Place-based philanthropy: Investing in Community Change

Scot Spencer, Associate Director for Advocacy and Influence, Center for Community and Economic Opportunity, The Annie E Casey Foundation will speak on ""Place-based philanthropy: Investing in Community Change".

The work and strategies of foundations working in communities continues to evolve over time. Join in a discussion to hear about the work of The Annie E. Casey Foundation in its hometowns of Baltimore and Atlanta, and the neighborhoods they’re working with to create better opportunities for children and families.

Scot Spencer is the Associate Director, Advocacy and Influence at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  He leads the Foundation’s work in advancing community-focused policies, practices and strategies that increase opportunities for children, families and the places where they live and foster their success. Spencer also coordinates Casey’s local advocacy efforts in Baltimore.

Before taking on these roles, Spencer managed Casey’s investments in East Baltimore, where the Foundation seeks to strengthen community and economic development in a historic, low-income neighborhood next door to the Johns Hopkins University medical campus. He previously was a transportation specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund, where he focused on state-level smart-growth policy and Commuter Choice, a local tax incentive for people who use transit. He also served as deputy director for Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition. There, he led the federal Bridges to Work demonstration, which provided job training and placement services for residents in East and West Baltimore, as well as transportation from their neighborhoods to employment centers in the suburbs. In addition, he worked for several years in private architectural practice, community development and university relations in upstate New York.