Foundations
Here's a look at documents from U.S. foundations
Featured Stories
Watercolours by Jerome Friedman Donated to the Nobel Prize Museum
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 24 -- The Nobel Prize Museum, a part of the Nobel Foundation, issued the following news release:
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Watercolours by Jerome Friedman donated to the Nobel Prize Museum
The physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Jerome Friedman has donated two watercolours to the Nobel Prize Museum. The works are painted by Friedman himself and offer a glimpse of a lesser-known side of the laureate - his lifelong interest in painting.
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Jerome Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990, together with Henry Kendall and Richard Taylor, for research that contributed to our understanding ... Show Full Article STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 24 -- The Nobel Prize Museum, a part of the Nobel Foundation, issued the following news release: * * * Watercolours by Jerome Friedman donated to the Nobel Prize Museum The physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Jerome Friedman has donated two watercolours to the Nobel Prize Museum. The works are painted by Friedman himself and offer a glimpse of a lesser-known side of the laureate - his lifelong interest in painting. - Jerome Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990, together with Henry Kendall and Richard Taylor, for research that contributed to our understandingof the fundamental building blocks of matter, quarks. However, his path to physics was not a straightforward one. Drawing and painting had been important to him since childhood, and in high school he attended an arts programme with the ambition of becoming an artist.
"I won a national prize for a block print that I did, and my ambition was to become an artist. But then, something intervened. At a local museum, I bought a book by Einstein about relativity - I was always curious about the natural world and I was intrigued by what I had heard about relativity," Friedman explains, and continues: "I spent a good deal of time reading this book, but ultimately found that I did not really understand it. But it fascinated me and I wanted to understand the intriguing world of physics. So, upon graduation, I accepted a scholarship to the University of Chicago, turning down a scholarship at the Museum School of the Art Institute of Chicago."
He later earned his PhD at the University of Chicago. His interest in art, however, has remained with him throughout his life, and he continued to paint alongside his scientific career.
The watercolours now donated to the Nobel Prize Museum are titled Tushar's Brother and Mountains in the Morning Mist. They were painted around 2020, when Friedman was in his nineties and had not yet lost too much of his vision to continue painting. The watercolours are based on photographic references and reflect Friedman's interest in natural motifs.
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Nobel Prize Museum
The Nobel Prize shows that ideas can change the world. The courage, creativity and perseverance of the Nobel Prize laureates inspire us and give us hope for the future. Films, in-depth tours, and artefacts tell the stories of the laureates and their contributions "for the greatest benefit to humankind". Based on the Nobel Prize's unique combination of fields - natural sciences, literature and peace - we examine the greatest challenges of our time and show how we can respond to them through science, humanism and collaboration. With our exhibitions, school programmes, lectures and conversations, we at the Nobel Prize Museum strive to engage the public in making a better world. Today we are located on Stortorget, the main square in Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town district. We are planning to create a new home for our public outreach activities at Slussen in central Stockholm.
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Original text here: https://www.nobelprize.org/press-release/watercolours-jerome-friedman/
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Watercolours by Jerome Friedman donated to the Nobel Prize Museum
The physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Jerome Friedman has donated two watercolours to the Nobel Prize Museum. The works are painted by Friedman himself and offer a glimpse of a lesser-known side of the laureate - his lifelong interest in painting.
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Jerome Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990, together with Henry Kendall and Richard Taylor, for research that contributed to our understanding ... Show Full Article STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 24 -- The Nobel Prize Museum, a part of the Nobel Foundation, issued the following news release: * * * Watercolours by Jerome Friedman donated to the Nobel Prize Museum The physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Jerome Friedman has donated two watercolours to the Nobel Prize Museum. The works are painted by Friedman himself and offer a glimpse of a lesser-known side of the laureate - his lifelong interest in painting. - Jerome Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990, together with Henry Kendall and Richard Taylor, for research that contributed to our understandingof the fundamental building blocks of matter, quarks. However, his path to physics was not a straightforward one. Drawing and painting had been important to him since childhood, and in high school he attended an arts programme with the ambition of becoming an artist.
"I won a national prize for a block print that I did, and my ambition was to become an artist. But then, something intervened. At a local museum, I bought a book by Einstein about relativity - I was always curious about the natural world and I was intrigued by what I had heard about relativity," Friedman explains, and continues: "I spent a good deal of time reading this book, but ultimately found that I did not really understand it. But it fascinated me and I wanted to understand the intriguing world of physics. So, upon graduation, I accepted a scholarship to the University of Chicago, turning down a scholarship at the Museum School of the Art Institute of Chicago."
He later earned his PhD at the University of Chicago. His interest in art, however, has remained with him throughout his life, and he continued to paint alongside his scientific career.
The watercolours now donated to the Nobel Prize Museum are titled Tushar's Brother and Mountains in the Morning Mist. They were painted around 2020, when Friedman was in his nineties and had not yet lost too much of his vision to continue painting. The watercolours are based on photographic references and reflect Friedman's interest in natural motifs.
* * *
Nobel Prize Museum
The Nobel Prize shows that ideas can change the world. The courage, creativity and perseverance of the Nobel Prize laureates inspire us and give us hope for the future. Films, in-depth tours, and artefacts tell the stories of the laureates and their contributions "for the greatest benefit to humankind". Based on the Nobel Prize's unique combination of fields - natural sciences, literature and peace - we examine the greatest challenges of our time and show how we can respond to them through science, humanism and collaboration. With our exhibitions, school programmes, lectures and conversations, we at the Nobel Prize Museum strive to engage the public in making a better world. Today we are located on Stortorget, the main square in Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town district. We are planning to create a new home for our public outreach activities at Slussen in central Stockholm.
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Original text here: https://www.nobelprize.org/press-release/watercolours-jerome-friedman/
Ursula Burns, Founder of Integrum, Chairwoman of Teneo, and Former CEO of Xerox Corporation, Elected as New Chair of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees
NEW YORK, June 24 -- The Ford Foundation issued the following news on June 23, 2026:
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Ursula Burns, Founder of Integrum, Chairwoman of Teneo, and Former CEO of Xerox Corporation, Elected as New Chair of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees
The Ford Foundation announced today the election of Ursula Burns as the new chair of its Board of Trustees. Burns will become the 13th board chair of the foundation, succeeding Dr. Francisco Cigarroa. She is the first African American woman to serve as board chair in the Ford Foundation's 90-year history.
Burns joined the board in 2015 and serves as ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, June 24 -- The Ford Foundation issued the following news on June 23, 2026: * * * Ursula Burns, Founder of Integrum, Chairwoman of Teneo, and Former CEO of Xerox Corporation, Elected as New Chair of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees The Ford Foundation announced today the election of Ursula Burns as the new chair of its Board of Trustees. Burns will become the 13th board chair of the foundation, succeeding Dr. Francisco Cigarroa. She is the first African American woman to serve as board chair in the Ford Foundation's 90-year history. Burns joined the board in 2015 and serves aschair of the Audit Committee. She is also a member of the Executive Committee. Recognized by Forbes and Fortune magazines as one of the most influential women in the world, Burns is a founder and Investment Committee member of the private equity firm Integrum and the non-executive chairman of Teneo Holdings LLC. Previously, she served as the chairman and CEO of VEON from 2018 to 2020. In 2009, Burns became the chairman and CEO of the Xerox Corporation and the first African American woman to head a Fortune 500 company. During her tenure at Xerox, Burns led the largest acquisition in the company's history, catapulting its presence in the global services market.
