FII’s Maurice Lim Miller Awarded Ashoka Senior Fellowship
March 10, 2011
Ashoka, the global foundation to advance social entrepreneurship, has elected FII CEO and Founder Maurice Lim Miller as a 2011 Senior Fellow for his pioneering approach to increasing economic mobility. Ashoka Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs who are recognized for their system-changing solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges.
Please join all of us at FII in congratulating Maurice on this great honor. And we extend our thanks to you, the families with whom we work and the supporters of our mission. Together we are showing that with families and communities in the lead we can create lasting change.
Read our press release here.
New America Foundation Presents Maurice Lim Miller:
Social Innovation and Community Solutions for a New War on Poverty
February 15, 2011
Join us for this event in person or via webcast.
Event Details
When: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 from 12:15pm to 1:45pm (EST)
Where: New America Foundation, 1899 L Street NW Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036 (See map)
RSVP: Click here
Webcast: During the event this page will have a live webcast.
About the Event
The nation's safety net system is in a double bind: demand is spiking as budgets are shrinking. More than ever it's time to take bold new approaches with potential to do more with less.
Maurice Lim Miller is a social entrepreneur who has faced an uphill battle in his efforts to develop and scale an innovative antipoverty approach. Miller's organization, the Family Independence Initiative based in Oakland, CA, is a center for antipoverty innovation that demonstrates how families can work together to create economic mobility--at a lower cost than many conventional programs. Mr. Miller has been appointed by President Obama to the new White House Council for Community Solutions. In addition to sharing the practice and policy implication of his work, he will offer his perspective on the Council's work. Sonal Shah of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Community Solutions will also share her perspective. Mark Greenberg, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Health and Human Services and a long time promoter of innovative anti-poverty work will also comment.
The event will feature the release of two papers, one an essay by Mr. Miller presenting his perspective on helping launch this innovative initiative, and another which explores the policy implications of the lessons learned from the experience. Please join us for a fascinating discussion of the past, present, and future of anti-poverty work and the role of families in poverty in bringing about an end to widespread, inter-generational poverty.
Featured Speakers
Maurice Lim Miller
President and CEO, Family Independence Initiative
Sonal Shah
Director, White House Office of Social Innovation and Community Solutions
Mark Greenberg
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Moderator
Reid Cramer
Director, Asset Building Program, New America Foundation
President Obama Appoints FII's Maurice Lim Miller to White House Council for Community Solutions
December 14, 2010
On Tuesday, December 14th President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Council for Community Solutions. The Council will provide advice to the President on the best ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses, and government to work more effectively together to solve some of our nation's most pressing issues. Maurice Lim Miller, Founder and CEO of the Family Independence Initiative, has been named to the Council for his work helping families break the cycle of poverty.
Maurice brings to the council an approach and a way of thinking that can really help this country re-engage its residents, reduce poverty, and re-build the middle class. Maurice's personal and professional experiences have shown him that fortifying family and community ties, honoring families' self-determination, and resourcing their existing capacities can create sustainable, positive progress.
Please join all of us at FII in congratulating Maurice on his appointment. This is a great honor for him and a fitting recognition of his tireless efforts to prove that by partnering with families we really can find solutions, reduce poverty, and create change.
Letter from FII CEO and President Maurice Lim Miller
December 8, 2010
Dear Friends,
This time of year is ripe for deep reflection. As I look back, not just on the last year, but on the last decade of our work, I am awed by how well families in FIIhave done and humbled by the hard work and support of those of you who helped us get here.
Californians recently elected Jerry Brown as governor. As many of you know, when he was Mayor of Oakland he was instrumental in starting FII. A phone call he made to me around dinnertime one evening sparked the idea that started the Family Independence Initiative. He challenged me to come up with a solution to break the cycle of poverty. What we decided to do was to turn back to all the mothers and fathers we wanted to help and support them in bringing about their own change. Mayor Brown also pulled together a group of people from state and local government who would be available to listen to what we learned from the families.
In the last decade our work has shown for certain what I've always believed in my gut: that low-income families have enormous capacity to lead their own change and great vision about where they want to go. Our job is not to direct or control, but to get out of the way and follow, to support, and to believe in what families are capable of.
FII families and staff have learned a lot about what's working and not working for families as they struggle to move forward. You can rest assured that now that Jerry Brown is governor we will be sharing our ideas with him.
I hope this holiday season finds you and your loved ones happy and well.
All my best,
Maurice Lim Miller
FII CEO and President
Support the FII Scholarship Fund
We often hear stories about the increasing importance of a college education to obtaining meaningful work and economic mobility. At the same time, access to that education grows further out of reach for many families as it becomes more expensive. FII's families have shared with us how frustrating it can be to access funding for education. Finding scholarships or financial support has become more complex and many families are frustrated.
FII is creating a Scholarship Fund to find out what major barriers families are facing and what can be done to encourage and support continuing education. We will learn from the real stories of the participating families. Please consider donating to this fund. 100% of your donation will help fund a student's educational journey and help all of us better understand how to improve our systems. Go here to donate and write "scholarship" in the designation box.