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Greetings from the DC Mayor’s Office on African
Affairs!
On Sunday, May 25, the world will once again commemorate Africa Day, the annual celebration
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of the formation of the Organization of African Unity (now African Union).Here at OAA, we are observing this important day by reflecting on some of the African Union’s principal objectives: to improve the lives of African people; to encourage sustainable economic, social, and cultural development; and to promote community development.
It is in this spirit that we are proud to announce community-based organization awardees for OAA’s first-ever Fiscal Year 2014 African Community Grant: African Women’s Cancer Association, Citiwide Computer Training Center, Ethiopian Community Center, Ethiopian Community Services and Development Council, KanKouran African Dance Troupe, Many Languages One Voice, Oromo Community Organization, and Peace thru Culture and African Diaspora for Change.
Fiscal Year 2014 awardees are poised to support the District’s culturally and linguistically diverse African community by: offering job and workforce development support, creating linkages to health and human services, conducting meaningful programs in youth engagement and education, and promoting the diversity of African cultures and arts in the District. We hope that the funds continue to support their indispensable contributions of strengthening and positively impacting the District’s African community.
Congratulations to our Fiscal Year 2014 African Community Grant awardees! We wish all success with their various programs serving the needs of the District’s African community.
In service,
Ngozi Nmezi
Mayor
Gray and Office on African Affairs Announce Awardees of First-Ever African
Community Grants
Africa
Day to be Commemorated with Grants to Eight Organizations Serving the
District’s African Community
(Washington, DC) – In honor of Africa
Day – the annual May 25th celebration of the formation of the
Organization of African Unity (now African Union), Mayor Vincent C. Gray and
the Office of African Affairs (OAA) are delighted to announce the first-ever
African Community Grant Program and the awarding of $100,000 in funding to
eight community-based organizations (CBOs) who provide critical services to the
District’s African community.
Grants supported by Fiscal Year 2014 funding have been
given to CBOs who serve the city’s most vulnerable community members and
offer support and programs in the priority areas of jobs and economic
development, linkages to health and human services, youth engagement and
education, and the promotion of African arts, culture, and the humanities.
“It is timely and appropriate that we celebrate
this year’s Africa Day with a commitment to strengthening community-based organizations
which are the frontline institutions that provide services to our African
residents,” said Mayor Gray. “Funding these organizations in turn,
enable many more individuals to access resources, improve their quality of
life, and ultimately contribute to the city they now call home.”
This year’s awardees are: African Women’s Cancer
Awareness Association ($10,000); Citiwide Computer Training Center ($20,000);
Ethiopian Community Center ($15,000); Ethiopian Community Services and
Development Council ($15,000); Kankouran African Dance Troupe ($12,000); Many
Languages One Voice ($10,000); Oromo Community Organization ($10,000) and Peace
Through Culture in partnership with African Diaspora for Change ($8,000).
“We are absolutely thrilled for the selected
CBOs and this first time funding opportunity, said OAA Director, Ngozi Nmezi. “ We
remain encouraged that the funds will enhance the capacity of these culturally
and linguistically competent CBOs – ensuring that they remain strong pillars of
support and development for the District’s African community.”
Awardees will work towards raising awareness about
breast cancer risks among African women, provide general healthcare training
and assessments, offer job and workforce development training, conduct positive
youth development and leadership programming, and create platforms to showcase
diverse African culture and arts. All award recipients were selected in a
competitive process by an external review panel who evaluated each proposal
based on quality of services and the reach of their proposed programs into the
District’s culturally and linguistically diverse African community.
Africa Day Proclamation
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Mayor
Pursues Nation’s First Social Impact Bond for Financing Programs to Reduce Teen
Pregnancy & Improve Education
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s Office of Budget and Finance announced that the
District will become the first jurisdiction in the nation to implement a Social
Impact Bond (SIB) – an outcome-based public-private partnership – to finance
services aimed at reducing teen pregnancy and improving education outcomes in
the District.
Read More
Mayor Gray Announces Winners of
Historic Preservation Awards
(WASHINGTON, DC) – On
Thursday, May 15th, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the DC Office of
Planning’s (OP) Historic Preservation Office presented the winners of the 2014
DC Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation at DAR Constitution Hall. OP
partnered with the DC Preservation League and the Daughters of the American
Revolution on this event.