Cigarroa will remain on the board through October 2026 after serving with distinction as chair for eight years.
"Dr. Francisco Cigarroa has served the Ford Foundation with extraordinary dedication during a period of significant change for our world and our work. We are forever grateful to Francisco for his humanity, integrity, kindness, and wisdom," said Heather Gerken, president of the Ford Foundation. "As we look forward, I can think of no better leader to help guide the foundation toward its second century than Ursula Burns. She brings singular experience and expertise, clear-eyed judgment, and a deep commitment to the values that have long defined our institution. I am thrilled and grateful to partner with her as we continue to bolster democratic values and institutions, protect the rule of law, and advance human dignity around the world."
In 2009, Burns was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. She also served as vice chair and chair of the President's Export Council. In February 2022, Burns joined the U.S. Department of Commerce's Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness as vice chair. Burns is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the G7 Gender Equity Advisory Council.
"It is a profound honor to receive the baton of leadership from Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, whose stewardship immensely strengthened the Ford Foundation and its global impact," said Ursula Burns. "And I am particularly energized and inspired by this opportunity to collaborate with Heather and our trustees, staff, and community at this pivotal time of heightened responsibility and possibility."
A native New Yorker, Burns holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. She also holds board positions on Uber Technologies Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Mayo Clinic, among others.
Ford Foundation trustees are elected by the board and serve up to two six-year terms. Trustees approve the foundation's program strategy and set broad policies on grantmaking, investments, and governance. The foundation's trustees come from around the world and have extensive experience in the nonprofit sector and social justice, law, government, higher education, business and finance, and technology.
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Original text here: https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/news-and-press/news/ursula-burns-founder-of-integrum-chairwoman-of-teneo-and-former-ceo-of-xerox-corporation-elected-as-new-chair-of-the-ford-foundation-board-of-trustees/
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Ursula Burns, Founder of Integrum, Chairwoman of Teneo, and Former CEO of Xerox Corporation, Elected as New Chair of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees
The Ford Foundation announced today the election of Ursula Burns as the new chair of its Board of Trustees. Burns will become the 13th board chair of the foundation, succeeding Dr. Francisco Cigarroa. She is the first African American woman to serve as board chair in the Ford Foundation's 90-year history.
Burns joined the board in 2015 and serves as ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, June 24 -- The Ford Foundation issued the following news on June 23, 2026: * * * Ursula Burns, Founder of Integrum, Chairwoman of Teneo, and Former CEO of Xerox Corporation, Elected as New Chair of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees The Ford Foundation announced today the election of Ursula Burns as the new chair of its Board of Trustees. Burns will become the 13th board chair of the foundation, succeeding Dr. Francisco Cigarroa. She is the first African American woman to serve as board chair in the Ford Foundation's 90-year history. Burns joined the board in 2015 and serves aschair of the Audit Committee. She is also a member of the Executive Committee. Recognized by Forbes and Fortune magazines as one of the most influential women in the world, Burns is a founder and Investment Committee member of the private equity firm Integrum and the non-executive chairman of Teneo Holdings LLC. Previously, she served as the chairman and CEO of VEON from 2018 to 2020. In 2009, Burns became the chairman and CEO of the Xerox Corporation and the first African American woman to head a Fortune 500 company. During her tenure at Xerox, Burns led the largest acquisition in the company's history, catapulting its presence in the global services market.
Cigarroa will remain on the board through October 2026 after serving with distinction as chair for eight years.
"Dr. Francisco Cigarroa has served the Ford Foundation with extraordinary dedication during a period of significant change for our world and our work. We are forever grateful to Francisco for his humanity, integrity, kindness, and wisdom," said Heather Gerken, president of the Ford Foundation. "As we look forward, I can think of no better leader to help guide the foundation toward its second century than Ursula Burns. She brings singular experience and expertise, clear-eyed judgment, and a deep commitment to the values that have long defined our institution. I am thrilled and grateful to partner with her as we continue to bolster democratic values and institutions, protect the rule of law, and advance human dignity around the world."
In 2009, Burns was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. She also served as vice chair and chair of the President's Export Council. In February 2022, Burns joined the U.S. Department of Commerce's Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness as vice chair. Burns is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the G7 Gender Equity Advisory Council.
"It is a profound honor to receive the baton of leadership from Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, whose stewardship immensely strengthened the Ford Foundation and its global impact," said Ursula Burns. "And I am particularly energized and inspired by this opportunity to collaborate with Heather and our trustees, staff, and community at this pivotal time of heightened responsibility and possibility."
A native New Yorker, Burns holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. She also holds board positions on Uber Technologies Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Mayo Clinic, among others.
Ford Foundation trustees are elected by the board and serve up to two six-year terms. Trustees approve the foundation's program strategy and set broad policies on grantmaking, investments, and governance. The foundation's trustees come from around the world and have extensive experience in the nonprofit sector and social justice, law, government, higher education, business and finance, and technology.
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Original text here: https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/news-and-press/news/ursula-burns-founder-of-integrum-chairwoman-of-teneo-and-former-ceo-of-xerox-corporation-elected-as-new-chair-of-the-ford-foundation-board-of-trustees/
Jed Foundation Unites U.S. Regional Education Compacts To Chart A New Course For Postsecondary Student Well-Being
BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 24 -- The Jed Foundation issued the following news release:
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The Jed Foundation (JED) Unites U.S. Regional Education Compacts To Chart A New Course For Postsecondary Student Well-Being
First-of-its-kind gathering of MHEC, NEBHE, SREB, and WICHE focused on postsecondary behavioral health marks a pivotal moment for national student well-being policy.
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Postsecondary education represents a pivotal period of intellectual and personal growth, yet many students across universities, community colleges, and graduate and professional schools experience depression, ... Show Full Article BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 24 -- The Jed Foundation issued the following news release: * * * The Jed Foundation (JED) Unites U.S. Regional Education Compacts To Chart A New Course For Postsecondary Student Well-Being First-of-its-kind gathering of MHEC, NEBHE, SREB, and WICHE focused on postsecondary behavioral health marks a pivotal moment for national student well-being policy. - Postsecondary education represents a pivotal period of intellectual and personal growth, yet many students across universities, community colleges, and graduate and professional schools experience depression,anxiety, thoughts of suicide, and other behavioral health challenges.
To confront these barriers and reshape the national conversation around campus mental health policy, The Jed Foundation (JED), in partnership with Lumina Foundation and Trellis Foundation, convened nearly 100 leaders from across higher education, public health, philanthropy, and student advocacy for a two-day policy convening.
