March 19, 2026 • 29 mins
We explore what it takes to build stronger, more equitable communities—from economic mobility to empowering young women and preserving cultural identity. Scott Emerick of GreenLight Fund Philadelphia joins us to discuss how the organization connects communities with high-impact nonprofits to create real pathways to opportunity. Learn more at greenlightfund.org/philadelphia and follow on Facebook and LinkedIn @GreenLightFundPhiladelphia.
First, it’s time for SpeakOut, where we focus on issues impacting our communities and the people leading the charge for change. Joining us is Angela Giampolo, founder of Giampolo Law Group and Philly Gay Lawyer, who is taking her advocacy on the road this March with the Caravan of Hope—a mobile initiative providing free legal services to LGBTQIA+ individuals across the country. She’s also raising awareness about the proposed SAVE Act, and how it could impact voting rights—not only for LGBTQIA+ communities, but also for married cisgender women who have changed their names. Angela joins us now to talk about what’s at stake—and how you can get involved.
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First, it’s time for SpeakOut, where we focus on issues impacting our communities and the people leading the charge for change. Joining us is Angela Giampolo, founder of Giampolo Law Group and Philly Gay Lawyer, who is taking her advocacy on the road this March with the Caravan of Hope—a mobile initiative providing free legal services to LGBTQIA+ individuals across the country. She’s also raising awareness about the proposed SAVE Act, and how it could impact voting rights—not only for LGBTQIA+ communities, but also for married cisgender women who have changed their names. Angela joins us now to talk about what’s at stake—and how you can get involved.
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- Instagram: @yourgaylawyer
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Welcome to What's going on? A show about
making a difference in our lives in our communities. I'm
Lorraine Balladmorrow.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today we'll talk.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
With green Light Fund Philadelphia about how the organization connects
communities with high impact nonprofits to create real pathways to opportunity.
But first, it's our monthly Speak Out segment focusing on
issues impacting the LGBTQIA community, including a unique program bringing
free legal services directly to those in need, and a
discussion of the Save Act and its potential impact on
(00:29):
voter access for LGBTQIA individuals and married cisgender women. Well,
as we do once a month every month, we have
Angelo Giampolo. She is the founder of Jimpolo Law Group.
She does a blog called Philly Gay Lawyer, and she
is currently engaged in a cross country trip, the Caravan
(00:50):
of Hope, bringing hope and free legal assistance to the
LGBTQIA plus community. I'm so excited. Where are you today?
We're in the world, Albuquerque.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
New Mexico. I am healing from I walked outside to
take the dogs out.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
We have three humans and three dogs on this caravan,
so I took the dogs out to pee this morning
and there were hot air balloons and mountains and I
was like, where am I? You know, it took a
minute to orient myself, but yes, Albuquerque, it is all.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, yeah, that's a whole different horizon than we're used
to over here on the East coast Philadelphia. In any case,
for those who are not familiar, I did give a
little bit of an explanation, but tell us more about
the Caravan of Hope. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
So the Caravan of Hope was a nonprofit that I
came up with after Trump one point zero that is
meant to do exactly what it sounds like, bring hope.
There was purposefully no law in the name Caravan of Hope.
There's not much that makes people smile with the law,
so I decided not to have any legal.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Name in it. It dawned on me.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
I've been in Philadelphia now since nineteen ninety nine, and
I've had my law firm geared towards the LGBTQ community
for the last eighteen years. And when Trump got in
office the first time, folks were afraid. Right, the fear
was palpable right here in Philadelphia. My clients were reaching out,
people reaching out to me, via Facebook text message what
do we do?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What do we do? And I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Why, you know where the idea came from, But I
just kept thinking, if people in Philadelphia, a little haven,
HRC's number one raid it city in the country, tied
eight ways with the San frans and the Manhattan, New
York's and the Portlands of the world.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
If folks in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Are afraid, what must people in Fort Worth, Texas be thinking?
What about Birmingham, Alabama? And that's where my mind kept going.
And so in between election and Inauguration day, the idea
of the Caravan of Hope came up to me, and
just this idea of I'm going to travel across country
to those rural areas and provide pro bono legal services
(02:55):
to folks that don't have access to out competent legal
counsel where it's not Okaya, where they may not be
out in their community, and so how do they get
the legal assistance for the things that have to do
with the fact that their LGBTQ plus if they're not
even out in their community. And so the Caravan Foope
was born, and then we need it now more than ever.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
You know, it took me years to do the maiden voyage.
I had the idea.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
The idea was great, and then the realities of taking
a month out of my law firm and just traveling
the country to do this, it just was very difficult
to do. And it was and then one day in
twenty twenty three. So I came up at the idea
in twenty sixteen. And then it wasn't until twenty twenty
three that I put my money where my mouth is.
Literally it's self funded, and I take a month out
(03:41):
of my practice and do this. But it dawned on
me it's never going to be convenient that if you're
waiting for convenient time to do this, it actually will
never come. It's going to be difficult, it's going to
be hard. Your clients back home are going to have
to give you grace and compassion and know that you're
on the road and that you're going to be gone.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
But it's not forever. And so I just did it.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
And then twenty four I purposefully wanted to see how
the election would go. Then twenty five I we all
were reeling. Twenty five went by in a blink, and
every day was another calamity. And again it was inconvenient,
and so I was going to do it in October
of twenty five, and then the Kim Davis appealed up
(04:23):
to the Supreme Court to challenge marriage equality happened in August,
and then everyone was reeling from that. And so then
a client of mine, also named Angela, she's Angela RV
and so she offered her caravan which is available not
rented out in March its winter rise, which saved me
significant five figures, you know, ten to fifteen thousand dollars
(04:46):
the RV itself. And she offered it, she said, if
you do it this winter, I'll just donate it to you.
And so March of twenty six we're doing it. And
it has been needed more than ever by folks. It
has really been impactful so far.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Well as you travel across the country, and as we
have talked about off the microphone, things are changing so
rapidly every single day. How have some of the changes
in laws and regulations impacted what you're doing right now?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, there are a few states who's really unfortunate, but
we're here to help and not hurt. Arkansas in particular,
in Oklahoma City a week before on the day that
I had done the videos for Oklahoma to run ads.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
For Oklahoma City Stop.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
That very day the governor came out and changed the
laws on gender marker changes.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And so I had already done the video that morning.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Thankfully I was able to retrack the video ands I
need to redo it.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
We can't offer that there.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
And in Arkansas, in particular, at the local chapter of
a nationwide LGBTQ legal advocacy organization reached out and asked
us to stand down, that the laws are so in
flux in Arkansas right now around especially gender marker changes.