Read More
Mayor Gray Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Historic Brown v.
Board of Education Ruling Ordering School Desegregation
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray marked the 60th anniversary of the Supreme
Court’s historic Brown v. Board
of Education decision, which declared racial segregation in public
schools unconstitutional. The unanimous decision – handed down by the high
court on May 17, 1954 – takes its name from a Kansas case that was one of five
similar school-segregation cases the court heard simultaneously. The other
cases originated in South Carolina (Briggs
v. Elliott), Virginia (Davis v. County School
Board of Prince Edward County), Delaware (Gebhart v. Belton), and the District
(Bolling v. Sharpe).
Read More
Mayor Gray Unveils
Business Regulatory Reform Task Force Report
Report Recommends Changes to Make the District the
Nation’s Most Business-Friendly City
On
Wednesday, Mayor Gray and members of the Business Regulatory Reform Task Force
he appointed last year unveiled the panel’s report, which includes 16
recommendations to improve the District’s business environment. The report is a
follow-up to an executive summary provided to Mayor Gray in March.
Read
More
Immune children aid malaria vaccine hunt
US researchers have found that they produce an antibody that attacks the malaria-causing parasite.
Injecting a form of this antibody into mice protected the animals from the disease.
The team, which published its results in the journal Science, said trials in primates and humans were now needed to fully assess the vaccine's promise.
Read More
In the Air | Tribal Beauty
Fashion is once again tapping the great African continent for
inspiration, from Givenchy’s mosaic-print jersey dress (left) to the
geometric tapestry on a new Burberry Prorsum bag (bottom right). In the
1970s, the Somali supermodel Iman was photographed for Vogue in
resplendent attire (center left). Her regal pose is echoed in Jean
Dunand’s 1926 portrait of the French milliner Madame Agnès (center
right), draped in patterns reminiscent of the beadwork worn by women of
the Samburu tribe in northern Kenya (top right).
The art of body painting, seen on the face of a child from Ethiopia’s
Omo Valley (left) and in the Ghanaian artist Owusu-Ankomah’s 1992
painting “Jumping Jack” (bottom right), is a sacred means of expression
within many African tribes. While the paint is thought by some to ward
off supernatural danger, embellishments like cowrie shells, often worn
as jewelry, are also used by West African priests in divination rituals.
Read
More
Nigeria Women Groups in Washington D.C Rally to Condemn Kidnapping of 276 Girls
By Dr. Sussie Okoro
 Representatives of major Nigerian
groups gathered in front of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria last
Wednesday May 21, 2014 to pray, protest and rally against the continued
abduction of 276 girls by the militant Islamic group, Boko Haram in Nigeria.
The groups represented at the rally included Imo State Women Association,
Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, Queens School Old Girls Association, Anambra
State Association, Women’s Wing, Abia State Union and a group of Yoruba and
Rivers State Women. Chanting, singing and holding posters that read, “#Bring
Back our Girls” “Boko Haram, Release Our Girls”, “Our Innocent Children Must be
Respected” “They Just Went to Get an Education” and so on, the women called on
the international community to join hands in eradicating violence, rape, abuse,
and kidnapping of the girls. They decried the level of ignorance that has led
to insecurity, terrorism and abuse of innocent children.
The women pledged to continue with the
rallies until all the girls are released and social issues affecting women in
Africa and the rest of the world are properly addressed
Francis Tiafoe of College Park wins the Easter Bowl junior tennis championship
Four months after making history as the youngest to win the Orange Bowl, junior tennis’s year-end world championships, Francis Tiafoe of College Park claimed the Easter Bowl, the top tournament for American juniors.
Tiafoe, who turned 16 in January, entered the hard-court, 18-and-under event as the tournament’s top seed, which added a degree of pressure he hadn’t faced back in December, when he won the Orange Bowl at age 15. A succession of tennis greats preceded him as Orange Bowl champions — Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Roger Federer among them — but none had managed to win it at 15.
Read
More
Brain Waste in the Workforce: Select U.S. and State Characteristics of College-Educated Native-Born and Immigrant Adults
MPI research in the United States and Europe has demonstrated the
challenges facing foreign-educated individuals who seek high-skilled
employment that utilizes their talents and professional experience. In
the United States, these challenges include difficulties in obtaining
recognition of professional experiences and credentials earned from
educational institutions abroad, acquiring professional-level English
skills, navigating costly or time-consuming recertification processes,
and building professional networks and U.S. job search skills.
