Ford Foundation stiftet US 50 Mio Dollar für Government Innovators Program der Harvard University und schafft dadurch Grundlage für verstärkte internationale Kooperationen
Bericht des OST in WashingtonIn der Folge finden Sie einen am 5.4.2001 in der Washington Post erschienen Artikel über eine Dotierung von US 50 Mio Dollar für die John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG) durch die Ford Foundation.
Der ungewöhnliche hohe Stiftungsbetrag wird den Programmen am Institute for Government Innovation der KSG zugute kommen. Dieses Institut wurde 1985 auf Initiative der Ford Foundation (http://www.fordfound.org/) ins Leben gerufen. Die gegenständliche Information ist für Österreich nicht nur aufgrund der Vorbildwirkung für die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Universitäten und öffentlicher Verwaltung relevant, sondern auch deshalb, weil das Institut als Drehscheibe eines Netzwerkes von Innovatoren im öffentlichen Bereich fungieren soll und Kooperationen mit ausländischen Partnern erwünscht sind.
Für mehr Detailinformation siehe auch die Pressemeldung des Institute for Government Innovation der Kennedy School of Government unter http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/release/040501-grant.htm und die Homepage des Instituts unter http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/index.html .
Washington Post, Thursday, 5 April 2001, page A25
Harvard Wins 50 Million US Dollar Grant - Ford Foundation Endows Government Innovators Program
by Ben White, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Ford Foundation plans to announce a 50 million Dollar endowment grant to the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University today -- the second-largest gift in Harvard history and the largest single Ford Foundation donation ever -- to establish a permanent Institute for Government Innovation.
The 50 million Dollar endowment will be used to fund the Kennedy School's annual "Innovations in American Government" awards program as well as to create the institute.
The awards program gives 100,000 Dollar each year to 25 federal, state and local agencies that demonstrate innovation and excellence in their approach to difficult public policy problems. Agencies and officials use the money to share their work with other governmental bodies. The awards are given in conjunction with the Council for Excellence in Government, which will have no direct involvement with the newly created institute.
Officials at the Kennedy School said the new institute would help link the American innovations program with similar efforts funded by the Ford Foundation in other countries, including the Philippines, Brazil, South Africa and Chile. The money would be used to bring officials from those governments to the United States to interact with Kennedy School students and to send American officials abroad. It would also fund a new online portal to help share information between governments and countries.
"The most exciting aspect of this is not the size of grant but the reaffirmation of our mission, which is that we need good government, not bigger or smaller, but better," said Kennedy School Dean Joseph Nye.
Nye said the new money would help set up a new course that would bring winners of the innovations awards to speak to Kennedy School students and explain their work, which he said would help "dramatize that there are interesting and entrepreneurial opportunities in public service in an era when (private firms) can outbid governments for our graduates by three to one."
Ford Foundation President Susan V. Berresford said the money would help the Kennedy School "shine a light on examples of innovative programs that have solved important social problems and would support replication of those ideas and honor people in government that have made these programs work."
Ford Foundation grants average around 350,000 Dollar, but Berresford said the organization decided to give a much larger amount to the Kennedy School because it had proved it could run the awards program successfully.
"It puts enough on the table, and hopefully will attract matching funds, for Harvard to be able to run this program on their own and not have to come to back to us every few years," she said.
The Ford Foundation and the Kennedy School plan to announce the grant in Washington today, joined by Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) and former Wisconsin governor Tommy G. Thompson, now secretary of health and human services. Maryland won an Innovations in American Government award last year for its smart growth program, and Wisconsin has won in the past for its welfare reform efforts.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company