Held June 16-17 in Salt Lake City, "A Conversation with the Compacts: Next Steps for States to Advance Behavioral Health in Postsecondary Education" marked a first-of-its-kind behavioral health nonprofit lead meeting, bringing together all four of the nation's regional education compacts: the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), and Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). These nonpartisan consortiums represent 47 states and territories and six affiliate partners.
Stephanie Marken, Gallup's Higher Education Practice Lead, presented findings from the 2026 Lumina Foundation-Gallup State of Higher Education study. The data underscore the stakes of the moment: one in three students has considered stopping out or leaving school in the past six months, with emotional stress and mental health challenges cited as the leading reasons. These findings make clear that student mental health is a central driver of whether students stay, succeed, and complete their degrees.
"This is a defining moment for higher education. Student mental health is no longer an elective resource on campus; it is foundational to student success, workforce readiness, institutional resilience, and our nation's future," said Dr. Zainab Okolo, JED's Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Government Relations. "That is precisely why it is so important for the regional education compacts to come together now. No single institution or state can solve these challenges alone. By aligning across regions, sharing best practices, and advancing a common policy agenda, we have an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate meaningful systems change. The choices we make today will determine whether millions of students merely survive or truly thrive. We have the responsibility to build systems that recognize mental health as essential infrastructure for learning, opportunity, and long-term success."
JED CEO John MacPhee joined compact leaders for a high-level policy conversation on what sustained, coordinated, national leadership on student behavioral health must look like going forward.
"At a time when students, educators, and institutions are navigating a higher education landscape with profound uncertainty, collaboration across sectors has never been more important," said MacPhee. "We are proud of the success we've seen through the implementation of JED's comprehensive approach across campuses, and are eager to continue to expand that approach across broader systems."
Participants left Salt Lake City aligned around three main priorities to advance student behavioral health at the state and institutional levels:
* Suicide prevention demands a comprehensive, upstream approach with sustained investment in evidence-based programs and cross-sector collaboration that strengthens partnerships among K-12 schools, higher education institutions, health care systems, community organizations, philanthropy, and state agencies.
* Student voices are essential at every stage and must be included in both policy design and the implementation of programs that affect them. This means creating formal advisory councils, compensating students for their participation, and soliciting continuous feedback.
* Workforce development is a prerequisite for progress. The shortage of behavioral health professionals on and off campus remains one of the most pressing barriers to student care. States and institutions must work together to improve reimbursement and retention, strengthen training pipelines, expand supervision opportunities, and increase campus clinical capacity so that students can access support when and where they need it.
Utah State Senator Ann Millner (R-05) and Utah State Representative Steve Eliason (R-43), Senior Director of Behavioral Health at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, participated in a policymakers fireside chat examining innovative strategies, such as Utah's short-term Behavioral Health Tech certificates as an entry to clinical social work and psychology pathways.
"We passed legislation in 2024, established a code, and got the funding, with the result being five schools offering this program and producing 80 graduates, with 79 placed. It is a beginning, but we have a chance to make a difference. In order to meet workforce needs, it takes a partnership and innovation to ensure it will work in your state." -- Utah State Senator Ann Millner
"I was proud to help champion 988 at the federal level and support innovative youth mental health solutions in the Utah Legislature. These efforts are helping students in crisis, and are making a difference as evidenced by our lower rates of youth suicide. However, there is still much work to do to help young people thrive and prevent suicide. I was honored to join The Jed Foundation and higher education leaders to discuss how we can move further upstream in suicide prevention and build campuses and communities where every student has the support they need to succeed." -- Utah State Representative Steve Eliason, Senior Director of Behavioral Health, Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
During his closing keynote panel, Dr. Tom Harnisch, Vice President for Government Relations at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), examined the shifting federal policy landscape, including implications for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund successor programs, Medicaid, and Title IV, and how states can build resilient strategies in a volatile environment. Other sessions addressed the surge of artificial intelligence in higher education, changes in federal oversight, and pressures on state budgets.
The convening remained committed to centering student voices including, Saanvi Arora, Executive Director of the Youth Power Project, highlighted the roundtable as a catalyst for broader youth engagement in mental health policy.
"It was a really perfect opportunity for us to platform the ways young people can get more involved and should be incorporated into a lot of these conversations," said Arora. "[The convening] got me thinking about ways that our advocacy can incorporate an understanding of how state and federal lawmakers address mental health issues and the urgency of also talking to school administrators."
Several key remarks were offered by compact leadership, including Dr. Michael Thomas, President and CEO of NEBHE, who reflected on the significance of bringing this breadth of leadership together.
"Participants at this event have been vastly benefited by the opportunity to share insights and perspectives across institutions, organizations, and states," said Dr. Thomas. "Our students, institutions, and communities deserve the best that we can offer to support them in achieving their potential. And the takeaways from this event will be prime fuel for our further efforts."
The days concluded with collaborative conversations from across the compacts along with the creation of a shared policy agenda. Participating leaders from across state and national organizations included; The American Council on Education, The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, Coalition for Student Wellbeing, Complete College America, Eclatech Solutions, Futuro Health, The Healthy Minds Network, The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, The Huntsman Mental Health Institute, inseparable, Mental Health America, Mental Health Literacy Collaborative, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, New America, New York City Department of Health and Human Services, Ortus Foundation, The Philanthropic Collaborative for Education, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, Trellis Strategies, Wellness Together, and Yale School of Medicine.
To view photos of the event, visit JED's Facebook photo album. To learn more about JED's policy, advocacy, and government relations work, visit JED's website (https://jedfoundation.org/jeds-advocacy-work/).
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About The Jed Foundation
JED is committed to protecting emotional health and preventing suicide for our nation's teens and young adults. JED partners with high schools, colleges, school districts, and youth-serving community-based organizations to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. JED equips teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other, and encourages community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.
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Original text here: https://jedfoundation.org/the-jed-foundation-jed-unites-u-s-regional-education-compacts-to-chart-a-new-course-for-postsecondary-student-well-being/
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The Jed Foundation (JED) Unites U.S. Regional Education Compacts To Chart A New Course For Postsecondary Student Well-Being
First-of-its-kind gathering of MHEC, NEBHE, SREB, and WICHE focused on postsecondary behavioral health marks a pivotal moment for national student well-being policy.
-
Postsecondary education represents a pivotal period of intellectual and personal growth, yet many students across universities, community colleges, and graduate and professional schools experience depression, ... Show Full Article BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 24 -- The Jed Foundation issued the following news release: * * * The Jed Foundation (JED) Unites U.S. Regional Education Compacts To Chart A New Course For Postsecondary Student Well-Being First-of-its-kind gathering of MHEC, NEBHE, SREB, and WICHE focused on postsecondary behavioral health marks a pivotal moment for national student well-being policy. - Postsecondary education represents a pivotal period of intellectual and personal growth, yet many students across universities, community colleges, and graduate and professional schools experience depression,anxiety, thoughts of suicide, and other behavioral health challenges.
To confront these barriers and reshape the national conversation around campus mental health policy, The Jed Foundation (JED), in partnership with Lumina Foundation and Trellis Foundation, convened nearly 100 leaders from across higher education, public health, philanthropy, and student advocacy for a two-day policy convening.
