ANNUAL REPORT 2011 Comstock Images Design: Laura Hutton / Keith Ragone Studio, Inc. • Proofreader: Gretchen Dykstra • Printing: Michael Prestagord / Old York Road Printing, LLC • Printed on Astrolite PC, 100% post-consumer waste • Printed on Astrolite Printing, LLC Road / Old York • Printing: Michael Prestagord Dykstra Gretchen Studio, Inc. • Proofreader: Ragone Hutton / Keith Design: Laura On the cover: Carousel at Franklin Square Park [ Photo by M. Kennedy for GPTMC ] Table of Contents T 2011 T R 2 From the Foundation’s Leaders 5 Foundation Programs L L REPO A 6 Great Public Spaces: The Central Delaware Waterfront Comes Alive 10 Great City, Great Art: Philly’s Unique Creativity ANNU 14 Great Schools: Expanding What Works 18 Great Outdoor Amenities: Creating a Constituency for Conservation 22 Great Institutions: Transformation for a Stronger Future 26 History of the Foundation 27 Our Founders 28 Founding Philosophies 30 Facts & Figures 2011: Financial Highlights 32 Facts & Figures 2011: Grantmaking Details 33 Facts & Figures 2011: Awards & Payments 34 Grant Awards 2011: Arts & Culture 38 Grant Awards 2011: Children, Youth, & Families 42 Grant Awards 2011: Environment & Communities 46 Grant Awards 2011: Opportunity Fund 48 Members of the Corporation and Board of Directors 49 Foundation Staff 1 RS Respecting Legacy, DE Adapting to Change A E L S ON’ I T A We are pleased to present our 2011 Annual Report, which looks back on an important year of both continuity and transition. In 2011 we continued the Haas family’s 65-year tradition of support for the Philadelphia region. As in previous years, we emphasized three primary areas of interest: cultural vitality; disadvantaged children; and environmental sustainability. We provided nearly $86 million in grants towards these and related causes. As you look through the pages of this Annual Report you will see OM THE FOUND THE OM R examples of work we funded. Every picture represents a story of F leadership and vision on the part of our grantees and partners. We are pleased to support these efforts and proud of the impact they have had on our city and region. Many of the stories reflect the imperative to adapt to new circumstances. This is a time of profound national change, and it demands that we all find new and better ways to do our work and solve problems. Consider a few examples from 2011. Our support helped the Academy of Natural Sciences, one of the oldest and most important natural science museums in America, to merge with Drexel University. The new alliance provides advantages to both institutions. Backed by one of Philadelphia’s fastest-growing universities, the Academy will be able to sustain its historic collection and expand its services. Capitalizing on the Academy’s scientific resources, Drexel is poised to become a leading institution in local, national, and global dialogues about environmental policy and practice. We helped the Philadelphia Zoo, with no physical room to expand, redefine how to use space by building an innovative network of animal trails that soars through the trees. Those trails provide a better environment for animals and a new experience for visitors to the nation’s oldest zoo. It is also a model for reinvention that is being watched closely by other zoos. 2 With support from the Foundation, Mastery Charter Schools continued to redefine what is possible for children when old paradigms about K–12 education are allowed to evolve. As we look to the future, this type of progress is what is needed to help close the achievement gap for Philadelphia’s children. We continued our work on Philadelphia’s Central Delaware Waterfront, helping to lead its rebirth as a great public gathering place and a generator for economic growth. We continued our conservation efforts throughout the region, with a particular emphasis on our local watersheds and the forests that protect them. And we remained significant investors in Philadelphia’s diverse cultural sector, helping to build on its remarkable creative energy. The year might best be summarized as one of respect for legacy coupled with recognition of the pressing urgency of adapting to a changing world. This urgency sets the context for our new strategic plan, which will be announced in late 2012 and launched at the beginning of 2013. As we proceed into our new strategic plan, we will continue to make vital investments in the civic life of this region, and in doing so, identify new ways to become more effective and transparent. We will do the same as we ask of our grantees and partners. You should expect nothing less. Sincerely, Thomas Haas Janet Haas, M.D. Jeremy Nowak Chair of the Corporation Chair of the Board President 3 Clockwise from top: Philadelphia Youth Network [ Photo by Tommy Leonardi ] New Jersey Pinelands [ Photo by Michael Hogan ] Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers [ Photo courtesy of the Painted Bride ] 4 Foundation Programs This page reflects the Foundation’s grantmaking priorities from 2001 to 2011. At press time, these funding programs have