Leadership for Change

Netter relies on gifts from individuals to make positive impacts on Penn and the community — indeed on society and the world. An endowed operations fund would provide direct support to the Center while also leveraging other gifts and grants, and provide flexible funds to direct to new opportunities and critical priorities. A gift of $2 million would name and endow a director’s innovation fund.

Netter began with an idea, but its mission became achievable only with the dedication of people who believed in that idea: a team of talented, hardworking, passionate and compassionate professionals and volunteers. Today, the Center employs 50 full-time and 150 part-time staff. Many started as students and remained after graduation; several have been with us for over a decade. They are working at capacity on current projects and continually generating exciting new ones. Term funds would enable Netter to grow, retain, and develop its outstanding staff. A gift of $2 million would endow and name a staff and programs fund.

Netter is a success because of its people. Our post-undergraduate fellows are core staff and critical to our programing. An endowed fellowship fund allows us to expand our ability to hire talented Penn graduates as team members. A gift of $1.5 million would name and endow a post-undergraduate fellowship position, including benefits and travel and research funds.

A graduate fellowship at Netter is an opportunity for PhD students across the university to be actively involved in Netter through their research and scholarship, including Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) courses, community-engaged scholarship, service learning and more.  A gift of $1 million would name and endow one graduate fellow for their two-year fellowship. A term gift of $300,000 would provide six years of funds.

ABCS courses are credit-bearing courses where Penn students and faculty engage in local, real-world problem-solving in partnership with West Philadelphia public schools and community organizations. In recent years, 70+ ABCS courses have been offered annually across 11 of Penn’s 12 schools, including 40+ departments. With additional funding, Netter would increase both the number of ABCS courses and the number of undergraduate and graduate students involved. Funds would allow us to add teaching assistant positions and graduate fellowships; expand the number of departments involved in ABCS; advance collaboration across disciplines; and create innovative pathways for students to take a series of integrated ABCS courses. A gift of $3 million would name and endow an ABCS Program Fund.

University-assisted community schools (UACS) are the foundation for our ABCS courses and the landscape on which our programs operate. Penn students and faculty work with UACS in West Philadelphia to help solve critical campus and community problems in a variety of areas such as the environment, health, arts, and education. Programming occurs during the school day, after school, evenings, weekends, and summers and focuses on improving literacy, STEM, health and nutrition, social-emotional learning and mental wellness, arts and culture, sports and recreation, college access and career readiness, and neighborhood development. Dedicated gifts that help strengthen and sustain the infrastructure for UACS would result in positive outcomes for the education and welfare of young people in West Philadelphia as well as for Penn students, faculty, and staff. An endowment gift of $3 million or term gift of $500,000 would name a UACS Program.

Netter believes in accountability and learning from experience, which requires us to continually measure the outcomes of our programs. Critical to improving Netter’s work is the rigorous use of data for evaluation. Netter seeks support that will grow a more robust evaluation and research enterprise that can assess school, community, and institutional change. Funds would be used for all aspects of evaluation and research, including expanded staffing, student engagement, technology for data management, professional development, community and partner engagement, materials and supplies, and pilot studies. A gift of $3 million would name and endow an Evaluation Fund.

Netter receives ongoing interest in and demand for assistance by colleges hoping to increase their democratic engagement. The Center’s efforts have been remarkably successful, particularly through the development of University-Assisted Community School Regional Training Centers at selected institutions across the country and a national University-Assisted Community Schools Network. New resources would make it possible to support the selection of additional UACS replication sites, as well as staff dedicated to building the UACS network. Funds could also be used to strengthen Netter’s significant global presence. All of these efforts enhance the reputation of the University of Pennsylvania as an innovator in community engagement. An endowed gift of $2 million or a term gift of $500,000 would name and establish a New National and Global Programs Fund.

Our over-arching goal is helping universities function as generators of positive change in partnership with their communities. The vision of hundreds of schools doing what Netter is doing excites and motivates us daily. This is why making Netter’s work accessible, visible and replicable nationally and internationally is core to our mission. Modes of communication today are so varied and evolving that we need to send our message in ways our students, community partners, and other stakeholders will hear. Funding would also support branding, marketing, and social media efforts. A gift of $1 million would endow and name an Outreach Fund.