Held June 16-17 in Salt Lake City, "A Conversation with the Compacts: Next Steps for States to Advance Behavioral Health in Postsecondary Education" marked a first-of-its-kind behavioral health nonprofit lead meeting, bringing together all four of the nation's regional education compacts: the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), and Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). These nonpartisan consortiums represent 47 states and territories and six affiliate partners.
Stephanie Marken, Gallup's Higher Education Practice Lead, presented findings from the 2026 Lumina Foundation-Gallup State of Higher Education study. The data underscore the stakes of the moment: one in three students has considered stopping out or leaving school in the past six months, with emotional stress and mental health challenges cited as the leading reasons. These findings make clear that student mental health is a central driver of whether students stay, succeed, and complete their degrees.
"This is a defining moment for higher education. Student mental health is no longer an elective resource on campus; it is foundational to student success, workforce readiness, institutional resilience, and our nation's future," said Dr. Zainab Okolo, JED's Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Government Relations. "That is precisely why it is so important for the regional education compacts to come together now. No single institution or state can solve these challenges alone. By aligning across regions, sharing best practices, and advancing a common policy agenda, we have an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate meaningful systems change. The choices we make today will determine whether millions of students merely survive or truly thrive. We have the responsibility to build systems that recognize mental health as essential infrastructure for learning, opportunity, and long-term success."
JED CEO John MacPhee joined compact leaders for a high-level policy conversation on what sustained, coordinated, national leadership on student behavioral health must look like going forward.
"At a time when students, educators, and institutions are navigating a higher education landscape with profound uncertainty, collaboration across sectors has never been more important," said MacPhee. "We are proud of the success we've seen through the implementation of JED's comprehensive approach across campuses, and are eager to continue to expand that approach across broader systems."
Participants left Salt Lake City aligned around three main priorities to advance student behavioral health at the state and institutional levels:
* Suicide prevention demands a comprehensive, upstream approach with sustained investment in evidence-based programs and cross-sector collaboration that strengthens partnerships among K-12 schools, higher education institutions, health care systems, community organizations, philanthropy, and state agencies.
* Student voices are essential at every stage and must be included in both policy design and the implementation of programs that affect them. This means creating formal advisory councils, compensating students for their participation, and soliciting continuous feedback.
* Workforce development is a prerequisite for progress. The shortage of behavioral health professionals on and off campus remains one of the most pressing barriers to student care. States and institutions must work together to improve reimbursement and retention, strengthen training pipelines, expand supervision opportunities, and increase campus clinical capacity so that students can access support when and where they need it.
Utah State Senator Ann Millner (R-05) and Utah State Representative Steve Eliason (R-43), Senior Director of Behavioral Health at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, participated in a policymakers fireside chat examining innovative strategies, such as Utah's short-term Behavioral Health Tech certificates as an entry to clinical social work and psychology pathways.
"We passed legislation in 2024, established a code, and got the funding, with the result being five schools offering this program and producing 80 graduates, with 79 placed. It is a beginning, but we have a chance to make a difference. In order to meet workforce needs, it takes a partnership and innovation to ensure it will work in your state." -- Utah State Senator Ann Millner
"I was proud to help champion 988 at the federal level and support innovative youth mental health solutions in the Utah Legislature. These efforts are helping students in crisis, and are making a difference as evidenced by our lower rates of youth suicide. However, there is still much work to do to help young people thrive and prevent suicide. I was honored to join The Jed Foundation and higher education leaders to discuss how we can move further upstream in suicide prevention and build campuses and communities where every student has the support they need to succeed." -- Utah State Representative Steve Eliason, Senior Director of Behavioral Health, Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
During his closing keynote panel, Dr. Tom Harnisch, Vice President for Government Relations at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), examined the shifting federal policy landscape, including implications for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund successor programs, Medicaid, and Title IV, and how states can build resilient strategies in a volatile environment. Other sessions addressed the surge of artificial intelligence in higher education, changes in federal oversight, and pressures on state budgets.
The convening remained committed to centering student voices including, Saanvi Arora, Executive Director of the Youth Power Project, highlighted the roundtable as a catalyst for broader youth engagement in mental health policy.
"It was a really perfect opportunity for us to platform the ways young people can get more involved and should be incorporated into a lot of these conversations," said Arora. "[The convening] got me thinking about ways that our advocacy can incorporate an understanding of how state and federal lawmakers address mental health issues and the urgency of also talking to school administrators."
Several key remarks were offered by compact leadership, including Dr. Michael Thomas, President and CEO of NEBHE, who reflected on the significance of bringing this breadth of leadership together.
"Participants at this event have been vastly benefited by the opportunity to share insights and perspectives across institutions, organizations, and states," said Dr. Thomas. "Our students, institutions, and communities deserve the best that we can offer to support them in achieving their potential. And the takeaways from this event will be prime fuel for our further efforts."
The days concluded with collaborative conversations from across the compacts along with the creation of a shared policy agenda. Participating leaders from across state and national organizations included; The American Council on Education, The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, Coalition for Student Wellbeing, Complete College America, Eclatech Solutions, Futuro Health, The Healthy Minds Network, The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, The Huntsman Mental Health Institute, inseparable, Mental Health America, Mental Health Literacy Collaborative, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, New America, New York City Department of Health and Human Services, Ortus Foundation, The Philanthropic Collaborative for Education, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, Trellis Strategies, Wellness Together, and Yale School of Medicine.
To view photos of the event, visit JED's Facebook photo album. To learn more about JED's policy, advocacy, and government relations work, visit JED's website (https://jedfoundation.org/jeds-advocacy-work/).
* * *
About The Jed Foundation
JED is committed to protecting emotional health and preventing suicide for our nation's teens and young adults. JED partners with high schools, colleges, school districts, and youth-serving community-based organizations to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. JED equips teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other, and encourages community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.
* * *
Original text here: https://jedfoundation.org/the-jed-foundation-jed-unites-u-s-regional-education-compacts-to-chart-a-new-course-for-postsecondary-student-well-being/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Razor-Thin Majority Brings Keiko Fujimori to Power
DETROIT, Michigan, June 24 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by political theorist Jake Scott:
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Peru's New Legacy Leader
A razor-thin majority brings Keiko Fujimori to power.
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With just over 99% of ballots counted, Keiko Fujimori holds a lead of roughly 40,000 votes over Roberto Sanchez--less than half a percentage point, and the third consecutive Peruvian presidential contest decided by a margin that narrow. Sanchez led through the early days of counting, carried by rural and highland turnout; but the overseas votes, which broke for Fujimori above ... Show Full Article DETROIT, Michigan, June 24 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by political theorist Jake Scott: * * * Peru's New Legacy Leader A razor-thin majority brings Keiko Fujimori to power. - With just over 99% of ballots counted, Keiko Fujimori holds a lead of roughly 40,000 votes over Roberto Sanchez--less than half a percentage point, and the third consecutive Peruvian presidential contest decided by a margin that narrow. Sanchez led through the early days of counting, carried by rural and highland turnout; but the overseas votes, which broke for Fujimori above63%, pulled the result the other way as the tally crossed 95%.