You know, we saw Kansas what they did, pull all
the gender marker anyone who filed the gender marker change
(06:14):
in the state of Kansas, they invalidated their driver's licenses.
And so the laws are influx in Arkansas, and judges are.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Approving and denying haphazardly.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
And so with the caravan, we come in and we
fill out the paperwork for folks so that they can
go and file them.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
But after we.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Leave, we leave them with a step by step. All right,
we did step one and two on the caravan, Step three,
four and five are up to you to do. Here's
what you do, and we walk them through it, but
then we're off to the next city. And in Arkansas
in particular, even folks with lawyers are being denied haphazardly
and approved here and approved there. So this nationwide organization
(06:56):
didn't feel comfortable with us empowering fifty p row state
plaintiffs to just walk in without a lawyer and maybe
get denied and create what's called bad orders bad law
because they wouldn't have a lawyer to argue for them. No,
you're supposed to grant this because of this, that and
the others. So but it was really hard. You know,
we had to email everybody the day before we had
(07:18):
over sixty registrants and say, listen, you know we've been
asked not to do gender marker changes, so if you're
coming for that. So we did a lot of estate planning,
we're doing basic wills and powers of attorney for folks,
and so I told them to please come out and
get that Save Act compliance questions everybody. I mean, eighty
four percent of straight women in this country change their
(07:40):
name by way of marriage, and obviously one hundred percent
of trans folks and gender diverse folks if they changed
their name.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
They all have name issues. So we're active.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
You know, we're doing a ton of SAVE Act compliance questions.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
What just to backtrack a little bit, just explain what
the SAVE Act is.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
It's in the news this week. It's going to be
big if you're not aware of it. But it's meant
to be a voter protection law to safen the election process,
to make it so that only US citizens are able
to vote. But how it is drafted, in the enforcement
of it, it acts as a massive, massive voter suppression law,
(08:19):
and so that anyone whose current name in the voting
roles or on their IDs when they register to vote,
if that name is different than on your birth certificate.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You won't be able to vote.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
And it used to be up until this law, that
your marriage certificate was a form of identification. It was
a form not of ID, but of a form of
a legal valid reason as to why your name is
different on this birth certificate than on the ID that
you're presenting. Look, I got married, and here's my name
on that marriage certificate, and here's my name. Now your
(08:54):
marriage certificate will no longer be a valid form of proof.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh wait a minute, that seems to make no sense whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Exactly it is the reason why your name is different.
Eighty four percent of American women have changed their name
by way of marriage, and now with LGBTQ marriage, that's
impacted gay men who.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Have changed their name by way marriage.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
But basically nobody when they get married, did you know
you didn't change your name. But but for folks who
do change their name, you don't go and change your
birth certificate.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Nobody does that, right, You.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Change your driver's license and your everyday forms of identification
and travel.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Through the world.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So now these folks either need to go back and
amend their birth certificate to match their married name, or
a passport. So they're calling it a poll tax because
the government will make a ton of money off of
everyone going out and getting a passport in order to
prove because that passport says that you're a US citizen
or else you wouldn't be able to get a passport.
But again that disproportionately disenfranchises the LGBTQ community because a
(09:59):
lot of trans folks are now don't want passports.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
They can't get their correct gender marker right, so.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
They have to have a bearded photo and their name
is John, but then it says f So for every
trans person who wants to vote, they have to out
themselves as transit.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
In the voting booth in order to do so. There's
no other way.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
What about real IDs? Would that qualify well?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
With the real ID for trans folks?
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Again, they'll have mismatched IDs because then you have to
show your birth certificate. So yes, if you have a
real ID, but ultimately the passport, but anything that proves
that you're a US citizen. But if your real ID
says your married name, it won't match your birth certificate. Right.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
What's the status of this legislation?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
So it doesn't look like they're going to be able
to get the votes needed for a filibuster the Republicans.
Trump has said he will not sign any other law
the rest of his presidency if he doesn't sign this one.
That he is putting down his pen and forcing Republicans
you give me the same actor I sign nothing.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Ever again, I know, Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I know, and so so he's putting a lot of
pressure on Republicans to get this done.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
But what I want everyone listening to remember is.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
If this week goes by and it doesn't pass in
the Senate, that doesn't mean that he won't turn around
and create an executive order. What we need to be
worried about because the Supreme Court said in one of
the Supreme Court cases this past year about his executive orders,
judges were blocking them.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Trump would issue an executive order and a federal judge
would say, no, that's not constitutional. And so the Supreme
Court said, no, we're the final arbiter of whether his
executive orders are constitutional. And so ultimately, if he passes
an executive order that says the exact same thing he
did so in twenty twenty five. The Save Act came
up in twenty five and it died down. But he
(11:50):
created an executive order. And there are three aspects of
that executive order that have gone into law and that
are actively making their way through.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Nobody knows it.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
So you dangle the bill here and Senate and then
it dies and everybody forgets it. But over here in
his right hand he has the executive order doing all
the same things impacting.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So really important that if you're watching.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
The news this week and you see no filibuster, the
Save Act failed, the Save Act didn't pass Senate, don't
stop there and research is there an executive order.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
That went into effect? Is he doing the.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Exact same thing but by way of an executive order.
So too many people to see the headlines and think
they're safe. But these executive orders have power until the
Supreme Court says they don't.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
This is major and so this is something that impacts everybody.
We do talk about this every month. We talk about
the issues impacting the LGBTQI plus community, but we also
discuss how they impact the rest of society. And certainly
this is a prime example of something we need to
pay attention to because it's impacting everybody. And thank goodness
(12:57):
for you and the caravan of hope traveling across the country.
So which states are you going to be traveling to?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Well, one more thing about the states where we couldn't
provide legal services per se, because has to do with
the Hope piece.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Is in Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
When we're in Little Rock, we grilled with our host
partners that opened up their home to us, and we
grilled and I told folks, still come out and be
in community and let's hang out and talk. And so
we've either been able to help folks with their legal issues.
