In 1998, the Open Society Institute (OSI) opened an office in Baltimore to focus on critical national urban issues as they are expressed locally. The office grapples with issues of national consequence that take on the limitations and opportunities created by local social, economic, and political conditions. This targeted focus enables OSI to develop a comprehensive understanding of the city’s assets and shortcomings and to respond with integrated grantmaking.
The Open Society Institute in Baltimore (OSI–Baltimore) taps the expertise and knowledge of the community through a local board, which governs its activities, and through sustained interactions between staff and community leaders. The initiative builds on the commitment of Baltimore’s government and nonprofit community to employ innovative strategies and develop public-private partnerships to address the city’s problems.
OSI–Baltimore focuses on five related areas: drug addiction treatment, criminal justice, workforce & economic development, education and youth development, and access to justice. It also sponsors a Community Fellowship program and the Baltimore Urban Debate League and hosts community-based projects of national OSI programs, such as the The Soros Service Program for Community Health. In addition to awarding grants, programs convene educational forums to bring together a diverse and representative cross section of the region to learn about local and national developments in each field and to consider the connections among challenges facing the city. Through these forums and the learning gleaned through grantmaking, OSI–Baltimore aims to help identify policies and practices that will enable all residents to participate fully in Baltimore’s economic, social and political life.
To sustain and bring to scale program initiatives that are particularly promising, OSI–Baltimore is eager to establish partnerships with other funders, both public and private. Program staff make serious efforts to discuss funding opportunities and strategies with other donors, to share the outcomes and implications of grantmaking programs, and to craft funding collaboratives.