The outcome is no longer seriously in doubt. What remains in doubt is whether a victory this narrow constitutes a mandate to govern, or merely a turn to occupy the office in impotence.
Fujimori has never held executive power. What she inherits, however, is a name: her father, Alberto Fujimori, governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, stabilizing a hyperinflationary economy and crushing the Shining Path insurgency, albeit with darkly authoritarian techniques for which he was later convicted. Long known as Peru's answer to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Fujimori has cast a long shadow over Peruvian politics ever since.
Keiko served as his First Lady through the latter half of the 1990s, then built her own career: a congresswoman from 2006 to 2011, and the leader of Fuerza Popular ("Popular Force") since. She spent 13 months in pretrial detention on corruption charges tied to Odebrecht financing; a court voided the case in January 2025. She has run for president four times, losing the previous three runoffs by margins under a single percentage point before, now, winning her fourth.
Her governing history is, as a result, tied deeply to her father's. She has spent two decades defending it rather than living it, which is itself a kind of qualification in a country where economic memory often prevails over institutional memory. The model her father installed--trade liberalization, fiscal orthodoxy, an open door to foreign capital--has outlasted eight changes of president in ten years. The claims of Fujimorismo--the governing-economic doctrine named for Fujimori that has dominated ever since his time--is that it alone can be trusted to keep that model standing.
Keiko Fujimori's flagship commitments are, consequently, the two pillars of Fujimorismo itself: a hard line on crime, and an unapologetic defense of the market economy.
The security platform proposes deploying the military against organized crime and prison disorder, taking inspiration both from Peru's own recent past, and Nayib Bukele's divisive tactics in El Salvador. Alongside this, the platform promises expanding video surveillance, and modernizing this apparatus through the use of artificial intelligence to detect corruption in public contracting. She insists that her father's system's abuses will not be repeated.
The economic platform is a much-needed deregulatory shock: cutting investment-approval timelines by 40%, reducing the fiscal deficit from 2.2% to 1% of GDP, and shrinking the state. As for exactly how that shrinking will be achieved besides the aforementioned measures, Keiko is not clear.
Nevertheless, both pillars of the plan were sold on a single word, repeated at her closing rally and in her final debate: order, against the chaos she says the left represents.
That framing carried the affluent, urban, and overseas vote decisively. It did less among the rural and indigenous communities who associate the Fujimori name with her father's abuses of the 1990s and with her own attempt, after losing in 2021, to annul hundreds of thousands of their ballots without evidence. Fuerza Popular's congressional bloc is large enough this term to insulate her from the impeachment threat that has destabilized her predecessors--a structural stability that, it must be hoped, offsets the razor-thin margin of this victory.
The contest was loud well before the ballots were cast. Thousands marched across the capital of Lima, as well as Arequipa and Huancayo in the campaign's final weeks under the banner of "Keiko Out, Fujimori Never Again," led in part by relatives of her father's victims.
The protests continued into the count itself. As Fujimori's lead widened past 98% reporting, civic groups including the youth-led Generacion Z Peru called for fresh demonstrations in defense of the "vote of our brothers and sisters in rural areas," while commentators on social media accused electoral authorities of distorting the count in the right's favor; an echo, almost note for note, of the fraud allegations Fujimori herself made without evidence in 2021, now redirected towards her by the other side.
Public discourse has split along the same fault line that decided the vote. Urban and overseas Peruvians have largely framed the result as a vote for stability over disorder; rural and indigenous communities, where Sanchez dominated by margins in some areas as wide as 85%, have framed it as a re-imposition of an elite their parents fought against in the 1990s.
The Lima city government's threat to sanction marches in the historic center has done little to cool the temperature: both camps describe the other's mobilization in the language of threat rather than disagreement--fraud, danger, regression--leaving little common vocabulary for the country to share once the certification is final. It is a perilous place for a nation when the Loser's Consent necessary for democracy to function collapses entirely, undermined by the rhetoric that places the political opponents beyond the bounds of the body politic.
On international trade, Fujimori's continuity instinct holds. Her deregulatory platform preserves existing agreements, favors deepened ties with Washington, and pressured the outgoing transitional government to honor a contested multi-billion dollar F-16 purchase from the United States. Yet Atlantic Council analysts now expect a more pragmatic posture than her pro-Washington reputation suggested during the campaign: she has avoided explicitly siding against China, recognizing that Beijing remains one of Peru's principal trading and investment partners through the Chancay megaport and its mining concessions. A zero-sum choice between Washington and Beijing, forced upon her by a global context entirely beyond her ability to influence, would undercut the very stability her platform promises to deliver.
Regionally, Peru's position as a Pacific Alliance member and the most credible Pacific gateway between South America and Asia is unaffected by the result: the infrastructure, unlike the presidency, does not change hands every electoral cycle. Peru remains the world's second-largest copper producer and a major exporter of gold, silver, zinc, and molybdenum, with rising mineral prices offering Fujimori a more favorable fiscal backdrop than her recent predecessors enjoyed. Whether that windfall reaches the rural communities who voted overwhelmingly against her is the open question her presidency will be measured against.
Fujimori takes office having narrowly won the argument over which model Peru should keep, without having won the country that model is meant to serve. Her congressional bloc may protect her from the impeachment mechanism that ended four of her predecessors' terms early; but nothing protects her from the deeper accusation now leveled by Sanchez's supporters and echoed in the streets--that her ascent looks less like victory than recapture. The question Fujimori's presidency now poses is not whether Peru's market model can survive another term--that is all but certain. It is whether a government elected on a margin of 40,000 votes can convince the country it was not simply imposed upon it.
* * *
Dr Jake Scott is a political theorist specialising in populism and its relationship to political constitutionality. He has taught at multiple British universities and produced research reports for several think tanks.
* * *
Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/perus-new-legacy-leader/
* * *
Peru's New Legacy Leader
A razor-thin majority brings Keiko Fujimori to power.
-
With just over 99% of ballots counted, Keiko Fujimori holds a lead of roughly 40,000 votes over Roberto Sanchez--less than half a percentage point, and the third consecutive Peruvian presidential contest decided by a margin that narrow. Sanchez led through the early days of counting, carried by rural and highland turnout; but the overseas votes, which broke for Fujimori above ... Show Full Article DETROIT, Michigan, June 24 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by political theorist Jake Scott: * * * Peru's New Legacy Leader A razor-thin majority brings Keiko Fujimori to power. - With just over 99% of ballots counted, Keiko Fujimori holds a lead of roughly 40,000 votes over Roberto Sanchez--less than half a percentage point, and the third consecutive Peruvian presidential contest decided by a margin that narrow. Sanchez led through the early days of counting, carried by rural and highland turnout; but the overseas votes, which broke for Fujimori above63%, pulled the result the other way as the tally crossed 95%.
The outcome is no longer seriously in doubt. What remains in doubt is whether a victory this narrow constitutes a mandate to govern, or merely a turn to occupy the office in impotence.