In a series of fact sheets
available here focusing on the United States and a dozen key states, MPI
assesses the extent of “brain waste”—that is, the number of
college-educated immigrant and native-born adults ages 25 and older who
are either unemployed or have jobs that are significantly below their
education and skill levels.
Learn
More
The 2014 Cyber Security Summit - DC Metro
The Cyber Security Summit, an exclusive conference series
sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, has announced their 2014 dates to include
DC Metro & New York City. The event
will connect C-Level & Senior Executives responsible for protecting their
companies’ critical infrastructures with cutting-edge technology providers and
renowned information security experts.
When: Thursday | June 5th 2014 | 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Where: The Sheraton Premiere |8661 Leesburg Pike | Tysons Corner, VA 22182
Learn
More
African Business Directory Project - Volunteer Recruitment
 To recent graduates, community members, and to all of you data Stewards & data Scientists, the Mayor’s Office on African Affairs is currently looking for a team of volunteers to work on a major data collection project in summer 2014.
As OAA’s outreach ambassadors, volunteers will donate their time to support our project by canvassing, telephone canvassing, and/or data mining. Volunteers with bi- or multi-lingual abilities in French and Amharic are especially desired. The data will be used to identify key gaps in access to better utilize services that support the development of the African business community in the District. All volunteers are invited to participate in this legacy project which aims to support the District’s growing African business community.
Application: Volunteer application
Deadline: May 28, 2014
Funding Your Business
Meet our panel of lenders and business specialists to learn more about
how you can start of grow your business through microloans, bank loans,
and government programs.
When: Thursday | May 29, 2014 | 10:00 am - 12:30 pm
Where: Bowie City Hall | 15901 Excalibur Rd |Bowie, MD |20716
LIVE Webinars 5/28, 5/29 and 5/31: Hiring and Managing Marketing Contractors: Smart Tips (SCORE)
You know that you need marketing to increase sales and get the word
out. But do you need to hire a professional? Maybe you have already sunk
in time and effort with ideas that flopped. How can you be sure you are
getting a good return for your business?
Based on 20+ years experience in a variety of marketing roles and
several years working with the lean budgets of entrepreneurs, Jeanne
Rossomme will walk you through the complete process for maximizing your
marketing:
When: Wednesday | May 28-31, 2014 | 8:30 - 10:30am
Where: Webinar - online
Learn
More
Department of Health and Human Services:
National Abandoned Infants Resource Center (HHS)
Department of Health and Human Services
announces funds to support a National Resource Center to enhance the capacity
of programs designed to serve abandoned infants, young children, and their
families, particularly infants and children infected with Human
Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS),
perinatally exposed to HIV/AIDS, or perinatally exposed to a dangerous drug;
and also enhance the capacity of any child-serving program that serves infants
or very young children who are at risk of abandonment or maltreatment.
Eligibility: City or township
governments, county governments, independent school districts, public and state
controlled institutions of higher education, state governments, nonprofit
organizations, public housing authorities, private institutions of higher
education, for-profit organizations other than small businesses, small
businesses, community-based organizations and DC government agencies.
Application Deadline:
6/9/2014.
Funds: $1,060,000 available
for awards
For more information contact AFC Applications Help
Desk at app_support@acf.hhs.gov
Department
of Education: Training and Information for Parents of Children with
Disabilities.
Department
of Education announces funds to support programs that will ensure that parents
of children with disabilities receive training and information to help improve
results for their children. Must be nonprofit organizations. Application Deadline:5/27/2014.
Funds: up to $6,645,988 is available for 24 awards.
For more information contact:
Carmen Sanchez at Carmen.Sanchez@ed.gov
DC Tuition Assistance
Grant Program (DC TAG)
DCTAG assists D.C. residents with out-of-state
tuition by paying the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition up
to $10,000 a year for 6 years, with a lifetime maximum of $50,000.
Undergraduate students who choose to attend private colleges and universities
in the D.C. metropolitan area, including any private Historically Black
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are eligible to receive a grant for up to
$2,500 a year, with a lifetime maximum of $12,500. The maximum annual award for
two year community colleges is $2,500, with a lifetime maximum of $10,000.
