Updates

Thank you to everyone who came out on April 12 to the first ever Comedy for Peace event held in Vermont. It was a true pleasure to sponsor and experience a night of interfaith comedy that encourages us to laugh at ourselves just as much as the divides we've created as a society. A special thanks to Usama Siddiquee, Ashley Austin Morris, Tehran Von Ghasri, and Erik Angel for keeping the room roaring- get a sneak peek of their sets in the video below! Don't live in Vermont? Check out Comedy For Peace for more shows throughout the country!

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Are you in the Burlington, Vermont area and looking for a perfect night of comedy, community, and connection? Have we got the event for you!

Argosy is very excited to be hosting Comedy for Peace, an event on April 12 featuring four comedians sharing humor via an interfaith lens. Using wit and the art of comedy to try to make a difference, Comedy for Peace shows aim to be “a relief from the concerns of the day, with an important message that we, the people, just want to live together peacefully.” With a slogan of "No Politics. Just Laughs." shows feature Muslim, Jewish, and Christian stand-up comedians taking on topical issues, laughing at themselves and each other along the way. The evening performance is followed by a Q & A with the comedians. Check out the event poster here and see full details below.‍

‍When:  Wednesday, April 12 @ 7pm

Where: All Souls Interfaith Gathering at Meach Cove Farms in Shelburne, VT (291 Bostwick Farm Road, Shelburne, VT)

Tickets: On sale now at Eventbrite for $10. All ticket proceeds will be donated to Vermont-area nonprofits.

As Roe v. Wade is overturned, millions of women and families will not only face a future of economic uncertainty, limited opportunities, and increased health risks, but most importantly the loss of their basic right to make private health and life decisions.

The recent SCOTUS decision has further strengthened our resolve to continue funding intersectional abortion access work, comprehensive sexual health education, access to a full-range of contraceptives, and training for providers to increase capacity of the reproductive health infrastructure. We are also reviewing our internal benefit policies to ensure that our staff are equipped with the tools they need to pursue comprehensive healthcare in the setting and state of their choosing.

In addition, we will continue using our platform to lift the incredible work of our tireless partners in this area, including Planned Parenthood, the National Network of Abortion Funds, If/When/How, Plan C, CHOICES, and several state-based abortion funds whose work will prove essential in connecting patients to the medical care they deserve. We invite the funding community to join us in supporting this work.

Hope and gratitude for all the hardworking individuals who remain committed to changing this increasingly challenging landscape is essential right now. While anger, frustration and fear are certainly justified and understandable in this moment, we will continue to focus on highlighting the successes and compassion of our partners and everyone who remains committed to the agency of women and birthing people.

Access Reproductive Justice

Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center

CHOICES Memphis Center for Reproductive Health

If/When/How – Lawyering for Reproductive Justice

Kentucky Health Justice Network

Plan C

National Network of Abortion Funds

Reproductive Justice Action Collective

Planned Parenthood

Argosy’s vision is about empowering all people. This grew out of the seed of healthcare advancements that made it possible for people to live longer, fuller, and healthier lives. Equity, quality of life, and dignity are key underpinnings of our grantmaking.  

In light of this, we are profoundly alarmed at the recent developments in Texas, where patients and their physicians are being prevented from accessing a safe, legal method of managing one’s own pregnancy. These are personal, private health care decisions. As with previous attacks on health care access, those most likely to be affected by SB8 are people with low incomes, people of color, and people who are already parents. In this case, the vast majority of those people also happen to be women.  

We believe in the autonomy of physicians, and we believe in the agency of patients.  

We celebrate the brave and important work of our Texas partners National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Haven Health – Amarillo, Access Esperanza Clinics, the Afiya Center, as well as the National Network of Abortion Funds, Plan C, If/When/How, and the various Planned Parenthood affiliates supporting Texas patients at the moment (and always), and invite others to join us in lifting these and other groups that help bridge access gaps.  

In addition, we are taking action by collaborating with other funders on long-term strategies, as well as listening to grassroots groups on the ground as they courageously organize – once again – around another abortion ban. We call on the philanthropic community to meet this moment, and to join us as we lift the voices of those most affected by this latest attack on reproductive autonomy.  

Health care is an inalienable right, and we will continue doing what we can to ensure families are in full command of their own trajectories and can live healthy, fulfilling lives.  

We consider ourselves truly lucky to work with a number of innovative organizations providing impactful skills building to incredible young people we know are destined to make a difference in their careers and communities. We're even luckier that sometimes those organizations can come together to blend their own individual strengths into unique partnerships that offer even more opportunities for growth and learning.

Our friends at Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity just released a fantastic dive into their program placing alumni of FIRST's influential robotics programs into a hands-on Milwaukee Habitat internship. It's a win-win-win: Milwaukee Habitat receives students who already have a leadership mindset and love of learning instilled by their time in FIRST; the students get a chance to grow the skills they've learned through robotics into meaningful on-the-job training and development that can be translated into many future career paths; and the community benefits from the affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization that Milwaukee Habitat's unique model makes possible.

If you've already read our own former intern Patricia McKnight's earlier partner story on this partnership, we highly recommend checking out this new update to learn more about the program, find out what Zorris and Esai are up to today, and to meet the new cohort of interns!

What’s better than a win-win solution? A win-win-win solution! And that’s just the type of innovative solution our partners at the Center For Pollinators in Energy at Fresh Energy are helping promote. Their work helps address a myriad of concerns- the immediate need for rapid expansion of renewable energy sources; the rapidly disappearing populations of pollinator species so many of our crops and plants rely on, and the increasingly difficult economic realities facing so many small farms around the country. The solution? Pollinator-friendly solar. Instead of the gravel or monoculture grass so often placed underneath large land-based solar arrays, Fresh Energy works to ensure these sites are seeded with high-quality native flowers and grasses that pollinators so deeply reply on. With this simple, yet often ignored factor, those “wins” really start multiplying- pollinators get the habitat they need to thrive and farmers and other land-owners reap not just the economic benefits leasing land for solar can bring, but a myriad suite of environmental benefits in the process- pollinators that provide critical services for their crops, as well as native plants that can capture and filter storm water, prevent erosion, and build up soil health. Even better? We all benefit from increased investment in renewable energy that doesn’t come at the expense of hurting agricultural productivity.

The Center For Pollinators in Energy have become not just the go-to experts and resource for solar projects considering pollinator-friendly plantings, but they’ve also become national cheerleaders for spreading awareness on this important work. With partnership campaigns from makeup companies to food brands to breweries (yes, solar beer!) and now, national recognition from the Cleanie Awards (the gold standard awards for the clean energy industry) and even the Emmys (take that, HBO!), it’s clear the future for pollinator-friendly solar is just as sweet as the honey it helps produce. Congrats on the well-deserved recognition, all!