Fujimori has never held executive power. What she inherits, however, is a name: her father, Alberto Fujimori, governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, stabilizing a hyperinflationary economy and crushing the Shining Path insurgency, albeit with darkly authoritarian techniques for which he was later convicted. Long known as Peru's answer to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Fujimori has cast a long shadow over Peruvian politics ever since.
Keiko served as his First Lady through the latter half of the 1990s, then built her own career: a congresswoman from 2006 to 2011, and the leader of Fuerza Popular ("Popular Force") since. She spent 13 months in pretrial detention on corruption charges tied to Odebrecht financing; a court voided the case in January 2025. She has run for president four times, losing the previous three runoffs by margins under a single percentage point before, now, winning her fourth.
Her governing history is, as a result, tied deeply to her father's. She has spent two decades defending it rather than living it, which is itself a kind of qualification in a country where economic memory often prevails over institutional memory. The model her father installed--trade liberalization, fiscal orthodoxy, an open door to foreign capital--has outlasted eight changes of president in ten years. The claims of Fujimorismo--the governing-economic doctrine named for Fujimori that has dominated ever since his time--is that it alone can be trusted to keep that model standing.
Keiko Fujimori's flagship commitments are, consequently, the two pillars of Fujimorismo itself: a hard line on crime, and an unapologetic defense of the market economy.
The security platform proposes deploying the military against organized crime and prison disorder, taking inspiration both from Peru's own recent past, and Nayib Bukele's divisive tactics in El Salvador. Alongside this, the platform promises expanding video surveillance, and modernizing this apparatus through the use of artificial intelligence to detect corruption in public contracting. She insists that her father's system's abuses will not be repeated.
The economic platform is a much-needed deregulatory shock: cutting investment-approval timelines by 40%, reducing the fiscal deficit from 2.2% to 1% of GDP, and shrinking the state. As for exactly how that shrinking will be achieved besides the aforementioned measures, Keiko is not clear.
Nevertheless, both pillars of the plan were sold on a single word, repeated at her closing rally and in her final debate: order, against the chaos she says the left represents.
That framing carried the affluent, urban, and overseas vote decisively. It did less among the rural and indigenous communities who associate the Fujimori name with her father's abuses of the 1990s and with her own attempt, after losing in 2021, to annul hundreds of thousands of their ballots without evidence. Fuerza Popular's congressional bloc is large enough this term to insulate her from the impeachment threat that has destabilized her predecessors--a structural stability that, it must be hoped, offsets the razor-thin margin of this victory.
The contest was loud well before the ballots were cast. Thousands marched across the capital of Lima, as well as Arequipa and Huancayo in the campaign's final weeks under the banner of "Keiko Out, Fujimori Never Again," led in part by relatives of her father's victims.
The protests continued into the count itself. As Fujimori's lead widened past 98% reporting, civic groups including the youth-led Generacion Z Peru called for fresh demonstrations in defense of the "vote of our brothers and sisters in rural areas," while commentators on social media accused electoral authorities of distorting the count in the right's favor; an echo, almost note for note, of the fraud allegations Fujimori herself made without evidence in 2021, now redirected towards her by the other side.
Public discourse has split along the same fault line that decided the vote. Urban and overseas Peruvians have largely framed the result as a vote for stability over disorder; rural and indigenous communities, where Sanchez dominated by margins in some areas as wide as 85%, have framed it as a re-imposition of an elite their parents fought against in the 1990s.
The Lima city government's threat to sanction marches in the historic center has done little to cool the temperature: both camps describe the other's mobilization in the language of threat rather than disagreement--fraud, danger, regression--leaving little common vocabulary for the country to share once the certification is final. It is a perilous place for a nation when the Loser's Consent necessary for democracy to function collapses entirely, undermined by the rhetoric that places the political opponents beyond the bounds of the body politic.
On international trade, Fujimori's continuity instinct holds. Her deregulatory platform preserves existing agreements, favors deepened ties with Washington, and pressured the outgoing transitional government to honor a contested multi-billion dollar F-16 purchase from the United States. Yet Atlantic Council analysts now expect a more pragmatic posture than her pro-Washington reputation suggested during the campaign: she has avoided explicitly siding against China, recognizing that Beijing remains one of Peru's principal trading and investment partners through the Chancay megaport and its mining concessions. A zero-sum choice between Washington and Beijing, forced upon her by a global context entirely beyond her ability to influence, would undercut the very stability her platform promises to deliver.
Regionally, Peru's position as a Pacific Alliance member and the most credible Pacific gateway between South America and Asia is unaffected by the result: the infrastructure, unlike the presidency, does not change hands every electoral cycle. Peru remains the world's second-largest copper producer and a major exporter of gold, silver, zinc, and molybdenum, with rising mineral prices offering Fujimori a more favorable fiscal backdrop than her recent predecessors enjoyed. Whether that windfall reaches the rural communities who voted overwhelmingly against her is the open question her presidency will be measured against.
Fujimori takes office having narrowly won the argument over which model Peru should keep, without having won the country that model is meant to serve. Her congressional bloc may protect her from the impeachment mechanism that ended four of her predecessors' terms early; but nothing protects her from the deeper accusation now leveled by Sanchez's supporters and echoed in the streets--that her ascent looks less like victory than recapture. The question Fujimori's presidency now poses is not whether Peru's market model can survive another term--that is all but certain. It is whether a government elected on a margin of 40,000 votes can convince the country it was not simply imposed upon it.
* * *
Dr Jake Scott is a political theorist specialising in populism and its relationship to political constitutionality. He has taught at multiple British universities and produced research reports for several think tanks.
* * *
Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/perus-new-legacy-leader/
FFRF Questions $700 Million HHS Initiative Favoring Faith-Based Providers
MADISON, Wisconsin, June 24 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
* * *
FFRF questions $700 million HHS initiative favoring faith-based providers
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is raising concerns after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent touting of an expanded role for faith-based recovery organizations.
At a June 18 event in Michigan, Kennedy announced a $96 million funding opportunity through the Trump administration's Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program, ... Show Full Article MADISON, Wisconsin, June 24 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release: * * * FFRF questions $700 million HHS initiative favoring faith-based providers The Freedom From Religion Foundation is raising concerns after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent touting of an expanded role for faith-based recovery organizations. At a June 18 event in Michigan, Kennedy announced a $96 million funding opportunity through the Trump administration's Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program,along with an additional $612 million in behavioral health funding opportunities. Kennedy emphasized that one of the initiative's goals is to restore federal funding opportunities for faith-based groups.
"One of the features of our STREETS is opening up funding once again for faith-based organizations," Kennedy said. "The Biden administration actively discouraged funding to faith-based organizations for recovery. We think they're critical."
Kennedy also dismissed evidence-based harm reduction strategies, claiming that "harm reduction doesn't work" and attributing the nation's addiction crisis to policies such as needle exchange programs and safe consumption sites. However, decades of research have demonstrated that syringe service programs reduce the spread of infectious diseases and connect individuals with treatment services without increasing crime.
Kennedy's repeated reliance on spiritual and religious narratives to justify federal addiction policy is particularly troubling. During his remarks, Kennedy cited Alcoholics Anonymous and recounted a story involving psychiatrist Carl Jung's belief that recovery from alcoholism required a "profound spiritual realignment."
