GHR Foundation's Sister Support funding seeks to ensure a vital future for Catholic sisters, marked by congregations that are well-led, well-resourced and powerful in spiritual witness and service. GHR recently partnered with the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) to fund symposia on college campuses to raise the profile of women religious during the Year of Consecrated life and encourage women to consider religious life.

The public events, held on four college campuses across the country, will be centered on a new book: The New Generation of Catholic Sisters by Sr. Mary Johnson, Sr. Patricia Wittberg and Dr. Mary L. Gautier. The book illuminates trends from a study (PDF) that highlights the impact of diversity on women’s religious life. The events will feature the book’s authors, as well as two panels of younger sisters and other lay women in ministry. These sessions will provide students and the public opportunities to learn more about contemporary Catholic sisters.

The recently published book and symposia will be important tools to raise the profile of the next generation of Catholic Sisters. The host colleges and symposia dates will be announced via the NRVC website.  The book, The New Generation of Catholic Sisters, is available on Amazon.

GHR Foundation’s Health Program funds research to support the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. The FoundationFuondation             has committed more than $10 million over the next 5 years to scale up important research already underway, including some of the largest research efforts in the field.

One such research program is the A4 Study. This study, led by Harvard researcher Dr. Reisa Sperling and coordinated by the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study at the University of California, San Diego, is a clinical trial focused on determining the effectiveness of prevention therapy before Alzheimer's disease impacts the brain.

Enrollment for the study is underway and researchers are currently looking for volunteers aged 65+ with normal memory function to be screened for an Alzheimer’s amyloid plaques. Those found eligible for the study will receive prevention treatment at locations across North America and Australia.

While all research is uncertain, the potential to turn the tide and provide hope for all families that face Alzheimer’s has never been more promising. If you know someone who might be qualified and interested in participating in the study, have them examine the eligibility requirements and learn more here. To learn more about partnering with GHR Foundation to fund innovative Alzheimer’s research, contact us.

Connecting with other donors is critical to scaling up GHR Foundation's Inter-Religious Action Initiative.  Recently, GHR joined two other significant faith-focused funders in establishing a new affinity group to advance inter-faith action. GHR is collaborating with the El-Hibri Foundation and the Jewish Funders Network to lead an effort to fund programs that build lasting community connections and advance peace by mobilizing religious leaders and communities to address common challenges.

The Interfaith Observer recently featured the inaugural meeting of the new working group in an article titled “Foundations Working Together for Interreligious Cooperation.” The first meeting brought together more than 20 influential funders from North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East representing inter-religious grant making capacity of more than $100 million. During the meeting, funders outlined the purpose of the group, developed relationships and learned from diverse experiences in inter-religious collaboration.

Though the affinity group is in its early stages, it provides a meaningful scan of potential funding partners and has the potential to build a global movement of donors focused on improving development through inter-religious action. Learn more about GHR’s Inter-Religious Action Initiative today or contact us if you are donor interested in joining the affinity group.

The journal Clinics in Geriatric Medicine recently published the results of GHR-funded physician outreach efforts by the Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Published as part of a larger article titled, “Developing Dementia-Capable Health Care Systems,” the piece highlights the importance of engaging community-based organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association in connecting patients with caregivers. 

The research shows how community-based organizations reinforce services commonly provided by social workers. These services range from providing information for physicians regarding caregiver education to referring community services. The Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association was specifically highlighted, due to its newly-developed network of providers and clinics, which made an important step in establishing dementia-capable health care by increasing the occurrence of direct contact between patients and physicians.

GHR supports innovative new approaches to address the impact of Alzheimer’s disease.  Learn more about our grant making today.

GHR Foundation’s Higher Education Initiative promotes innovative, values-based Catholic education that positively transforms individuals, communities and the world. Honoring the legacy of GHR founder and Marquette University alumnus Gerald “Gerry” Rauenhorst, Marquette University recently named its engineering college the Opus College of Engineering.
“The university is proud to be able to honor Gerry by naming the College of Engineering after the business he started," Marquette President Michael Lovell said. Rauenhorst graduated from Marquette in 1951 and served as trustee emeritus from 1970 to 2000. During that time, he advised university leadership and supported many university projects, especially the College of Engineering.

The panel was moderated by former journalist and Marquette faculty member Mike Gousha, and featured engineering executives including Dave Bangasser, president and CEO of Opus Design Build; Todd Adams, president and CEO of Rexnord; Kim Marotta, director of sustainability for MillerCoors; and MaryAnn Wright, vice president of engineering and product development at Johnson Controls Power Solutions. The panelists discussed how engineering is transforming the world for an estimated 125 attendees.

The naming ceremony featured the reveal of the new logo, as well as words from Dr. Kris Ropella, Interim Opus Dean, Dr. Chris Foley, Opus faculty member, Theresa Le, Opus Scholar, Joe Rauenhorst, Dr. Michael Lovell and Fr. Ed Mathie, College Champlain.

View photos of the event here.

GHR Foundation’s Catholic Schools Initiative works to close the achievement gap, in part, by incubating new education models.  Blended learning, which combines classroom and small group instruction with online curriculum, is an approach GHR is currently funding at three Twin Cities Catholic schools. Recently, GHR board members visited Immaculate Conception Catholic School to see blended learning in action.

Existing national data shows that blended learning has the potential to drive school excellence and build new funding sources by increasing enrollment. GHR is funding blended learning and other innovative approaches in hopes of identifying new ways to improve financial sustainability and academic excellence in urban Catholic schools.

GHR’s grant to Immaculate Conception funds faculty training, principal coaching and the launch of blended learning in classrooms. Although early in the school year, Immaculate Conception is already seeing benefits from the individualized learning approach, data-driven instruction and professional development for administrators and teachers.

Immaculate Conception and other GHR-funded schools will evaluate blended learning in real time with support from program evaluation firm Rainbow Research. As an external evaluation partner, Rainbow Research will observe classrooms and collect data from students, parents and teachers to determine progress in enrollment, test scores, teacher skills, parental awareness and more.

If you are interested in partnering on funding innovative approaches to closing the Twin Cities education achievement gap, contact us.

GHR’s Children in Families Initiative funds child protection interventions that strengthen families, deinstitutionalize children and build evidence for innovative approaches. GHR’s aim is to develop a proof of concept model that engages pro-family initiatives at all levels – from government to grassroots – and builds upon global best practices.

One current geographic focus country is Zambia where 1.2 million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents. GHR is launching a collaborative effort with multiple Zambian partners to strengthen families and protect children throughout the country.

GHR’s approach has already demonstrated significant progress. GHR Children in Families staff recently convened a meeting in partnership with local government and NGOs to share resources and discuss a national child welfare plan. The results included: 

• Valuable collaboration between government, local non-profits and international experts
  
• Leadership from government and shared investment by UNICEF Zambia 
  
• Shared resources from global alliance partners Better Care Network and Family for Every Child
  

To hear more about this remarkable convening, view this brief interview with UNICEF Zambia Child Protection Specialist David Lamin. If you are interested in collaborating to strengthen families and increase stability for children in Zambia, contact us today.