Following the Tobacco Money
Most people have seen the highly produced anti-teen-smoking tobacco ads paid for by the American Legacy Foundation, the entity funded by the major tobacco companies to settle 46 state lawsuits. But aside from funding ads and doling out smoking prevention and cessation grants, what else is Legacy spending its multimillion-dollar endowment dividends on? Youth Today delved into the public charity’s incomes, investments and expenditures and found that the foundation has devoted larger percentages of its income to fees and salaries – even as youth smoking rates flat lined at 22 percent. The foundation even lent its CEO nearly $1 million so she could buy a home in an exclusive Washington, D.C., neighborhood. Click here to read the article online and join the conversation.
Education Innovations
In other funding news, the U.S. Department of Education is inviting feedback on its new Investing in Innovation Fund, a $650 million Recovery Act program to support education reforms. Enterprising youth-serving agencies with a track record of partnering with schools to improve student achievement in a measurable way might want to weigh in. Read Youth Today’s coverage of how the youth field can participate.
