One thing that I really believe in is the power of listening to other people. Listening stimulates empathy and increases your knowledge and understanding of the world around you. One of the downsides I’ve found of churning out blog content every week is that it actually has been cutting down on the amount of time I am able to spend listening to other voices in the field and catching up on the news and information flowing around me. In short, I feel like I’ve been spending too much of my time and energy on talking, and not enough on listening, and it is for this reason that I have decided to dedicate every other week to highlighting writing and reporting from experts other than myself.

My new biweekly Goodness News posts will focus on news and opinions on the state of goodness in our community and our world – including philanthropy, advocacy, and well-being.

News & Analysis

• Columbia University has become the first American university to divest from private prisons. This exciting news reflects a growing trend among universities, foundations, and other well-endowed institutions for the public benefit, many of which have already divested from coal and other fossil fuels.
• Philanthropy in the U.S. continues to hover at around 2% of GDP – where it has stayed for the last 20 years. Kelley Holland’s piece digs deep into philanthropy trends in the past year, and questions the impact of the sector’s growth.
• The United States is second in philanthropic freedom. A new report published by Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity in Washington, D.C. ranked the U.S. second to the Netherlands according the new Index of Philanthropic Freedom. The IPF ranks countries on whether their policies encourage or hinder philanthropy.

Blogs & Opinion

• New grad looking to enter the nonprofit sector? Vu Le has some great (and humorous) advice to get you started.
• Talking about race is almost never easy. Net Impact published a fantastic post on how to have meaningful conversations on the subject of race.
• There is still much to be done to advance equality for LGBT Americans, even in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage. This week, the Chronicle of Philanthropy addresses balancing LGBT issues with other giving current priorities.

Please let me know in the comments what you think of my new format for Goodness News, and as always, thanks for reading!