Quixote Foundation, Inc.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will sponsor its third Media Learning Seminar for U.S. community and regional foundations: The Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. This year’s program will provide new insights into the changing media landscape and emerging technologies while offering concrete examples of how foundations are helping to fill their communities’ information voids. Foundations are invited to bring one board member and one senior staff member. Thanks to Knight Foundation sponsorship, there is no registration fee for this March 1-2 event in Miami, Florida. Register online by February 5.

The We Media Conference brings together leaders who share insights and experiences shaping the world of the connected society and its new marketplaces. Join the innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders shaping an enlightened age of media, technology, business, communications and connections in Miami, Florida, March 9-11, 2010. (What the heck, attend the Knight Foundation event listed above, take a sunny vacation and then stick around for We Media.) Conference happenings include the We Media “Game Changers” awards and a $50,000 “Pitch It!” new idea challenge.

SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. Join SXSW in Austin, Texas, March 12-16 for panels, parties, the 13th Annual Web Awards, the ScreenBurn at SXSW Arcade and more.

Join the philanthropic community for Katrina @ 5, an Association of Small Foundations conference in New Orleans leading up to the 5th anniversary of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While many challenges persist, the Gulf Coast is a center of inspiration, creativity, and fresh approaches. Katrina @ 5 represents a chance to see the vibrant changes and to look at how philanthropy’s role in the recovery worked, how it didn’t, and what’s yet to be done. Check out the conference brochure and register now for this March 22-24 event.

Interested in participatory media as a strategy for social justice organizing? Save the date and attend the June 18-20 Allied Media Conference in Detroit, Michigan. As long as you’re in Detroit, stick around a couple more days to join representatives from social movements all over the world at the U.S. Social Forum, June 22-26.

We don’t know about you, but we’d certainly take time to fill out a form if it ensured we were represented in our democracy and helped steer hundreds of billions of tax dollars toward infrastructure and services where they’re needed most. Now’s your once-a-decade chance: fill out the 2010 Census when it arrives, and help spread the word to others. Everyone’s needed to show how much has changed in ten years (besides the government’s learning how to launch useful web sites)!

The National Rural Assembly will host a National Rural Youth Assembly on April 22-25, 2010, at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The Assembly seeks 50 young adults from rural communities across the country who will gather to discuss the issues they see as critical to their lives and communities. Key policy areas include the quality of education, stewardship of natural resources, investment in communities, and the health of rural people.

Rural leaders and mentors are encouraged to nominate young people to represent their areas.  Selected participants will represent the diversity of rural America in geographies, races, cultures, genders, incomes and sexual orientations. Application packets are due by February 26.

The Mesa Refuge features privacy, quiet settings and spectacular natural surroundings for writers and artists serious about focusing on their work. Two- and four-week residencies in Point Reyes Station, CA (which happens to be one of Quixote Foundation’s favorite scenic spots) are provided for people to think and write about the intersections between human activity and the natural world.  The next application deadline is June 1, 2010.

On Wednesday, January 20, 2010 the Kaiser Family Foundation released Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds, one of the largest and most comprehensive publicly available information sources on the amount and nature of media use by American youth.  The survey is the third wave of the Foundation’s studies of children’s media use, providing a detailed look at current media use patterns among young people and documenting changes in children’s media habits from five (2004) and ten (1999) years ago.

Net Neutrality is critical to keeping our society free, fair & healthy! Find out about the issues and comment directly to the FCC.

Protect your investments in projects and organizations you care about by promoting good policy through nonpartisan civic engagement.  The Funders Committee for Civic Participation has put together a fantastic set of resources for foundations wanting to learn more about how they can fund civic engagement while staying firmly within tax and legal boundaries.  Check out the legal guidelines and other resources, get to know FCCP and get involved!

Let Malkia Cyril of the Center for Media Justice tell you why. Download a PDF of her speech–it’s fabulous reading!

The Beldon Fund recently launched www.beldon.org to share information gained during an intentional spend-down of foundation assets. As planned, after ten years of grantmaking, the Beldon Fund closed its doors on May 31, 2009.

The website includes a PDF called “Giving While Living: The Beldon Fund Spend Out Story,” filled with practical advice and tips, and other information on the foundation’s program strategies, grantees, lessons from the work, and external assessments of Beldon’s impact. Take a look—the information may lead you to consider spending down and, if not, it can be applied broadly to your ongoing work. Send any feedback to beldoninfo@yahoo.com.