But in the two places where we really couldn't, we
still got together in community and talked about the hope
(13:33):
that we have and so as far as other states
that we have coming up, we're on our way to Colorado. Yes,
it's a blue haven, but a lot of folks don't
realize that a lot of Colorado is rural and mountain areas,
a lot like Pennsylvania and PENNSYLTUCKI. So we will be
in Denver, but just an hour away our super rural
red areas, and so we like, for safety reasons to
(13:55):
go to cities where folks from these areas can drive into,
opposed to going to super super small rural areas where
it's not safe for them to get on our super
gate up thirty two foot RV and help themselves by.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Virtue of the fact that they're stepping on our ea
is there.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
From there we go to RV or you know, did
you wrap it or what's the do?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Oh yeah, it's all decaled, and you know we're on
the highway and people are honking either good or bad,
even as thumbs up or other fingers. So it's really
it's a very gate up RV. From there, we're going
to Laramie, Wyoming, which is a special place. Yeah, special place,
and my heart Judy Shepherd has already reached out with
(14:36):
safety concerns in that area, so we're taking safety precautions
there in particular. Then Omaha, Nebraska, Iowa City, Iowa, super
anti LGBTQ right now, so's Wyoming, So's Nebraska. And then
we'll be in Chicago, Illinois, so a little again breath
of fresh air. Then off to Ohio, then Pittsburgh, and
(14:59):
then we're at we at Wellsborough, Pennsylvania because of a
good friend who wanted me to stop there, very very
Bible belty place in between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Then on
March thirty first, we will be back in Philadelphia our
service day all day in front of my office at
Second in Lombard. And then Bridget Foys, who is typically
closed on Tuesdays.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It's a Tuesday, March thirty first.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
We'll open up at five pm for a party and
it'll be a whole sort of spring pride fest if
you will, in Headhouse Square. So everyone is welcome, whether
you need legal services or not.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And if people want more information about Caravan of Hope
and also Gimpolo Law and want to follow you on
Philly Gay Lawyer, your blog and all the good things.
Tell us more.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, Caravan of Hope dot LGBT, so it's that gay
that it's dot LGBT dot dot com. Caravan off Hope
dot LGBT. You can also follow us on Instagram and
my instagram is your Gay Lawyer, and we're going live
in every city and showing clips of people that we're
helping in every stop law firm. You can just give
us a call two one, five, six, four five, twenty four, fifteen.
(16:05):
But those are the main places is find them on
Instagram Your Gay Lawyer and the Caravan of Hope on our.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Website Antela gm Polo. You are a very special person
doing amazing work. Caravan of Hope is traveling across the
country spreading hope and UH and free legal advice along
with you know, backyard barbecues and different locations. No doubt,
we love the thing. We look forward to having you
back in our own backyard on the thirty first. But
(16:32):
thank you for all that you do. And that's Angela
Gimpolo Gimpolo Law. She comes to us once a month
every month with speak Out where we talk about LGBTQI
plus issues but also how they impact all of us.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Thank you, Loreen, big hugs.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Today we're talking about economic mobility and what it truly
takes to connect communities with resources they need to thrive.
Joining us is Scott Emrick of green Light Fund Philadelphia.
Green Light Fund works to identify unmet needs in our
city and bring in proven, high impact organizations to address
those gaps, creating real pathways to opportunity for individuals and families.
(17:17):
We're going to talk about their community driven approach, the
measurable impact of their current portfolio organizations, and what's next
for Greenlight in Philadelphia. So Scott, great to see you.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Well, tell us about Greenlight and what distinguishes you from
other types of philanthropy organizations.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah, I appreciate the question. I think Greenlight is a
somewhat unique approach in philanthropy, in large part because we're
very deeply rooted in community. So green Light approach takes
the idea that we're going to identify and scale solutions
that meet on that community needs. But we do that
with the very core belief that any solution to improve
economic mobility will be most effective if it's really grounded
(17:58):
in the feedback and the experiperiences of those who are
most proximate to community and most deserve more equitable opportunities
for economic mobility. So for us, that looks like a
really deep phase of community engagement where we're talking with
neighborhood members and doing focus groups with young people and
really understanding the experiences of those in community around the
(18:18):
issues that we're considering for investment.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Economic mobility is a huge phrase. What does that look
like in real life for families and individuals right here?
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Sure? So in Philadelphia to make economic mobility a little
bit more concrete and tangible, I think it means different
things to different community members. So, for instance, we've made
a previous investment in a group called Fountain Fund, so
they provide access to extremely lonitrost capital for returning citizens.
So if you're just as impacted and you're thinking about
(18:51):
rebuilding your life and having access to workforce or housing
or transportation, really proud of Fountain Fund investing one point
eight million dollars and loans at extremely low interest rates
for returning citizens. Or similarly, a group like Hopeworks who
does incredible workforce development with young people and really growing
out the fundamental foundational skills for tech jobs and career pathways,
(19:16):
so that creates mobility in places that it wasn't previous.
So I think economic mobility needs different things to different people.
But how do we make sure that everyone has an
equal opportunity. I believe that talent is spread really equally
in our city, and unfortunately opportunity is not. That's not
a problem that's unique to Philadelphia, but it's one that
we're really heavily invested in helping to solve.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yeah. I have done interviews with the Fountain Fund and
very impressed with how that is working to help justice
impacted individuals get back into the mainstream and become contributing
members of society because there's so many barriers for people
who are returning citizens, and this gives people a nice
(20:01):
leg up. What are some other areas that you see
where you need to really fill those gaps.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, the gap that we're focused on right now for
our pending investment that we just announced. We heard a
lot of community members who are saying, we just wish
that there were better jobs and more equitable career opportunities.
That that kind of first rung on the ladder to
economic mobility is sometimes really hard to access social capital
that helps folks get their foot in the job for
(20:28):
their first job is often not as accessible for first
gen college students as it should be. So we heard
that pretty consistently, and there's a difference between a job
that feels like any job versus a career. So really
excited that that gap that we heard from community has
kind of guided us to our next investment and Project
Basta out of New York City.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah. Well, we are moving into some very interesting times.
Technology is overtaking us in many ways and truly transforming
the nature of jobs and careers.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
How do you do.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
You look at some of the new technological advancements when
we talk about AI, for instance, how that's going to
impact people's ability to have their own life sustaining careers.
How do we begin to close that gap?
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Yeah, it's a really important issue that I think is
top of mind for a lot of folks right now.
