When we created the Carnegie Reporter in 2000, a follow up to the much-respected Carnegie Quarterly, which was begun in 1953, we wanted it to be a magazine that was a hub for ideas. It was not planned as a public relations vehicle for Carnegie Corporation grantees, or as a magazine that would tout the Corporation’s story. It was, however, a place where foundations, nonprofit leaders, scholars and journalists would find philanthropic strategies examined and shared.

I think this current edition features both ideas and strategies that are hard to find elsewhere. For example, after years of supporting academic research focused on states at risk, the outcome and testing of that research is revealed in Karen Theroux’s story on the Peacebuilding Commission: “Peace in Our Time?.” A UN agency that steps in when the troops leave, it is an institution with promise but with no easy path ahead. Data-driven decision making is one of the levers of change for the Corporation’s National Program and in Lucy Hood’s story on “The Impact of Data on Education,” she reveals, dramatically, how data can bring about real change in education. PBS celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007 and the Corporation convened national and local leaders to assess the challenges and opportunities that the digital world poses for public broadcasting. ideastream, a nonprofit, multiple media organization based in Cleveland and its public broadcasting outlets, have been experimenting with the future and in his story, “ideastream and Public Media,” writer Michael Zuckerman takes us there! Since the Corporation created the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2001, we have been exploring new trends in philanthropy in the U.S. and abroad. Veteran journalist Ponchita Pierce examines the growth of African American philanthropy in her story, “African American Philanthropy: A Deep-Rooted Tradition Continues to Grow” and Judith Dobrzynski follows up her story on international philanthropy in the Fall 2007 issue of the Reporter with an article focusing on the fast-growing world of giving in China. Our “Back Page” essay is by Admiral William A. Owens, who is just retiring from the Corporation’s Board of Trustees and now works and lives in China; he brings us a unique view of the U.S.-China relationship in a piece he calls “The New Commons.”

Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, always says that needs don’t attract philanthropic support—ideas do. We want to share with you the ideas that have excited us: ideas that have real impact.

Susan King, Vice President, External Affairs and Program Director, Journalism Initiative, Special Initiatives and Strategy

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