"The federal government should not be steering addiction treatment toward religious approaches," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Substance use disorders are medical conditions that require evidence-based interventions, not government-sponsored spirituality."
This announcement follows a broader effort by the Trump administration to increase the role of religious organizations in federally funded health programs. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services formally encouraged faith-based organizations to apply for federal addiction and behavioral health grants, citing President Trump's executive order last year directing agencies to facilitate the participation of religious entities in government programs.
FFRF has previously warned that these initiatives risk undermining constitutional safeguards and public health objectives.
"Taxpayer-funded public health programs must be secular, science-based and free from religious coercion," Gaylor says. "Addiction recovery is a medical and public health issue, not a vehicle for government-sponsored evangelism."
FFRF notes that while religious organizations may compete for public grants on equal terms, the Constitution prohibits the government from favoring religious providers or funding religious activities. Federal dollars may not be used to support worship, religious instruction or proselytizing.
The concerns are heightened because the Trump administration has already rescinded prior protections that required faith-based providers receiving federal funds to inform clients of secular alternatives. The administration has also affirmed that religious organizations may use religious criteria in hiring, even while operating taxpayer-funded programs.
The new initiative will award eight communities up to $3 million annually for four years to develop treatment systems for individuals experiencing homelessness, substance use disorders, serious mental illness and co-occurring conditions. FFRF stresses that any federally funded services must remain accessible to all beneficiaries regardless of religion and must adhere to established constitutional limits.
"Federal health dollars should expand access to proven, inclusive treatment," Gaylor adds. "They must not be diverted into programs that impose religious doctrine, exclude qualified staff based on faith, or substitute ideology for science."
FFRF will continue to monitor HHS implementation of these funding programs and urges Congress and federal agencies to ensure that behavioral health funding remains evidence-based, nondiscriminatory and firmly grounded in the separation of state and church.
* * *
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
* * *
Original text here: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-questions-700-million-hhs-initiative-favoring-faith-based-providers/
[Category: Religion]
* * *
FFRF questions $700 million HHS initiative favoring faith-based providers
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is raising concerns after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent touting of an expanded role for faith-based recovery organizations.
At a June 18 event in Michigan, Kennedy announced a $96 million funding opportunity through the Trump administration's Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program, ... Show Full Article MADISON, Wisconsin, June 24 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release: * * * FFRF questions $700 million HHS initiative favoring faith-based providers The Freedom From Religion Foundation is raising concerns after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent touting of an expanded role for faith-based recovery organizations. At a June 18 event in Michigan, Kennedy announced a $96 million funding opportunity through the Trump administration's Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program,along with an additional $612 million in behavioral health funding opportunities. Kennedy emphasized that one of the initiative's goals is to restore federal funding opportunities for faith-based groups.
"One of the features of our STREETS is opening up funding once again for faith-based organizations," Kennedy said. "The Biden administration actively discouraged funding to faith-based organizations for recovery. We think they're critical."
Kennedy also dismissed evidence-based harm reduction strategies, claiming that "harm reduction doesn't work" and attributing the nation's addiction crisis to policies such as needle exchange programs and safe consumption sites. However, decades of research have demonstrated that syringe service programs reduce the spread of infectious diseases and connect individuals with treatment services without increasing crime.
Kennedy's repeated reliance on spiritual and religious narratives to justify federal addiction policy is particularly troubling. During his remarks, Kennedy cited Alcoholics Anonymous and recounted a story involving psychiatrist Carl Jung's belief that recovery from alcoholism required a "profound spiritual realignment."
"The federal government should not be steering addiction treatment toward religious approaches," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Substance use disorders are medical conditions that require evidence-based interventions, not government-sponsored spirituality."
This announcement follows a broader effort by the Trump administration to increase the role of religious organizations in federally funded health programs. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services formally encouraged faith-based organizations to apply for federal addiction and behavioral health grants, citing President Trump's executive order last year directing agencies to facilitate the participation of religious entities in government programs.
FFRF has previously warned that these initiatives risk undermining constitutional safeguards and public health objectives.
"Taxpayer-funded public health programs must be secular, science-based and free from religious coercion," Gaylor says. "Addiction recovery is a medical and public health issue, not a vehicle for government-sponsored evangelism."
FFRF notes that while religious organizations may compete for public grants on equal terms, the Constitution prohibits the government from favoring religious providers or funding religious activities. Federal dollars may not be used to support worship, religious instruction or proselytizing.
The concerns are heightened because the Trump administration has already rescinded prior protections that required faith-based providers receiving federal funds to inform clients of secular alternatives. The administration has also affirmed that religious organizations may use religious criteria in hiring, even while operating taxpayer-funded programs.
The new initiative will award eight communities up to $3 million annually for four years to develop treatment systems for individuals experiencing homelessness, substance use disorders, serious mental illness and co-occurring conditions. FFRF stresses that any federally funded services must remain accessible to all beneficiaries regardless of religion and must adhere to established constitutional limits.
"Federal health dollars should expand access to proven, inclusive treatment," Gaylor adds. "They must not be diverted into programs that impose religious doctrine, exclude qualified staff based on faith, or substitute ideology for science."
FFRF will continue to monitor HHS implementation of these funding programs and urges Congress and federal agencies to ensure that behavioral health funding remains evidence-based, nondiscriminatory and firmly grounded in the separation of state and church.
* * *
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
* * *
Original text here: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-questions-700-million-hhs-initiative-favoring-faith-based-providers/
[Category: Religion]
Damon Runyon Honors Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD at 80th Anniversary Dinner
NEW YORK, June 24 -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release:
* * *
Damon Runyon honors Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, at 80th Anniversary Dinner
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation held its 80th Anniversary Dinner at the Metropolitan Club in New York on Thursday, June 4, 2026. The event raised nearly $1 million to support exceptional young scientists conducting high-risk, high-reward cancer research.
The dinner honored Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the Lester Wolfe Chair in ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, June 24 -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release: * * * Damon Runyon honors Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, at 80th Anniversary Dinner The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation held its 80th Anniversary Dinner at the Metropolitan Club in New York on Thursday, June 4, 2026. The event raised nearly $1 million to support exceptional young scientists conducting high-risk, high-reward cancer research. The dinner honored Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the Lester Wolfe Chair inMolecular Biology, and a Professor in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A former Damon Runyon Fellow and former Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator, Dr. Vander Heiden helped define the field of cancer metabolism, or how cancer cells rewire their use of nutrients to support growth and survival.
"When I was a PhD student, this intersection between cancer and metabolism was not something a lot of people were doing," he recalled. "So from a business perspective, funding me to chase this idea was not a good decision."
Fortunately, the Damon Runyon Fellowship Award Selection Committee was looking to invest in precisely this kind of out-of-the-box thinking. Decades later, Dr. Vander Heiden's research has produced a number of life-saving therapies, including a drug that can cross the blood-brain barrier to treat the most common form of brain cancer affecting young adults.
"I feel very lucky and special to have been involved in the development of drugs that actually help real people," Dr. Vander Heiden said.