So I want to address it on a couple levels.
So at a very basic level of how you find
and apply for and get matched with the right career opportunity,
which is very much focused on the work that Project
Bosta does, and I think importantly it comes from a
space of being a nonprofit that existed in person, had
(21:36):
deep relationships with young people, and then shifted into this
tech and AI space over the course of COVID doing
programming digitally in this combination of really caring adults with
tech and AI models. So in their case, if you
have young people who are interested in for them first
generation college students and finding not just a job, but
(21:56):
a great career pathway, that process of how you do
what they called this discovery, So this is career prep
and readiness and a really interactive platform with great learning
technology built in, and also a tool that they have
that's called Seeker, which is AI enabled career navigation. So
I'll date myself a little bit that when I was
entering the labor market in the early two thousands, the
idea that I could send out a resume electronically the
(22:18):
email was cutting edge. Now you have AI on both sides,
So you have an HR department that's using AI to
think about resumes. On the other side, you have job
seekers who are thinking about how to integrate AI into
their search. I think the brilliant thing that Project BOSTA
does is say, how do we couple that experience of
to your point filling overwhelmed with tech and AI with
(22:40):
carring adults who can support that navigation. BOSTA does that really,
really well. They've done that for ten years in New
York City, and we're excited to invest six hundred thousand
dollars for them to come and grow in Philly. Over
the next four years. They project to reach at least
eleven thousand first generation college students in the ways that
I just described.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Wow, that's very exciting. I wonder if you can share
some examples of organizations currently in your Philadelphia portfolio and
the measurable impact that they're having.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Yeah, so I'll go with the most too recent, and
I'll give a little bit of shout out to We've
been doing this work for a while. So we actually
have seven investments, two are active, and then we'll make
another investment and Project BOSTA, which will be our eighth.
So Single Stop Europe United, the Center for Employment Opportunities,
Parent Child Plus Compass Working Capital. Those are our legacy
investments and there are two active portfolio investments are with
(23:31):
Hopeworks and the Fountain Fund. So Hopeworks focus on workforce
development with opportunity youth, the fundational skill sets and mindsets
that young people need to find and succeed in a career,
and young people making fifty five sixty thousand dollars in
their first job out of hopeworks because they have both
the foundational skills to understand what it means to be
(23:51):
a valuable employee and technical skills that they need to
succeed in technology. Fountain Fund we talked about a little
bit previously, access to capital and extremely low interest loans
and their success point and one of their key performance
indicators they've reinvested one point eight million dollars in returning
citizens to Philadelphia since they came here.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, that's wonderful. Partnership seems central to your work. What
are some key community stakeholders and collaborators that make this
model successful because you really do try to get on
the ground and talk to people who really have lived
experience to inform your decisions.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
We do in those partnerships are key in a few
different areas. So one that I'll name off the bat,
we have a thirty person selection Advisory Council. So when
we're making any investment in any of the portfolio orgs
that we've been discussing, we certainly do our due diligence.
We have a scout phase that kind kind of combines
what we've learned nationally about organizations working in spaces and
issue areas that Philadelphias have named. But then we have
(24:52):
thirty folks from across neighborhoods, across sectors, from for profit
to nonprofit, folks in political spheres to really say this
is what this investment would mean in my community to
my stakeholders. So that's one. And then I mentioned that
before we do any investment, we spend about six to
eight months in community, doing focus groups with young people,
doing conversation, showing up events across the community. So anyone
(25:15):
who's really invested in economic mobility and thinking about gaps
to create more equitable opportunity in Philly would invite them
to get in touch. Greenlightfund dot org is our website.
All fifteen sites are listed there, including Philadelphia. From there,
you can get in touch with myself, my colleague Danielle Hughes.
You can talk to us about ways that your interest
in community might align with the work that Greenlight's doing.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
I think you touched on it already, but did you
have a new pending investment on the horizon can you
share with us about what's coming up next for a
green light fund Philadelphia.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Yeah, so I'll talk about what's coming next in terms
of a pending investment and then kind of a learning
community that we're trying to launch in the AI space.
So Project Best, new York based nonprofit, ten years of
great work in New York, now expanding to work in
both North Carolina here in Philadelphia. And I think you
have this really hard nut to crack of saying we
have talented first gen college students. We have employers who
(26:07):
are at least rhetorically are saying we want to diversify
our talent pipeline, hire folks from neighborhoods that might be
underrepresented in their traditional hiring pathways. And really what we
need is someone to bridge that gap. Boston combines tech
and AI with carrying adults and some really committed post
secondary partners to say we can connect more first gen
talent to great jobs. So we will make that investment
(26:31):
right now in March and six hundred thousand dollars unrestricted
funding for them to do great work in Philly under
the grant for the next four years, but hopefully as
they get a foothold in our community for much longer.
And then the last thing that I'll mention is kind
of coming down the future. We've talked a little bit
about the impact of tech and AI on economic mobility
in lots of ways. We're starting with the Bearra Foundation
(26:54):
to convene a group of foundations and philanthropic partners who
are really interested in understanding the impact of AI on
our investments, on our internal operations, on the programming of
nonprofits across the city. I think there's a lot to
be learned about AI, there's a lot to be scared of.
There's a lot of opportunities that are out there. So
I think if we can create learning spaces with folks
(27:15):
who are really connected to and approximate with community to
be part of the way that AI solutions get developed
and implemented in Philly, it benefits all of us.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Well, there's so many opportunities out there and resources, and
you've mentioned a bunch. So if people want to know
more about the green Light Fund Philadelphia and all the
different organizations that you support, whether they want to folks
out there want to be part of that discovery aspect
of what you do, which is finding out what the
needs are, or if there's someone who can benefit from
(27:45):
one of the many things that you talked about. There's
some great opportunities there. What is the best and easiest
way to find out more?