Eligibility: Proof of
U.S. citizenship or legal U.S. residency; a minimum of 12-month D.C. residency
prior to the initial application; good academic standing as defined by the
postsecondary institution; no current default status with any federal student
loans; enrollment in an Associate's or Bachelor's degree seeking program; and no
older than 25 years of age at the time of application (first-time applicants,
DCTAG only).
Deadline: June 30th
Funds: Up to
$10,000 a year for 6 years
Contact: Office of the State
Superintendent of Education at (202) 727-2824
Learn More
Department of Education: Scale-up Grants -
Investing in Innovation (DOE)
Education announces funds to support expansion
of projects supported by strong evidence of effectiveness at the national
level. In addition to improving outcomes for an increasing number of high-need
students.
Eligibility: Nonprofit
organizations and Local Educational Agencies
Deadline:
June 24th
Funds: $19,000,000 available
for two awards and a match is required
Contact: Joyce Mays at joyce.mays@ed.gov
Website: www.grants.gov
Grant ID: GD5480
The cost of not caring: Nowhere to go
The financial and human toll for neglecting the mentally ill.
More than half a million Americans with serious mental illness are
falling through the cracks of a system in tatters, a USA TODAY special
report shows.
The mentally ill who have nowhere to go
and find little sympathy from those around them often land hard in
emergency rooms, county jails and city streets. The lucky ones find
homes with family. The unlucky ones show up in the morgue.
"We
have replaced the hospital bed with the jail cell, the homeless shelter
and the coffin," says Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., a child psychologist
leading an effort to remodel the mental health system. "How is that
compassionate?"
Read
More
Call
for Papers: MPI Research Initiative on Young Children in Refugee Families
The Migration Policy
Institute’s (MPI) National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy is launching
an interdisciplinary research initiative to examine the circumstances and
well-being of young children (birth to age 10) in refugee families. Research on
refugees in the United States has largely focused on adults and their access to
employment and social services. Less is known about the children of refugees
(themselves refugees or the U.S.-born children of resettled refugee parents)
and the risk and protective factors that promote their healthy development and
academic success.
Submission
deadline: May 30, 2014
Learn More
N Street Village Family
& Friends Day
N Street Village is a community of empowerment
and recovery for homeless and low-income women in Washington, D.C. With
comprehensive services addressing both emergency and long-term needs, we help
women achieve personal stability and make gains in their housing, income,
employment, mental health, physical health, and addiction recovery.
All participants are asked to bring a pair of
garden gloves for each family member as well as a trowel or other tools for use
throughout the day. You can take these items home with you.
When: Wednesday, May 31st, 2014| 10:00 AM
- 12:00 PM
Where: N Street Village| 1333 N Street NW| Washington,
DC | 20005
Learn More
Alliance for Health Reform Briefing: Health Centers at the Launch of the Coverage Expansion
The coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act brings new
pressures and opportunities for health centers, including the potential
to serve newly-insured patients while continuing as a cornerstone of the
primary care safety net for the uninsured. At the same time, health
centers are in the midst of rapid transformation brought about in part
by recent federal investments in health center capacity and delivery
system improvements, even as they face uncertainty about future state
and federal funding.
This briefing
will reveal new findings from The Commonwealth Fund’s 2013 Survey of
Federally Qualified Health Centers, examine perceptions and realities of
health center capacity to ensure access to newly-insured and
still-uninsured patients, and highlight system improvements health
centers have made to improve outcomes and efficiency at lower costs.
Read
More
Call
for Papers: MPI Research Initiative on Young Children in Refugee Families
The Migration Policy
Institute’s (MPI) National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy is launching
an interdisciplinary research initiative to examine the circumstances and
well-being of young children (birth to age 10) in refugee families. Research on
refugees in the United States has largely focused on adults and their access to
employment and social services. Less is known about the children of refugees
(themselves refugees or the U.S.-born children of resettled refugee parents)
and the risk and protective factors that promote their healthy development and
academic success.
Submission
deadline: May 30, 2014
Learn More
 SBA Launches Growth Accelerator Fund
The U.S. Small Business Administration is launching a $2.5 million
competition for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models
to compete for monetary prizes of $50,000 each to fund operating
budgets. To award the prizes, applicants will be judged by an expert
panel that will consider each applicant's stated mission, founding team
members and business goals among other core components. The application
deadline is August 2, 2014.