concluded. The Foundation will announce a new strategic plan and grantmaking priorities shortly after this Annual Report is published. Visit us online in late 2012 for information about our new funding programs. Arts & Culture Diverse artistic expression is a hallmark of a healthy region. Through our Arts & Culture program, we provide various types of core operating support for arts groups and cultural institutions, enabling them to pursue their creative missions with confidence in their organizations’ future. We also fund work that broadly advances the region’s cultural sector. Our funding strategies promote artistic achievement and encourage public participation in and support for the arts. Children, Youth, & Families When all children and families have access to opportunity, society benefits. Our Children, Youth, & Families program funds work in our region to promote a better early care and education system, more effective and equitable education policies, networks of developmental opportunities for older youth, and improvements to the systems supporting families. Our grantmaking focuses largely on critical transitions in the lives of children as they progress from birth, through early childhood, and into young adulthood. Environment & Communities Healthy ecosystems and communities are essential for a livable and economically competitive region. The Environment & Communities program uses an integrated grantmaking approach to enhance the sustainability of Greater Philadelphia’s ecosystems and older communities. The program seeks to foster greater cross-sector collaborations that build on the assets of our region through revitalization of its urban core and protection and restoration of the region’s natural assets, which we define as key landscapes and waterways. Our Environment & Communities program makes investments intended to catalyze innovation and leadership in the region. Evaluation & Planning We believe that lessons gained from our grantmaking can be used to help keep our work relevant, effective, and valuable to the fields in which we work. The Foundation evaluates the progress of our funding strategies and seeks to create opportunities to learn and share knowledge acquired over time. Communications We view strategic communications as a tool that can maximize the impact of our grants. When needed, the Foundation provides funding and other assis- tance to our grantees to develop practical communications approaches that advance our common goals. 5 S E The Central Delaware AC Waterfront Comes Alive P IC S L B PU T A E GR In 2011, the Delaware River Waterfront William Penn Foundation program officer Corporation released the Master Plan Shawn McCaney notes that progress is for the Central Delaware, an ambitious already happening as a result of the plan’s document that seeks to “transform a recommendations. “The Delaware River six-mile length of Philadelphia’s Central Waterfront Corporation is implementing Delaware River Waterfront into an a pipeline of early action projects—such authentic extension of the thriving city as Race Street Pier, connector streets, and vibrant neighborhoods immediately Washington Avenue Green, and the first to its west.” phases of a riverfront trail—all of which reinforce the key tenet of the master plan on the ground: public access to 6 igital Foundry D imberlake/Brooklyn imberlake/Brooklyn T Rendering © Kieran Rendering the riverfront must be the organizing the festival’s box office, a striking principle of the redevelopment of the 2,000-square-foot restaurant, and Central Delaware. administrative offices for the organization. Adding even more excitement to the “With the Fringe and the Race Street Pier waterfront mix, the Philadelphia Live working together, you create an almost Arts Festival and Philly Fringe is in the instant destination,” explains McCaney. “It’s process of renovating the old water a great example of creative placemaking pumping station at the foot of Race on the waterfront, investing in projects Street Pier. The new facility will include that will help animate and activate an approximately 240-seat theater, community space.” 7 S E The Central Delaware AC Waterfront Comes Alive P IC S L B PU T A E GR “With the Fringe and the Race Street Pier working together, you create an almost instant destination. It’s a great example of creative placemaking on the waterfront, investing in projects that will help animate and activate community space.” — Shawn McCaney, William Penn Foundation program officer This page: Artist’s rendering of new Live Arts/Fringe facility [ Image courtesy of WRT Design ] Facing page, clockwise from top: Race Street Pier [ Photo by JoAnn Greco ] Race Street Connector [ Photo by Kellie Patrick Gates ] Washington Avenue Green [ Photo by Kellie Patrick Gates ] 8 9 T R Philly’s Unique Creativity T A T A E R Philadelphia’s cultural sector is the envy of many American cities. Teeming with theater, dance, visual arts, and myriad forms of music, Philadelphia is enlivened by hundreds of TY, G TY, I unique cultural organizations of all sizes.