Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan, social research and policy organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of policies, programs and community initiatives, especially as they affect vulnerable communities. In partnership with public and private funders, P/PV develops new models and performs evaluations on programs and initiatives that seek to address some of society?s most pressing problems. It also plays a central role in ensuring successful replication and expansion of effective programs as well as distributing lessons learned from its projects to practitioners and policymakers.
P/PV was created by the Ford Foundation and the US Department of Labor to serve an intermediary role to join together the complementary capacities of government, businesses, and nonprofits in the hopes of creating a truly effective response to social welfare ills. P/PV began its operations in 1978 and was initially focused on evaluating and creating strategies to connect disadvantaged youth to education and jobs[1][2][3]. P/PV now addresses a wide range of critical social issues including community health [4], youth development[5], faith-based initiatives[6][7], sectoral employment [8], mentoring[9], after-school programs, youth violence[10] and prisoner reentry.
Early findings from P/PV?s summer youth employment and education programs influenced the 1986 Congress to mandate that federally supported summer jobs programs have a remediation component. In 1995, P/PV?s widely publicized landmark study, Making a Difference: An Impact Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters showed that mentors can create measurable, positive results in youth and provided fuel for the mentorship movement[11][12]. With the support of the US Department of Labor, US Department of Justice, Annie E. Casey Foundation and Ford Foundation, P/PV recently engaged in the process of implementing and evaluating Ready4Work?a three-year demonstration project designed to more comprehensively address the needs of former prisoners[13]. Both community- and faith-based organizations provided participants with employment services, case management and mentoring.
Current Organization
Headquartered in Philadelphia, P/PV also has offices located in New York City and Oakland and is led by Frederick A. Davie, a former Program Officer of the Ford Foundation. P/PV?s diverse staff is composed of policy leaders in various fields; evaluators and researchers in disciplines ranging from economics to ethnography; and experienced practitioners from the nonprofit, public, business and philanthropic sectors. Senior staff members include Jean Baldwin Grossman, Jack Burns, Geri Summerville, Wilson Goode, Renata Cobbs Fletcher, Wendy McClanahan, Sheila Maguire, Pamela Calloway, Amy Arbreton, Chelsea Farley and Gary Walker.
Board of Directors
In 2008, the Board of Directors are: Matthew McGuire, Frederick A. Davie, Yvonne Chan, The Honorable Renée Cardwell Hughes, Christine L. James-Brown, Robert J. LaLonde, John A. Mayer, Jr., Anne Hodges Morgan, Siobhan Nicolau, Marion Pines, Clayton S. Rose, Cay Stratton, Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh and William Julius Wilson.
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