music, art, to online. The project was conceived average textbook. sports and individual neighborhoods. by Trusts’ staff and developed by the Flavorhoods gives a peek at Philly’s Sara Friedman Greater Philadelphia Tourism Mar- many diverse neighborhoods through keting Corporation. the foods found there, reminding The Project for Excellence in Philadelphia is the first city to create listeners that there’s more to the city Journalism, which was recently free podcast tours on a grand scale, than cheese steaks and soft pretzels. brought into the Pew Research Center, essentially turning the city into an The varied culinary highlights are an has unveiled a completely redesigned open-air museum and giving tourists effective way to convey the city’s rich and reengineered Web site at the customizable “choose-your-own-adven- immigrant history. same address: www.journalism.org. ture” ways to explore its history and My Philly segments are narrated New features include a tool that neighborhoods. The podcasts, located by a colorful cross-section of everyday allows users to select and compare at www.soundaboutphilly.com, intro- Philadelphians who describe their virtually every piece the project has duce Philadelphia from numerous, favorite places and things to do in produced from the last decade and a historically informed yet personal the City of Brotherly Love—the real mechanism to sort by media sector, perspectives; a click on a city map insider’s scoop. A guide named Ivy industry trend or news topic. It also takes you to the “sound-seeing tour” introduces her young professional contains a centralized archive of the that starts at that corner. friends as they go to their favorite project’s research studies. Soon to after-work spot and, on another tour, come: a media-tracking database. catch an art-house movie at the Ritz Theater on a rainy day. Another local If the world around them changes, guide winds his way through historic why do some foundations continue and charming Delancey Street from with the same approach they’ve always Society Hill to the Schuylkill River. used? They shouldn’t—if they seek to And Port Richmond natives take the maintain and increase the scope and listener step-by-step through the sustainability of their social impact. complicated process of ordering at That is the thesis of Creative The concept of podcasting became Taconelli’s Pizzeria, where you have Philanthropy (Routledge, 2006) by popular in 2004, with the increased to request your dough a day ahead. British professors Helmut Anheier availability of iPods and other MP3 Tours centered on the city’s religious, and Diana Leat. They discuss how players. With the release of software African-American and colonial history philanthropy has evolved and why designed for these devices, users will be rolled out over the next few foundations ought to move with the began to create their own audio files and share them on the Internet. A major appeal of podcasts is their portability—making them a perfect LETTERS sightseeing companion. As a Toronto-based artist and social- The Trusts-supported SoundAbout- services professional, I am always im- Philly launched in September with Thank you, Pew Charitable Trusts, for pressed with the efforts in your corner tours under the categories of History your recent issue of Trust’s comprehen- of the world. With substantial support of Unplugged, Flavorhoods and My Philly, sive listing of health and human services artistic efforts in this country, reading each with 10, 4-to-6-minute segments in the Philadelphia region (in the Recent about what is offered and supported in that can be mixed-and-matched. Grants section). With elderly relatives Philadelphia often leaves me jealous and (aunt and uncle) in Yeadon, Pa., I will use awe-struck but also appreciative and happy History Unplugged explores Philadel- and suggest those listed organizations as that your artists, and other eligible grant phia’s heritage and the nation’s found- a substantive first step in accessing recipients, have such a supportive body. ing through Welcome Park, Carpen- information about assistive and inclusive As a self-proclaimed “adopted” son of ter’s Hall and Washington Square initiatives that are available in the city. Philadelphia, I am proud to boast and West. Kyle Farley, president of Poor The Pew and Philadelphia consistently brag about the city and The Pew Charitable Richard’s Walking Tours, is the princi- score high for their excellent work and Trusts. My only regret is that I am not a pal narrator, and he takes a chrono- unfailing support of the varied communi- resident of the city and that your sup- logical approach in describing the ties they serve. portive efforts do not span the border. Trust / Fall 2006 35

