The Cleveland Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) has named Putnam President Kris Putnam-Walkerly as one of their Top 10 Women Business Owners of Northeast Ohio. The award, now in its 14th year, honors women who have demonstrated excellence as a woman business owner, including: initiative and creativity, professional accomplishments, contributions to the field, and civic and community involvement. The winners were honored at an awards dinner on April 17, 2008.

The Blue Shield of California Foundation retained Putnam to evaluate its Core Support Initiative, which provided over $10 million in general support funding to 175 community health clinics and clinic networks over two years. Grantees reported improvements in fiscal stability and infrastructure as a result of these grants, and that this resulted in more efficient and productive services. Complete findings are available in the Core Support Initiative Evaluation. Read more here.

The Youth Investment Program 2007 Grantmaking Plan was approved by their Board of Directors and will guide grantmaking this year. Download the Stewardship Council 2007 Grantmaking Plan.pdf full report here.

Putnam conducted a cluster review of five grants (totaling $1.4 million) designed to engage youth and young adults in hands-on learning of sophisticated media-production techniques. Putnam's review determined that grantees met objectives, served over 12,000 youth annually, and reached audiences of over 27 million people. Complete findings are available in the Youth Media report, which was released at a national convening of youth media organizations and funders in the San Francisco Bay Area in October 2006.

The Stuart Foundation retained Putnam to conduct a cluster review of 12 grants (totaling $3.9 million) awarded to organizations helping at-risk youth apply for, be accepted to, and successfully complete college.

Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) recently launched the San Francisco Bay Area Disaster Preparedness and Response Initiative to ensure that foundations and corporate giving programs plan ahead for an effective philanthropic response to a major, local disaster. NCG asked Putnam to conduct a needs assessment and strategic planning, which includes an online survey, key informant interviews, literature review, analysis, and planning with task force members. The Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan will be available in early 2007.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced they have reached agreement with the US Department of Labor to join RWJF and the Hitachi Foundation in supporting its Jobs to Careers initiative. The DOL will use their support of a project that focuses on Long Term care Workers as a 'Pilot', to shape what they expect will be a large LTC workforce development initiative that they sponsor next fiscal year.

Putnam President, Kris Putnam-Walkerly, interviewed by Startup Nation. Read the full article here.