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Yeah, the best way to find out about our work
is greenlightfund dot org. And if you go there, you
can click on Philadelphia to your point, you can see
and get a link to each of the seven soon
to be eight organizations that we've invested in. So if
you're interested in career development, if you're interested in asset building,
early childhood literacy, connections with returning citizens, you can see
(28:13):
those orgs in that space. And if you're interested in
connecting with Greenlight more broadly to be part of our
community engagement work and to think about solutions that matter
for Philadelphians. Happy to be in touch with folks, But
Greenlightfund dot org is the best way.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Wow, there's so many needs and green Light Fund Philadelphia
is working to close those gaps. Scott Emeric of green
Light Fund Philadelphia. Greenlight Fund works to identify unmet needs
in our city and bring improven, high impact organizations to
address those gaps. We talked about creating real pathways to
opportunities for individuals and families. Thank you so much for
(28:47):
joining us.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You can listen to all of today's interviews on the
iHeartRadio app and all podcast platforms by typing in keywords
Philadelphia Community Podcast. Follow me on Instagram and threads at
Lorraine Ballard. I'm Lorraine Barrel on TikTok and that's Lorraine
with one R. I'm Lorraine Ballad tomorrow and I stand
for service to our community and media that empowers. What
will you stand for? You've been listening to what's going on,
(29:11):
and thank you
Good morning, Welcome to What's going on? A show about
making a difference in our lives in our communities. I'm
Lorraine Balladmorrow.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today we'll talk.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
With green Light Fund Philadelphia about how the organization connects
communities with high impact nonprofits to create real pathways to opportunity.
But first, it's our monthly Speak Out segment focusing on
issues impacting the LGBTQIA community, including a unique program bringing
free legal services directly to those in need, and a
discussion of the Save Act and its potential impact on
(00:29):
voter access for LGBTQIA individuals and married cisgender women. Well,
as we do once a month every month, we have
Angelo Giampolo. She is the founder of Jimpolo Law Group.
She does a blog called Philly Gay Lawyer, and she
is currently engaged in a cross country trip, the Caravan
(00:50):
of Hope, bringing hope and free legal assistance to the
LGBTQIA plus community. I'm so excited. Where are you today?
We're in the world, Albuquerque.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
New Mexico. I am healing from I walked outside to
take the dogs out.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
We have three humans and three dogs on this caravan,
so I took the dogs out to pee this morning
and there were hot air balloons and mountains and I
was like, where am I? You know, it took a
minute to orient myself, but yes, Albuquerque, it is all.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, yeah, that's a whole different horizon than we're used
to over here on the East coast Philadelphia. In any case,
for those who are not familiar, I did give a
little bit of an explanation, but tell us more about
the Caravan of Hope. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
So the Caravan of Hope was a nonprofit that I
came up with after Trump one point zero that is
meant to do exactly what it sounds like, bring hope.
There was purposefully no law in the name Caravan of Hope.
There's not much that makes people smile with the law,
so I decided not to have any legal.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Name in it. It dawned on me.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
I've been in Philadelphia now since nineteen ninety nine, and
I've had my law firm geared towards the LGBTQ community
for the last eighteen years. And when Trump got in
office the first time, folks were afraid. Right, the fear
was palpable right here in Philadelphia. My clients were reaching out,
people reaching out to me, via Facebook text message what
do we do?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What do we do? And I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Why, you know where the idea came from, But I
just kept thinking, if people in Philadelphia, a little haven,
HRC's number one raid it city in the country, tied
eight ways with the San frans and the Manhattan, New
York's and the Portlands of the world.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
If folks in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Are afraid, what must people in Fort Worth, Texas be thinking?
What about Birmingham, Alabama? And that's where my mind kept going.
And so in between election and Inauguration day, the idea
of the Caravan of Hope came up to me, and
just this idea of I'm going to travel across country
to those rural areas and provide pro bono legal services
(02:55):
to folks that don't have access to out competent legal
counsel where it's not Okaya, where they may not be
out in their community, and so how do they get
the legal assistance for the things that have to do
with the fact that their LGBTQ plus if they're not
even out in their community. And so the Caravan Foope
was born, and then we need it now more than ever.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
You know, it took me years to do the maiden voyage.
I had the idea.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
The idea was great, and then the realities of taking
a month out of my law firm and just traveling
the country to do this, it just was very difficult
to do. And it was and then one day in
twenty twenty three. So I came up at the idea
in twenty sixteen. And then it wasn't until twenty twenty
three that I put my money where my mouth is.
Literally it's self funded, and I take a month out
(03:41):
of my practice and do this. But it dawned on
me it's never going to be convenient that if you're
waiting for convenient time to do this, it actually will
never come. It's going to be difficult, it's going to
be hard. Your clients back home are going to have
to give you grace and compassion and know that you're
on the road and that you're going to be gone.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
But it's not forever. And so I just did it.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
And then twenty four I purposefully wanted to see how
the election would go. Then twenty five I we all
were reeling. Twenty five went by in a blink, and
every day was another calamity. And again it was inconvenient,
and so I was going to do it in October
of twenty five, and then the Kim Davis appealed up
(04:23):
to the Supreme Court to challenge marriage equality happened in August,
and then everyone was reeling from that. And so then
a client of mine, also named Angela, she's Angela RV
and so she offered her caravan which is available not
rented out in March its winter rise, which saved me
significant five figures, you know, ten to fifteen thousand dollars
(04:46):
the RV itself. And she offered it, she said, if
you do it this winter, I'll just donate it to you.
And so March of twenty six we're doing it. And
it has been needed more than ever by folks. It
has really been impactful so far.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Well as you travel across the country, and as we
have talked about off the microphone, things are changing so
rapidly every single day. How have some of the changes
in laws and regulations impacted what you're doing right now?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, there are a few states who's really unfortunate, but
we're here to help and not hurt. Arkansas in particular,
in Oklahoma City a week before on the day that
I had done the videos for Oklahoma to run ads.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
For Oklahoma City Stop.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
That very day the governor came out and changed the
laws on gender marker changes.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And so I had already done the video that morning.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Thankfully I was able to retrack the video ands I
need to redo it.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
We can't offer that there.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
And in Arkansas, in particular, at the local chapter of
a nationwide LGBTQ legal advocacy organization reached out and asked
us to stand down, that the laws are so in
flux in Arkansas right now around especially gender marker changes.
You know, we saw Kansas what they did, pull all
the gender marker anyone who filed the gender marker change
(06:14):
in the state of Kansas, they invalidated their driver's licenses.