times to accomplish the most good (staff development) and the agenda under the age of 30) and are more in today’s society. process that prepares materials for racially diverse than the overall popula- Through vignettes and case stud- the board. tion of those clicked on to the Inter- ies of organizations that follow all or The presentation about the Trusts net (60 percent are white, although some of the “rules of creative philan- must be read with caution: While the white people make up 74 percent of thropy,” they study the Trusts as well book was published this year, much all Internet users). as the Annie E. Casey Foundation, of the information dates to 2004 and Sara Friedman The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, even to 2001, so some of the work The John S. and James L. Knight described and the approaches are Pew Biomedical Scholars have won Foundation, The Joseph Rowntree outdated. This is somewhat ironic in a top science awards this fall. Craig C. Charitable Trust, The Rosenberg book encouraging philanthropic organ- Mello, Ph.D., of the University of Foundation, The Victorian Women’s izations to keep pace with change. Massachusetts and a 1995 Scholar, Trust and The Wallace Foundation. Helene M. Brooks is a co-winner of the 2006 Nobel The chapter on the Trusts explores Prize in physiology or medicine. And the organization’s history as well as There are a lot of blogs out there— Carol W. Greider, Ph.D., at Johns its relatively new status as a public many, many more than we hear about, Hopkins University, a 1990 Scholar, charity: “The move to a public charity and they are much more diverse than shares the 2006 Albert Lasker Award was possible because of the way in the fraction of blogs that receive public- for Basic Medical Research. which the Trusts [was] set up. The ity. This is a finding of a new study Look for a story on these scientists’ change was designed to give a new by the Pew Internet & American work and the 20th anniversary of the flexibility to try additional ways of Life Project, an initiative of the Pew Pew Scholars Program in the Bio- strengthening existing work,” say the Research Center devoted to exploring medical Sciences in the spring 2007 authors. the social impact of the Internet on issue of Trust. They note that the Trusts chooses life (www.pewinternet.org). The majority issues in which it can make a substan- of bloggers, according to the study, In 2001 Kimberlee Acquaro, a tial difference or provide analysis and write about their personal experiences photojournalist in her 30s, won a data so policy makers will be informed and are previously unpublished. fellowship that allowed her to spend as they try and solve societal problems. “Bloggers: A Portrait of the Inter- six weeks in Rwanda. Her subject: the Their examples include current pre-K net’s New Storytellers” is one of the role of women in rebuilding a country investments and efforts on children’s first major studies of bloggers using bereft of men after the 1994 genocide health care done in the 1990s. They a nationally representative sample. in which some 1 million people, most also highlight the Trusts’ internal The report, written by the project’s of them from the Tutsi tribe, were workings, including Pew University Amanda Lenhart and Susannah Fox killed by Hutu extremists. and released in July, employed a series She has focused ever since on the of telephone surveys. They note that tragedies and triumphs of this devas- 84 percent of bloggers consider their tated African country—an obsession pursuit a “hobby” or “something I that has led to a career as an award- I was recently in the city but was not do, but not something I spend a lot winning documentary filmmaker and aware of the new center. I look forward to of time on,” and 52 percent say that a widely-exhibited photographer. my next visit “home” and hope to include they do it for themselves rather than Acquaro first became interested in a visit to the new Philadelphia Center for an audience. The most popular Rwanda when she was working at Arts and Heritage. theme is “my life and experience,” Time magazine and saw the horrify- JOHN DEVENISH with politics a very distant second. ing pictures of massacred Tutsis. A few Toronto, Canada How many are blogging and read- years later, she read an account of ing? Bloggers total about 12 million how women survivors, who made up We welcome readers’ comments on stories as adult Americans, or 8 percent of all 70 percent of the adult population well as address changes and requests for back issues. Simply contact the editor at 2005 Internet users, says the study. Fifty- immediately after the genocide, were Market Street, Suite 1700, Philadelphia PA seven million Americans read blogs, leading the country’s return to normalcy. 19103; or transmit your message by fax to a significant increase from 32 million “I felt that had to be a story,” she him at 215.575.4890; or through e-mail to at the end of 2004. Bloggers are split says, but she couldn’t persuade any [email protected]. The text of Trust is evenly between males and females, publication to send her there. That’s always available at www.pewtrusts.org. are generally young (54 percent are when she applied to the Trusts- 36 Trust / Fall 2006

