The guest speaker at the Tigard Rotary Club lunch meeting on October 23rd was Max Williams, President and CEO of the Oregon Community Foundation, or OCF. Max, a former member of the Club, joined the OCF in 2012. Prior to that, Max was Director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, served in the Legislative Assembly, practiced law at Miller Nash, and served on several nonprofit boards. He holds a JD degree from Lewis and Clark Law School.
Max reviewed what the OCF is, including its history, mission and partnerships. He said the Foundation was started 43 years ago, and was unique in focusing on the entire state. Today, OCF has assets of $1.6 billion, and provides services with the help of hundreds of volunteers throughout the state. Last year, the Foundation gave away its billionth dollar. Of that, $10 million went to scholarships, helping 3500 students. You can read about the Foundation at www.oregoncf.org.
Max spent much of his time speaking about early childhood education, and what he sees as the growing opportunity gap between children of wealthier families and children of poorer families. He said there are fewer “airbags” surrounding poorer children, protecting them when things go wrong. This has been exacerbated in recent years by the “pay-to-play” environment in sports, arts and other extracurricular activities, where self-confidence is developed, and social and leadership skills are learned. He used information from a book that he recommends to anyone who is interested in these issues, titled “The American Dream in Crisis”, by Robert Putnam. Max noted that, according to Putnam, half of the children born in the USA are born to a “single parent”. Half of the children born in Oregon are born into families eligible for Medicaid. Lower-income families may have less resources (money, time, health care) than higher income families, which may affect the brain development of their children at an early age. Differences in vocabulary growth show up as early as 18 months, and become pronounced at 36 months.
Max said that one of the most important aspects of educating children is educating their parents. Towards that end, the Foundation supports “Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative”, a multiyear grant program supporting parent education (see www.orparenting.org). He purported that local organizations need to take the initiative now to support child and parent education as a way to strengthen their communities, and not wait for federal or state governments to come up with solutions. He emphasized the importance of bringing varied partners to the table and finding the common ground among them, bridging the traditional divides.