And so the laws are influx in Arkansas, and judges are.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Approving and denying haphazardly.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
And so with the caravan, we come in and we
fill out the paperwork for folks so that they can
go and file them.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
But after we.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Leave, we leave them with a step by step. All right,
we did step one and two on the caravan, Step three,
four and five are up to you to do. Here's
what you do, and we walk them through it, but
then we're off to the next city. And in Arkansas
in particular, even folks with lawyers are being denied haphazardly
and approved here and approved there. So this nationwide organization
(06:56):
didn't feel comfortable with us empowering fifty p row state
plaintiffs to just walk in without a lawyer and maybe
get denied and create what's called bad orders bad law
because they wouldn't have a lawyer to argue for them. No,
you're supposed to grant this because of this, that and
the others. So but it was really hard. You know,
we had to email everybody the day before we had
(07:18):
over sixty registrants and say, listen, you know we've been
asked not to do gender marker changes, so if you're
coming for that. So we did a lot of estate planning,
we're doing basic wills and powers of attorney for folks,
and so I told them to please come out and
get that Save Act compliance questions everybody. I mean, eighty
four percent of straight women in this country change their
(07:40):
name by way of marriage, and obviously one hundred percent
of trans folks and gender diverse folks if they changed
their name.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
They all have name issues. So we're active.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
You know, we're doing a ton of SAVE Act compliance questions.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
What just to backtrack a little bit, just explain what
the SAVE Act is.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
It's in the news this week. It's going to be
big if you're not aware of it. But it's meant
to be a voter protection law to safen the election process,
to make it so that only US citizens are able
to vote. But how it is drafted, in the enforcement
of it, it acts as a massive, massive voter suppression law,
(08:19):
and so that anyone whose current name in the voting
roles or on their IDs when they register to vote,
if that name is different than on your birth certificate.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You won't be able to vote.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
And it used to be up until this law, that
your marriage certificate was a form of identification. It was
a form not of ID, but of a form of
a legal valid reason as to why your name is
different on this birth certificate than on the ID that
you're presenting. Look, I got married, and here's my name
on that marriage certificate, and here's my name. Now your
(08:54):
marriage certificate will no longer be a valid form of proof.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh wait a minute, that seems to make no sense whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Exactly it is the reason why your name is different.
Eighty four percent of American women have changed their name
by way of marriage, and now with LGBTQ marriage, that's
impacted gay men who.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Have changed their name by way marriage.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
But basically nobody when they get married, did you know
you didn't change your name. But but for folks who
do change their name, you don't go and change your
birth certificate.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Nobody does that, right, You.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Change your driver's license and your everyday forms of identification
and travel.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Through the world.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So now these folks either need to go back and
amend their birth certificate to match their married name, or
a passport. So they're calling it a poll tax because
the government will make a ton of money off of
everyone going out and getting a passport in order to
prove because that passport says that you're a US citizen
or else you wouldn't be able to get a passport.
But again that disproportionately disenfranchises the LGBTQ community because a
(09:59):
lot of trans folks are now don't want passports.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
They can't get their correct gender marker right, so.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
They have to have a bearded photo and their name
is John, but then it says f So for every
trans person who wants to vote, they have to out
themselves as transit.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
In the voting booth in order to do so. There's
no other way.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
What about real IDs? Would that qualify well?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
With the real ID for trans folks?
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Again, they'll have mismatched IDs because then you have to
show your birth certificate. So yes, if you have a
real ID, but ultimately the passport, but anything that proves
that you're a US citizen. But if your real ID
says your married name, it won't match your birth certificate. Right.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
What's the status of this legislation?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
So it doesn't look like they're going to be able
to get the votes needed for a filibuster the Republicans.
Trump has said he will not sign any other law
the rest of his presidency if he doesn't sign this one.
That he is putting down his pen and forcing Republicans
you give me the same actor I sign nothing.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Ever again, I know, Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I know, and so so he's putting a lot of
pressure on Republicans to get this done.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
But what I want everyone listening to remember is.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
If this week goes by and it doesn't pass in
the Senate, that doesn't mean that he won't turn around
and create an executive order. What we need to be
worried about because the Supreme Court said in one of
the Supreme Court cases this past year about his executive orders,
judges were blocking them.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Trump would issue an executive order and a federal judge
would say, no, that's not constitutional. And so the Supreme
Court said, no, we're the final arbiter of whether his
executive orders are constitutional. And so ultimately, if he passes
an executive order that says the exact same thing he
did so in twenty twenty five. The Save Act came
up in twenty five and it died down. But he
(11:50):
created an executive order. And there are three aspects of
that executive order that have gone into law and that
are actively making their way through.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Nobody knows it.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
So you dangle the bill here and Senate and then
it dies and everybody forgets it. But over here in
his right hand he has the executive order doing all
the same things impacting.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So really important that if you're watching.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
The news this week and you see no filibuster, the
Save Act failed, the Save Act didn't pass Senate, don't
stop there and research is there an executive order.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
That went into effect? Is he doing the.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Exact same thing but by way of an executive order.
So too many people to see the headlines and think
they're safe. But these executive orders have power until the
Supreme Court says they don't.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
This is major and so this is something that impacts everybody.
We do talk about this every month. We talk about
the issues impacting the LGBTQI plus community, but we also
discuss how they impact the rest of society. And certainly
this is a prime example of something we need to
pay attention to because it's impacting everybody. And thank goodness
(12:57):
for you and the caravan of hope traveling across the country.
So which states are you going to be traveling to?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Well, one more thing about the states where we couldn't
provide legal services per se, because has to do with
the Hope piece.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Is in Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
When we're in Little Rock, we grilled with our host
partners that opened up their home to us, and we
grilled and I told folks, still come out and be
in community and let's hang out and talk. And so
we've either been able to help folks with their legal issues.
