Ellen S. Alberding

In 2010, the Joyce Foundation enjoyed clear progress in several priority areas, launched several promising new projects, and addressed some disappointing results in a few programs.

All in all, a fairly typical year. As we sort through these outcomes, and try to learn from them, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where to assign credit for success, or responsibility for failure, since the Foundation is almost always just one player among many.

But we have seen that certain ways of approaching problems lead to better results. We hope the lessons we’ve taken from our work may be useful to others.

Participate. Democracy isn’t just a concept—it is something that we do. Joyce takes a hands-on approach to identifying policy challenges and developing solutions. Our staff members are deeply immersed in their respective fields, and are more than willing to roll up their sleeves when necessary and appropriate to get a job done.  More...