Learn
More
Free promotion for child and youth events
 One City Youth's DC Gov website calendar of
events (Upcoming Events) is a free way for organizations and agencies of all
kinds—nonprofits, government, places of worship, local, federal—to promote
events for children, youth, and their families. Appropriate for the
calendar are festivals, programs, trainings, contests, scholarships, concerts,
and volunteer opportunities, just to name a few.
It’s easy to
submit information. Email details to onecityyouth@dc.gov.
Guidance on what information to submit is accessible from the OCY home page.
Learn More
Ethiopian Students Organization to give away Prizes to Class
of 2014
Ethiopian Students, is inviting 2014 college and high school
graduates to register for a chance to win prizes. The drawing will take place
on Sunday June 29th and prizes include in-kind gifts from local area businesses. In order to participate, 2014 graduates must register
online at Ethiopianstudents.org.
Learn More
Introduction to Finding Funders
This session provides an introduction to the Foundation Center's comprehensive online database, Foundation Directory Online Professional.
Learn how to create customized searches to develop targeted lists of
foundations that will match your organization's funding needs.We will
spend time exploring Power Search, which allows you to search across
nine Foundation Center databases - grantmakers, grants, companies, 990s,
news, jobs, RFPs, nonprofit literature, and PubHub reports.
When: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 | 12:15 - 1:15 p.m.
Where: Foundation Center|1627 K Street NW| 3rd Floor|Washington, D.C. | 20006-1708
Learn
More
Reducing
America’s Student Debt
Americans are
almost a trillion dollars in student debt. There are stories of students
graduating with $100k-200k in student debt, only to find themselves unemployed
after graduation. Poor and middle class parents are willing to risk losing
their house, car, credit, and peace of mind to fund an education for their
child. Unfortunately, even if those children get the job of their dreams, if
that child has an untimely death, that parent is now responsible for the
student debt. We are here to educate you on scholarships, grants, and
navigating college!
Read More
Accelerating Entry into African Markets
The Industrial
Development Corporation (IDC) is one of the largest wholly African development
finance institutions, partnering on projects across the continent. It has over
$20 billion in assets and has funded projects in over 20 African countries. One
of its roles is to serve as a funding partner on projects involving
partnerships between African and foreign firms on the continent to mitigate
risk and accelerate implementation.
When: Monday, June 9th, 2014 | 9:30
AM - 12:30 PM
Where: 401
Ninth Street NW| Suite 900| Washington, D.C. | 20004
Learn more
Free Summer Teen
Language & Cultural Workshops
For Students between the ages of 12 and 17
years old.
Arabic Language and Culture
Summer Workshop
When: June 16th to June 20th,
2014|10:30am - 12:30pm
Where: Smithsonian National Museum of African
Art|950 Independence Avenue SW| Washington, DC|20560
Registration is free, but required. Applications due
on May 16, 2014.
Also Swahili Language and Culture
Summer Workshop
When: July 28th to August 1th,
2014|10:30am - 12:30pm
Where: Smithsonian National Museum of African
Art|950 Independence Avenue SW| Washington, DC|20560
Registration is free, but required. Applications due
on July 14, 2014.
Please contact Glenn
Ojeda for further information on how to apply, OjedaG@si.edu, 202-633-4638
Learn more
Need Help Recruiting Young African Males for STEM Program
The Small Business Transportation Resource Center program at The Enterprise Center is looking to recruit 100 young black males (ages at 13 -18) for a program taking place in DC. The program will take place on Monday, May 5th at 10am at the DOT DC Headquarters. It is a Mentorship, Empowerment, Careers and Small Business Day for young men of color focused on STEM. Lunch will be provided.
If interested, please contact: Craig Campbell at 215-243-4104 or Tiffany Spraggins at 215-243-4103
Want Your Event Featured in the 'African Beat'?
'The African Beat' is distributed to over 6,000 subscribers every other Friday. If you would like to submit your event to be included in our calendar, please submit the following event details: what, when, & where, and provide a link to where readers can go for more information. Submission deadline for the next edition is Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 5:00pm (Send all materials, along with any questions, to oaa@dc.gov).
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