But in the two places where we really couldn't, we
still got together in community and talked about the hope
(13:33):
that we have and so as far as other states
that we have coming up, we're on our way to Colorado. Yes,
it's a blue haven, but a lot of folks don't
realize that a lot of Colorado is rural and mountain areas,
a lot like Pennsylvania and PENNSYLTUCKI. So we will be
in Denver, but just an hour away our super rural
red areas, and so we like, for safety reasons to
(13:55):
go to cities where folks from these areas can drive into,
opposed to going to super super small rural areas where
it's not safe for them to get on our super
gate up thirty two foot RV and help themselves by.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Virtue of the fact that they're stepping on our ea
is there.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
From there we go to RV or you know, did
you wrap it or what's the do?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Oh yeah, it's all decaled, and you know we're on
the highway and people are honking either good or bad,
even as thumbs up or other fingers. So it's really
it's a very gate up RV. From there, we're going
to Laramie, Wyoming, which is a special place. Yeah, special place,
and my heart Judy Shepherd has already reached out with
(14:36):
safety concerns in that area, so we're taking safety precautions
there in particular. Then Omaha, Nebraska, Iowa City, Iowa, super
anti LGBTQ right now, so's Wyoming, So's Nebraska. And then
we'll be in Chicago, Illinois, so a little again breath
of fresh air. Then off to Ohio, then Pittsburgh, and
(14:59):
then we're at we at Wellsborough, Pennsylvania because of a
good friend who wanted me to stop there, very very
Bible belty place in between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Then on
March thirty first, we will be back in Philadelphia our
service day all day in front of my office at
Second in Lombard. And then Bridget Foys, who is typically
closed on Tuesdays.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It's a Tuesday, March thirty first.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
We'll open up at five pm for a party and
it'll be a whole sort of spring pride fest if
you will, in Headhouse Square. So everyone is welcome, whether
you need legal services or not.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And if people want more information about Caravan of Hope
and also Gimpolo Law and want to follow you on
Philly Gay Lawyer, your blog and all the good things.
Tell us more.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, Caravan of Hope dot LGBT, so it's that gay
that it's dot LGBT dot dot com. Caravan off Hope
dot LGBT. You can also follow us on Instagram and
my instagram is your Gay Lawyer, and we're going live
in every city and showing clips of people that we're
helping in every stop law firm. You can just give
us a call two one, five, six, four five, twenty four, fifteen.
(16:05):
But those are the main places is find them on
Instagram Your Gay Lawyer and the Caravan of Hope on our.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Website Antela gm Polo. You are a very special person
doing amazing work. Caravan of Hope is traveling across the
country spreading hope and UH and free legal advice along
with you know, backyard barbecues and different locations. No doubt,
we love the thing. We look forward to having you
back in our own backyard on the thirty first. But
(16:32):
thank you for all that you do. And that's Angela
Gimpolo Gimpolo Law. She comes to us once a month
every month with speak Out where we talk about LGBTQI
plus issues but also how they impact all of us.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Thank you, Loreen, big hugs.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Today we're talking about economic mobility and what it truly
takes to connect communities with resources they need to thrive.
Joining us is Scott Emrick of green Light Fund Philadelphia.
Green Light Fund works to identify unmet needs in our
city and bring in proven, high impact organizations to address
those gaps, creating real pathways to opportunity for individuals and families.
(17:17):
We're going to talk about their community driven approach, the
measurable impact of their current portfolio organizations, and what's next
for Greenlight in Philadelphia. So Scott, great to see you.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Well, tell us about Greenlight and what distinguishes you from
other types of philanthropy organizations.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah, I appreciate the question. I think Greenlight is a
somewhat unique approach in philanthropy, in large part because we're
very deeply rooted in community. So green Light approach takes
the idea that we're going to identify and scale solutions
that meet on that community needs. But we do that
with the very core belief that any solution to improve
economic mobility will be most effective if it's really grounded
(17:58):
in the feedback and the experiperiences of those who are
most proximate to community and most deserve more equitable opportunities
for economic mobility. So for us, that looks like a
really deep phase of community engagement where we're talking with
neighborhood members and doing focus groups with young people and
really understanding the experiences of those in community around the
(18:18):
issues that we're considering for investment.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Economic mobility is a huge phrase. What does that look
like in real life for families and individuals right here?
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Sure? So in Philadelphia to make economic mobility a little
bit more concrete and tangible, I think it means different
things to different community members. So, for instance, we've made
a previous investment in a group called Fountain Fund, so
they provide access to extremely lonitrost capital for returning citizens.
So if you're just as impacted and you're thinking about
(18:51):
rebuilding your life and having access to workforce or housing
or transportation, really proud of Fountain Fund investing one point
eight million dollars and loans at extremely low interest rates
for returning citizens. Or similarly, a group like Hopeworks who
does incredible workforce development with young people and really growing
out the fundamental foundational skills for tech jobs and career pathways,
(19:16):
so that creates mobility in places that it wasn't previous.
So I think economic mobility needs different things to different people.
But how do we make sure that everyone has an
equal opportunity. I believe that talent is spread really equally
in our city, and unfortunately opportunity is not. That's not
a problem that's unique to Philadelphia, but it's one that
we're really heavily invested in helping to solve.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yeah. I have done interviews with the Fountain Fund and
very impressed with how that is working to help justice
impacted individuals get back into the mainstream and become contributing
members of society because there's so many barriers for people
who are returning citizens, and this gives people a nice
(20:01):
leg up. What are some other areas that you see
where you need to really fill those gaps.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, the gap that we're focused on right now for
our pending investment that we just announced. We heard a
lot of community members who are saying, we just wish
that there were better jobs and more equitable career opportunities.
That that kind of first rung on the ladder to
economic mobility is sometimes really hard to access social capital
that helps folks get their foot in the job for
(20:28):
their first job is often not as accessible for first
gen college students as it should be. So we heard
that pretty consistently, and there's a difference between a job
that feels like any job versus a career. So really
excited that that gap that we heard from community has
kind of guided us to our next investment and Project
Basta out of New York City.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah. Well, we are moving into some very interesting times.
Technology is overtaking us in many ways and truly transforming
the nature of jobs and careers.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
How do you do.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
You look at some of the new technological advancements when
we talk about AI, for instance, how that's going to
impact people's ability to have their own life sustaining careers.
How do we begin to close that gap?
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Yeah, it's a really important issue that I think is
top of mind for a lot of folks right now.
So I want to address it on a couple levels.
