Ingoma Foundation
Ingoma Foundation examines communities comprehensively and develops interwoven strategies to maximize assets of struggling neighborhoods. Using a Collective Impact strategy, a new approach to cross-sector collaboration on social issues, Ingoma works as a backbone organization to align resources, experience, and knowledge to maximize impact and minimize waste. Ingoma serves as the backbone for two initiatives: theCONNECT and the Change 4 Real Community Coalition. theCONNECT is a cross-sector network of local and national agencies, nonprofits, schools, foundations, and employers working to support youth neither in school nor working into professional pathways. theCONNECT is supported by co-backbones Ingoma Foundation and Johns Hopkins Centers for Adolescent Health and Prevention of Youth Violence. As co-backbones, Ingoma and the Centers provide staffing and expertise for technical, facilitative, and administrative support focused on cooperative decision-making, multilateral partnerships, advocacy, shared data collection, cross-referrals, cross-funding, outreach, and cutting-edge technology solutions. theCONNECT aligns activities of stakeholders to ensure that our shared goals are met at the network level and not just at the organizational level. The network benefits of theCONNECT's more than 80 member organizations reaches well over 2,000 Baltimore City youth. Ingoma Foundation supported development of the Oldtown Redevelopment Plan that was adopted in 2010 in partnership with City and community stakeholders. With an eye toward affordable housing and local ownership of businesses, Ingoma provides ongoing research, strategy development, and networking support to Oldtown community members, local government, business, and investors to ensure the voice of the Oldtown community is reflected in future development of a holistic and sustainable redevelopment.