Frank Martinelli, president of the Center for Public Skills Training, shares his thoughts on how the Greater Milwaukee Foundation initiative can better address our community’s most pressing problems. You may have heard about an initiative sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF) called “On the Table.” The foundation is encouraging people to organize a gathering around mealtime on Oct. 17. The purpose, according to the GMF website, is to “bring people in the community together to contribute their ideas and energy toward advancing a more vibrant and connected region.” The GMF initiative is modeled after a similar program sponsored by the Chicago Community Trust and other foundations. Input received through the Oct. 17 gatherings will be analyzed and, if it follows the Chicago model, grants to support action will follow. Foundations around the country have been hosting these initiatives to promote “civic participation and engagement” in the last couple of years. Not a bad thing at all. Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing! While nobody can argue that bringing people together to talk about ways to make things better is not a good thing, the On The Table discussion questions that are posed avoid any reference to the region’s most pressing issues – racism, poverty, income and wealth inequality, environmental justice and others. So what seems to be going on here? A few months ago, professor Erica Kohl-Arenas, author of “The Self-Help Myth: Why Philanthropy Fails to Alleviate Poverty,” spoke in Milwaukee. Some of her research focuses on foundation initiatives that tend to avoid the difficult conversations that communities need to have about the systemic barriers and root causes of the problems we face. According to a description of a video of Kohl-Arenas’ talk, “One of the case studies examines well-publicized foundation-led community engagement initiatives that promote “community dialogue,” “community conversations,” and “community collaborations” that fail to lead to actions that challenge and transform the underlying economic, social, criminal justice, and political systems that are the root causes of the many problems communities face.” My concern about On The Table is that the “sample conversation prompts” offered on the GMF website seem to be pretty meek and mild at a time when our community really needs to have the more difficult conversations about racism, poverty, wealth and income inequality, the unjust criminal justice system, etc. — the kinds of conversations that we are so good at avoiding in Milwaukee. It’s interesting that on the GMF website, it is stated, “Our fundamental discussion question is intentionally left open-ended to encourage On the Table participants to think creatively and reflect on possibilities, rather than fixate on well-known challenges.” “Fixate” is an interesting word choice. What exactly is supposed to be “on the table” and “off the table”? Our city is at a crossroads: In spite of the valiant efforts of many caring people and organizations over a long period of time, life has not improved for many Milwaukeeans. Our city continues to set records of the wrong kind: Often when a new study is released, Milwaukee is at or close to the bottom of the pack on key indicators. How bad is it? Take the 2016 Distressed Communities Index: Milwaukee is seventh from the bottom in the ranking of most economically distressed large cities. We have some of the lowest reading and math proficiency scores in America. Milwaukee is the most segregated metro area in the United States, with a black poverty rate of 40 percent, which is the second highest among the 40 largest metro areas. And Milwaukee County has the highest incarceration rate for black men. Listed below are On the Table sample conversation prompts from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation website: 1. Share something you love, or are most proud of, about where you live. 2. What can we do, as individuals, and together with organizations we are part of, to make our region more vibrant? 3. Each of us is a philanthropist – through our time, talent, and treasure. What can each of us do as community philanthropists to help build stronger, more connected communities? 4. How can we ensure that greater Milwaukee is a globally competitive, 21st century region? What are the strengths upon which we build? 5. If you could have all the resources and all the people needed to accomplish something to improve your community or our region, what would you undertake? 6. If your table includes young people, consider asking them about the issues they observe in their schools, neighborhoods and peer groups.