Philanthropy Today

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has lent “his celebrity, and the name of his nonprofit group Children’s Health Defense, to a network of overseas chapters that sow distrust in vaccine safety and spread misinformation far and wide,” according to a New York Times report. Kennedy himself visited Samoa to promote vaccine skepticism a few months before a measles outbreak there that killed 83 people, and a physician adviser with Children’s Health Defense Africa has argued that sex education and contraception programs are conspiracies to suppress Africans’ fertility. An executive with Children’s Health Defense said the adviser’s views do not reflect those of the organization. Kennedy did not respond to a list of questions about the group’s work abroad. (New York Times)

American zoos send millions of dollars in donor funds each year to China, essentially to rent giant pandas, to be used for the species’ conservation. But for decades, China has funneled at least some of the money to seemingly unrelated projects, including computer purchases and building projects, while zoo officials have pushed back on federal regulators’ efforts to police the funds more closely lest they lose a star attraction. Meanwhile, some research has found that development in China has left “pandas isolated in ever-smaller populations.” One former zoo conservationist said the program lacks serious scrutiny, while a former regulator who now heads a zoo industry group said it greatly benefits conservation. (New York Times)

Background from the Chronicle: How the Columbus Zoo Tests the Fitness of Its Fundraising Program

‘A Really Scary Time’: Trump’s Anti-Trans Rhetoric Sparks Race to Update ID Documents (Boston Globe)
With Trump, Clean Energy Projects in Low-Income Communities Could Be ‘Dead in the Water’ (Boston Globe)
Racial Justice Activists Prepare for Trump Budget Cuts and Policy Changes (USA Today)

Background from the Chronicle:

• 3 Questions to Ask in This Era of Trump and Uncertainty
• With House Passage of ‘Stop Terror-Financing Bill,’ Charities Fear Being Targeted

• Schusterman Foundation, Whose Fortune Comes From Oil, Makes First Donation to Climate Group (Jewish Telegraphic Agency). Background from the Chronicle: List of Major Donors Divesting From Fossil Fuels Swells to Nearly 200
• The Quiet Catalysts: For All Their Vast Donations, the Bigger Aim of Cincinnati’s Fath Family Is to Push Others to Do Their Part (Cincinnati Business Courier)
• Elon Musk Asks Court to Stop OpenAI From Dropping Nonprofit Status (Business Insider — subscription)
• Mayo Clinic Expands Charity Care, Writes Off $90 Million In Patient Debts (Minnesota Star Tribune). Background from the Chronicle: Charities That Curb Medical Debt for the Needy Are Growing Fast — and Innovating
• Nonprofit Charter School Regulators Refuse to Turn Over Records Involving Troubled Minnesota Schools (Minnesota Star Tribune)
• How Brunch Came to a Backyard Farm in Compton (New York Times)

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