These were the 10 most-read Philly social impact stories of 2018
December 20, 2018 Category: Featured, Medium, ResultsNew Year’s Eve is right around the corner, and with it comes another opportunity for us all to take stock of the year just past.
This annual roundup gives us an excuse to look back on our archives and marvel over just how much content is really produced when publishing about two times per day, five days per week, and to take stock of what our audience responded to most. We have our own faves, sure, but these were yours.
A few close runners-up:
- These nonprofits still can’t work in their Center City offices thanks to that massive water main break
- In Philly’s recovery community, a bias against those taking medication to treat opioid addiction
- We asked four Philly nonprofits how they changed after recent public scandals. They all declined to talk
It’s been a pleasure writing for you, dear social impact community. Here were the 10 most-read Generocity stories published this year:
10. Cultural diversity is not cultural competency
In this essay, Mission Incorporated founder Lawanda Horton-Sauter explains that nonprofit leaders must realize that “to be truly responsive to the needs of a changing population, [they] need to focus on addressing cultural incapacity, cultural blindness and gaps in multicultural representation in organizational leadership and program design.”
There are also some actionable tips in there for building a more (genuinely) inclusive organization.
9. The story behind the Philly United Way’s 37 layoffs
“How do you transform one of the most recognizable brands in philanthropy to focus more deeply on a new mission?” we wrote in October. “It starts with 37 calls at 37 desks telling their occupants they’ve been let go.”
President and CEO Bill Golderer made our Super Power Moves roundup this month partially because of these layoffs, which he said preceded a yet-to-be-revealed revamped internal structure. One more change so far: the hiring of Barra Foundation Program Officer Kate Houstoun for a newly created senior director role.
8. Why nonprofits need to switch to person-first language immediately
Columnist and fundraising pro Valerie Johnson argued that direct-service orgs are perfectly equipped to drive large-scale adoption of more humanizing word use. Some examples:
- A person with diabetes vs. a diabetic
- A person with a disability vs. a disabled person
- A person with a substance use disorder vs. an alcoholic
- A person experiencing homelessness vs. a homeless person
- A person with bipolar disorder vs. a bipolar person
- A kid or teen in the foster care system vs. foster care kid
7. What would a women-led city look like? This urban anthropologist wants to start that conversation
“I think most people don’t walk around their cities thinking actively that they are walking through spaces that were designed by men,” Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman told us in January.
The consultant, who joined Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation full-time this summer, hosted the inaugural gathering of her Women Led Cities Initiative in March, with 2019 plans to be announced soon.
6. Leader List 2018: Meet 12 people of color strengthening Philly’s social impact sector
This year’s Leader List includes short profiles of 12 impressive folks working in each of our editorial calendar themes of 2018, one for each month, written by six reporters and informed by over a hundred community nominations. The listees:
- Salomon Moreno-Rosa — Hiring (January)
- Charlotte Jacobs — Women in leadership (February)
- Tiffany Yau — Social entrepreneurship (March)
- Mikey Ilagan — Accessibility (April)
- Darin Toliver — Reentry and criminal justice (May)
- Kay Martinez — LGBTQ (June)
- Nancy Mifflin — Sustainability (July)
- Romana Lee-Akiyama — Leaders of color (August)
- Anisha Sinha — Community development (September)
- Sidney Hargro — Impact investing (October)
- Sara Hall — Civic tech (November)
- Rev. Dr. Renee McKenzie — Volunteerism (December)
5. These 63 millennials are Leadership Philadelphia’s hope for the future
This admittedly hyperbolic headline alludes to the professional development and networking organization’s 2018-2019 Keepers class, announced in July.
Social impact-y folks include Philadelphia Cultural Fund Program Manager Michelle Currica, YallaPunk founder Rana Fayez and Rosa’s Fresh Pizza founder Mason Wartman.
4. This is how much money Philly’s 50 biggest nonprofits’ CEOs make in a year
Ho boy, do we love writing about salaries. Following our publication of a list of the 50 biggest nonprofits incorporated in Philadelphia according to income, we dove a little deeper into those organizations’ publicly available tax forms (thanks, GuideStar!) to find out how much money their execs earn — not to spark outrage, but to celebrate transparency and continue our very favorite conversation.
Spoiler: Dr. Amy Gutmann, who holds the top spot for her role leading the massive University of Pennsylvania, made a whopping $3,537,020 in 2016.
3. 14 women organizers you should know in Philadelphia
For women in leadership month of our editorial calendar, reporter Tony Abraham profiled over a dozen local activist leaders — all recommended by their peers — working on issues such as labor, incarceration, immigration, healthcare and more.
Honorees include Kati Sipp, a former longtime leader of healthcare union SEIU and now consultant, and Hannah Sassaman, policy director of Media Mobilizing Project.
2. The activist owners of South Philly Barbacoa will be featured on Netflix’s ‘Chef’s Table’
Cristina Martinez and Ben Miller were known throughout Philadelphia and the U.S. for both their barbacoa and their activism even before this episode dropped in September.
Since then, the duo have closed one of their locations, El Compadre (which they said over the summer they planned to do). That storefront in now the process of becoming a cooperatively owned restaurant.
1. Mental health guide: Where to get therapy on a sliding scale in Philadelphia
Reporter Zari Tarazona pitched this after the summer suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and chef Anthony Bourdain. She also picked this story as her favorite of the year and wrote this about why:
“I loved working on the mental health guide because I wanted to do more than just post the national suicide hotline number on Twitter this summer. Not having insurance or enough money shouldn’t prevent someone from talking to a therapist. I was blown away by the number of people who shared the guide. I hope it helped someone who needed it.”