Centennial recognizes contributions of Alliance members
With 59 charter members, the National Association of Societies for Organizing Charity was officially launched June 8, 1911, at its national conference in Boston. The association was founded as a membership federation of and for its members, a tradition that continues today under the association’s modern-day name: the Alliance for Children and Families.
It’s fitting, then, that the Alliance is kicking off a yearlong recognition of that 100-year commitment to service at the Alliance National Conference Oct. 20, 2010, in Milwaukee. Centennial activities will conclude with the 2011 Alliance National Conference in Washington, D.C.
In bookending this centennial celebration with the 2010 and 2011 conferences, the Alliance plans to honor the contributions its members have made to the legacy of social work and human services, as well as recognize how well-positioned the field is for the next century of service.
We are thrilled to have this opportunity to pay tribute to the great history of the field, people who significantly shaped its history, and member organizations that continue to play an integral role in improving the lives of children and families.
During the 2010 Alliance National Conference, we will recognize our former and retired chief executives. The following year, at the 2011 Alliance National Conference, former board members will be recognized. We hope that, by paying tribute to the past, we will generate a renewed energy and sense of commitment within the field.
In addition to the special recognitions, a historical narrative has been authored by freelance writer Patricia Winsten. It meticulously traces the history of the field, prominently featuring the important role members played in the significant social issues and human service innovations throughout the last century.
But we will not spend all our time reliving our past. In addition to being instrumental in moving the field forward in years past, Alliance members today are positioned to be leaders in their communities and the field. The two keynote speakers for the 2010 Alliance National Conference, Geoffrey Canada and Paul Light, will provide inspiration for that critical role.
Canada, president and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), is a nationally known advocate for education reform and place-based initiatives. Efforts to replicate aspects of HCZ, specifically through the federal Promise Neighborhoods initiative, are of great importance to several Alliance and United Neighborhood Centers of America members.
Light, who is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Services for the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, prolific author, and noted expert on the nonprofit sector, will offer key insight into how organizations can become and continue to be high-performing, robust, and impactful.
Our special centennial programming would not be possible without very generous donors: Consuelo Foundation, Mutual of America, Donald and Mary Jo Layden Jr. Family Foundation, Aurora Health Care Foundation, Doris Chortek, Patti Lyons, Marshall & Ilsley Foundation, and the Milwaukee office of KPMG.
Our members also are generously donating to these efforts, including Pressley Ridge, Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin, Family Service Madison, and Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
No matter what the era, this field continues to strive for excellence, devise new and creative innovations, and respond to community need. In 1910, the 103 delegates who approved the formation of a formal national organization took a chance in this belief.
In a report that recommended the formation, Francis H. McLean, first director of the National Association of Societies for Organizing Charity, wrote: “Nothing can take away the fundamental character of the movement and its staying qualities. It will increase in importance as the years go on … Who knows how much of the social progress of the next hundred years, I care not in whatever line, shall trace its rightness and timeliness and get-thereness to the organized charity movement.”
How true he was.
Peter Goldberg is president and CEO of the Alliance and its parent holding company, Families International. In his capacity as president and CEO of Families International, he oversees a thriving group of affiliated organizations, including the Alliance, United Neighborhood Centers of America, FEI Behavioral Health, and Ways to Work. He has been selected by The NonProfit Times as one of the 50 most influential people in the nonprofit sector seven times since 1998. |  |
Patti Lyons is co-chair of the Alliance Centennial Committee and chair of the 2010 Alliance National Conference Planning Committee. She is a board member of Alliance member Consuelo Foundation, Honolulu, and she previously served as that organization’s president and CEO. |  |
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