So at a very basic level of how you find
and apply for and get matched with the right career opportunity,
which is very much focused on the work that Project
Bosta does, and I think importantly it comes from a
space of being a nonprofit that existed in person, had
(21:36):
deep relationships with young people, and then shifted into this
tech and AI space over the course of COVID doing
programming digitally in this combination of really caring adults with
tech and AI models. So in their case, if you
have young people who are interested in for them first
generation college students and finding not just a job, but
(21:56):
a great career pathway, that process of how you do
what they called this discovery, So this is career prep
and readiness and a really interactive platform with great learning
technology built in, and also a tool that they have
that's called Seeker, which is AI enabled career navigation. So
I'll date myself a little bit that when I was
entering the labor market in the early two thousands, the
idea that I could send out a resume electronically the
(22:18):
email was cutting edge. Now you have AI on both sides,
So you have an HR department that's using AI to
think about resumes. On the other side, you have job
seekers who are thinking about how to integrate AI into
their search. I think the brilliant thing that Project BOSTA
does is say, how do we couple that experience of
to your point filling overwhelmed with tech and AI with
(22:40):
carring adults who can support that navigation. BOSTA does that really,
really well. They've done that for ten years in New
York City, and we're excited to invest six hundred thousand
dollars for them to come and grow in Philly. Over
the next four years. They project to reach at least
eleven thousand first generation college students in the ways that
I just described.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Wow, that's very exciting. I wonder if you can share
some examples of organizations currently in your Philadelphia portfolio and
the measurable impact that they're having.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Yeah, so I'll go with the most too recent, and
I'll give a little bit of shout out to We've
been doing this work for a while. So we actually
have seven investments, two are active, and then we'll make
another investment and Project BOSTA, which will be our eighth.
So Single Stop Europe United, the Center for Employment Opportunities,
Parent Child Plus Compass Working Capital. Those are our legacy
investments and there are two active portfolio investments are with
(23:31):
Hopeworks and the Fountain Fund. So Hopeworks focus on workforce
development with opportunity youth, the fundational skill sets and mindsets
that young people need to find and succeed in a career,
and young people making fifty five sixty thousand dollars in
their first job out of hopeworks because they have both
the foundational skills to understand what it means to be
(23:51):
a valuable employee and technical skills that they need to
succeed in technology. Fountain Fund we talked about a little
bit previously, access to capital and extremely low interest loans
and their success point and one of their key performance
indicators they've reinvested one point eight million dollars in returning
citizens to Philadelphia since they came here.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, that's wonderful. Partnership seems central to your work. What
are some key community stakeholders and collaborators that make this
model successful because you really do try to get on
the ground and talk to people who really have lived
experience to inform your decisions.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
We do in those partnerships are key in a few
different areas. So one that I'll name off the bat,
we have a thirty person selection Advisory Council. So when
we're making any investment in any of the portfolio orgs
that we've been discussing, we certainly do our due diligence.
We have a scout phase that kind kind of combines
what we've learned nationally about organizations working in spaces and
issue areas that Philadelphias have named. But then we have
(24:52):
thirty folks from across neighborhoods, across sectors, from for profit
to nonprofit, folks in political spheres to really say this
is what this investment would mean in my community to
my stakeholders. So that's one. And then I mentioned that
before we do any investment, we spend about six to
eight months in community, doing focus groups with young people,
doing conversation, showing up events across the community. So anyone
(25:15):
who's really invested in economic mobility and thinking about gaps
to create more equitable opportunity in Philly would invite them
to get in touch. Greenlightfund dot org is our website.
All fifteen sites are listed there, including Philadelphia. From there,
you can get in touch with myself, my colleague Danielle Hughes.
You can talk to us about ways that your interest
in community might align with the work that Greenlight's doing.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
I think you touched on it already, but did you
have a new pending investment on the horizon can you
share with us about what's coming up next for a
green light fund Philadelphia.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Yeah, so I'll talk about what's coming next in terms
of a pending investment and then kind of a learning
community that we're trying to launch in the AI space.
So Project Best, new York based nonprofit, ten years of
great work in New York, now expanding to work in
both North Carolina here in Philadelphia. And I think you
have this really hard nut to crack of saying we
have talented first gen college students. We have employers who
(26:07):
are at least rhetorically are saying we want to diversify
our talent pipeline, hire folks from neighborhoods that might be
underrepresented in their traditional hiring pathways. And really what we
need is someone to bridge that gap. Boston combines tech
and AI with carrying adults and some really committed post
secondary partners to say we can connect more first gen
talent to great jobs. So we will make that investment
(26:31):
right now in March and six hundred thousand dollars unrestricted
funding for them to do great work in Philly under
the grant for the next four years, but hopefully as
they get a foothold in our community for much longer.
And then the last thing that I'll mention is kind
of coming down the future. We've talked a little bit
about the impact of tech and AI on economic mobility
in lots of ways. We're starting with the Bearra Foundation
(26:54):
to convene a group of foundations and philanthropic partners who
are really interested in understanding the impact of AI on
our investments, on our internal operations, on the programming of
nonprofits across the city. I think there's a lot to
be learned about AI, there's a lot to be scared of.
There's a lot of opportunities that are out there. So
I think if we can create learning spaces with folks
(27:15):
who are really connected to and approximate with community to
be part of the way that AI solutions get developed
and implemented in Philly, it benefits all of us.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Well, there's so many opportunities out there and resources, and
you've mentioned a bunch. So if people want to know
more about the green Light Fund Philadelphia and all the
different organizations that you support, whether they want to folks
out there want to be part of that discovery aspect
of what you do, which is finding out what the
needs are, or if there's someone who can benefit from
(27:45):
one of the many things that you talked about. There's
some great opportunities there. What is the best and easiest
way to find out more?
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Yeah, the best way to find out about our work
is greenlightfund dot org. And if you go there, you
can click on Philadelphia to your point, you can see
and get a link to each of the seven soon
to be eight organizations that we've invested in. So if
you're interested in career development, if you're interested in asset building,
early childhood literacy, connections with returning citizens, you can see
(28:13):
those orgs in that space. And if you're interested in
connecting with Greenlight more broadly to be part of our
community engagement work and to think about solutions that matter
for Philadelphians. Happy to be in touch with folks, But
Greenlightfund dot org is the best way.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Wow, there's so many needs and green Light Fund Philadelphia
is working to close those gaps. Scott Emeric of green
Light Fund Philadelphia. Greenlight Fund works to identify unmet needs
in our city and bring improven, high impact organizations to
address those gaps. We talked about creating real pathways to
opportunities for individuals and families. Thank you so much for
(28:47):
joining us.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You can listen to all of today's interviews on the
iHeartRadio app and all podcast platforms by typing in keywords
Philadelphia Community Podcast. Follow me on Instagram and threads at
Lorraine Ballard. I'm Lorraine Barrel on TikTok and that's Lorraine
with one R. I'm Lorraine Ballad tomorrow and I stand
for service to our community and media that empowers. What
will you stand for? You've been listening to what's going on,
(29:11):
and thank you
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