How important is the regional nonprofit cultural sector to the local economy? It brings in $573 million in annual revenue and provides 14,000 jobs, not to men- tion 17,000 volunteer positions. says. “It’s important to be aware of These and other data are doc- the light because we’re deluged with umented in Portfolio, released this fall by the Greater Philadelphia the grimness of everything happen- Cultural Alliance from financial ing around the world.” The film was and organizational facts report- nominated for a 2005 Academy Award, ed by 218 cultural organizations to the Pennsylvania Cultural shown at the Museum of Modern Data Project. Both groups are Art in New York in March and pur- supported by the Trusts. Go to chased by HBO for its Cinemax chan- www.philaculture.org/portfolio for the complete picture. nel, and benefit screenings have helped raise some $35,000 for women sur- vivors in Rwanda. Rwanda continues to fill Acquaro’s supported Pew International Report- Schidlovsky, the reporting project’s days. She is working with AVEGA, a ing Project at Johns Hopkins Univer- director—appeared in Mother Jones nonprofit organization formed by 50 sity. “When I saw that the fellowship magazine and on the Web site of the genocide widows, to sell in this was for underreported stories, I just United States Holocaust Memorial country teddy bears made by Rwan- said, ‘Rwanda’,” she recalls. Museum in Washington, D.C. dan women. And she is helping Arriving in Kigali, the capital, Ac- In 2002 Acquaro returned to Rwanda Bagirinka, who won political asylum quaro linked up immediately with with her husband, Peter Landesman, in the U.S. because she was receiv- Norah Bagirinka, who was directing a and provided the photographs for their ing death threats in Rwanda, bring program with the International Res- New York Times Magazine piece about her three sons to this country. ■T cue Committee for female survivors. Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, the former Sandra Salmans Bagirinka took her to a conference of Rwandan minister for women and women in local government—women family affairs who was on the other who, previously second-class citizens, side; she is the first woman ever to Clockwise from top: Chantal with her had become a formidable power after face genocide charges before an inter- daughters Cendrine (foreground) and the genocide. national tribunal—she is currently on Jeanette. Raped repeatedly, Chantal She met Joseline, a young mother trial in Tanzania—and is also the first survived only when the Hutu took “old with only a primary school education woman ever charged with encouraging women” to the zone of Mirango to prove who had recently been elected head rape as an instrument of genocide. to the world that they were protecting of development in her impoverished The following year, Acquaro was in and not killing Tutsis (Chantal, then 21, village, overseeing public health, finance, Rwanda again, this time to shoot what was mistaken for an old woman). She is infrastructure and education. She became a 28-minute documentary, one of the few rape survivors to be mar- also met Adelphine, a young woman God Sleeps in Rwanda, which focuses ried after the genocide to a man who who was raising four younger brothers on five female survivors of the geno- knows what happened to her. and sisters orphaned by the geno- cide. (It takes its name from a native cide and who, thanks to a new inheri- saying: “When God wanders the world, Adelphine’s brother learns to tie his shoes. tance law, was allowed to inherit her at the end of the day he comes to Hers is one of Rwanda’s 65,000 child- parents’ home. Rwanda to sleep because He consid- headed households supporting 300,000 Acquaro origionally photographed ers this to be the most beautiful children orphaned by the genocide. her subjects in black-and-white against place on earth.”) Joseline and Adel- a white background. “I wanted you phine were among the women pro- Joseline with her 5-month old son. Her to see them removed from their filed. “I wanted the world to hear husband, playing with their daughter, is environment, so you look at the these women’s voices, and the best proud of his wife's position in the com- women,” she explains. “You didn’t way to do that was through film,” munity and often helps with the house and see a dirt hut, chickens running she observes. the children, a new role for a Rwandan man. around, you just saw the woman. If Unlike her stark still photographs, you can connect with something, Acquaro’s film is in the lush colors Liberata, background, is HIV-positive you’ll be more interested in taking one expects of the tropics. “Especially from being raped during the genocide. action, but you first have to care.” with something as horrible as this, She lives with her only child to survive The photographs—“beautiful, haunt- you need an entry point, and the beauty the genocide, 20-year-old Joseline ing photographs,” notes John allows people to engage visually,” she Niyonsaba, holding the child. Photography by Kimberlee Acquaro The Pew Charitable Trusts NONPROFIT ORG One Commerce Square US POSTAGE PAID 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 PHILADELPHIA PA Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 PERMIT NO. 6455