Current Damon Runyon scientists are following in his trailblazing footsteps. Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Kelly L. Bolton, MD, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine, presented encouraging findings from two clinical trials she is conducting for drugs that target clonal hematopoiesis, a precancerous blood condition. If successful, these drugs would be the first genetically targeted preventative therapies for cancer.
Dinner attendees also heard from Damon Runyon-Bakewell Foundation Rachleff Innovator Mark Yarmarkovich, PhD, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, who pioneered peptide-centric (PC)-CAR T cells, which enable targeting of tumor-specific mutations long considered undruggable with conventional therapies. The first PC-CAR is being evaluated in a first-in-class clinical trial targeting a protein that drives neuroblastoma, and PC-CARs for other cancers are advancing toward clinical translation.
The occasion of the Foundation's 80th anniversary also marked the establishment of the Walter Winchell Society. Named for the famous broadcaster who went on the radio after his good friend Damon Runyon died of throat cancer to raise money for cancer research, the Society recognizes and celebrates the Foundation's emeritus trustees for their vital contributions to the Board over the past 80 years.
"[Walter Winchell] and the original trustees had the vision to support young scientists," said Yung S. Lie, PhD, President and CEO of Damon Runyon. "Over the decades, the Board has chosen to prioritize the possibility of breakthroughs over incremental progress, and our legacy of impact is a direct result of their bold courage."
* * *
Original text here: https://www.damonrunyon.org/event/damon-runyon-honors-matthew-g-vander-heiden-md-phd-80th-anniversary-dinner
* * *
Damon Runyon honors Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, at 80th Anniversary Dinner
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation held its 80th Anniversary Dinner at the Metropolitan Club in New York on Thursday, June 4, 2026. The event raised nearly $1 million to support exceptional young scientists conducting high-risk, high-reward cancer research.
The dinner honored Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the Lester Wolfe Chair in ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, June 24 -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release: * * * Damon Runyon honors Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, at 80th Anniversary Dinner The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation held its 80th Anniversary Dinner at the Metropolitan Club in New York on Thursday, June 4, 2026. The event raised nearly $1 million to support exceptional young scientists conducting high-risk, high-reward cancer research. The dinner honored Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the Lester Wolfe Chair inMolecular Biology, and a Professor in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A former Damon Runyon Fellow and former Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator, Dr. Vander Heiden helped define the field of cancer metabolism, or how cancer cells rewire their use of nutrients to support growth and survival.
"When I was a PhD student, this intersection between cancer and metabolism was not something a lot of people were doing," he recalled. "So from a business perspective, funding me to chase this idea was not a good decision."
Fortunately, the Damon Runyon Fellowship Award Selection Committee was looking to invest in precisely this kind of out-of-the-box thinking. Decades later, Dr. Vander Heiden's research has produced a number of life-saving therapies, including a drug that can cross the blood-brain barrier to treat the most common form of brain cancer affecting young adults.
"I feel very lucky and special to have been involved in the development of drugs that actually help real people," Dr. Vander Heiden said.
Current Damon Runyon scientists are following in his trailblazing footsteps. Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Kelly L. Bolton, MD, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine, presented encouraging findings from two clinical trials she is conducting for drugs that target clonal hematopoiesis, a precancerous blood condition. If successful, these drugs would be the first genetically targeted preventative therapies for cancer.
Dinner attendees also heard from Damon Runyon-Bakewell Foundation Rachleff Innovator Mark Yarmarkovich, PhD, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, who pioneered peptide-centric (PC)-CAR T cells, which enable targeting of tumor-specific mutations long considered undruggable with conventional therapies. The first PC-CAR is being evaluated in a first-in-class clinical trial targeting a protein that drives neuroblastoma, and PC-CARs for other cancers are advancing toward clinical translation.
The occasion of the Foundation's 80th anniversary also marked the establishment of the Walter Winchell Society. Named for the famous broadcaster who went on the radio after his good friend Damon Runyon died of throat cancer to raise money for cancer research, the Society recognizes and celebrates the Foundation's emeritus trustees for their vital contributions to the Board over the past 80 years.
"[Walter Winchell] and the original trustees had the vision to support young scientists," said Yung S. Lie, PhD, President and CEO of Damon Runyon. "Over the decades, the Board has chosen to prioritize the possibility of breakthroughs over incremental progress, and our legacy of impact is a direct result of their bold courage."
* * *
Original text here: https://www.damonrunyon.org/event/damon-runyon-honors-matthew-g-vander-heiden-md-phd-80th-anniversary-dinner
Conservation Law Foundation Issues Letter to 4 Companies
BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 24 (TNSletter) -- Conservation Law Foundation issued the following letter to four companies:
* * *
Here is the text of the letter:
June 18, 2026
James F. Kane
President & CEO, A.D. Makepeace Company
President & CEO, ADM Management Corporation
158 Tihonet Road
Wareham, MA 02571
-
Daniel Gorczyca
VP & Project Executive, ADM Agawam Development LLC
158 Tihonet Road
Wareham, MA 02571
-
Michael McVeigh
Registered Agent, A.D. Makepeace Company
Registered Agent, ADM Agawam Development LLC
Registered Agent, ADM Management Corporation
Registered Agent, Read ... Show Full Article BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 24 (TNSletter) -- Conservation Law Foundation issued the following letter to four companies: * * * Here is the text of the letter: June 18, 2026 James F. Kane President & CEO, A.D. Makepeace Company President & CEO, ADM Management Corporation 158 Tihonet Road Wareham, MA 02571 - Daniel Gorczyca VP & Project Executive, ADM Agawam Development LLC 158 Tihonet Road Wareham, MA 02571 - Michael McVeigh Registered Agent, A.D. Makepeace Company Registered Agent, ADM Agawam Development LLC Registered Agent, ADM Management Corporation Registered Agent, ReadCustom Soils LLC
158 Tihonet Road
Wareham, MA 02571
-
RE: Notice of Violations and Intent to File Suit Under the Clean Water Act
To Whom It May Concern:
The Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. ("CLF") hereby gives notice to A.D. Makepeace Company, ADM Agawam Development LLC, ADM Management Corporation, and Read Custom Soils LLC (collectively, "A.D. Makepeace") and its agents and directors of its intent to file suit pursuant to Section 505 of the Clean Water Act (the "Act"), 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1365(a), for violations of the Act specified below. This Notice of Intent to Sue ("Notice Letter") constitutes notice pursuant to 40 C.F.R., Part 135 to the addressed persons of CLF's intention to file suit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking appropriate equitable relief, civil penalties, and other relief no earlier than 60 days from the postmark date of this Notice Letter.
The subject of this action is A.D. Makepeace's failure to comply with the Section 404 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1344, at four cranberry bog sites in Carver and Plymouth, Massachusetts. At all four sites, A.D. Makepeace has discharged dredged or fill material into navigable waters without authorization from any permit as required by Section 404, resulting in the unauthorized alteration of those waters, including jurisdictional wetlands and perennial streams.
PERSONS GIVING NOTICE
CLF is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the protection and conservation of New England's environment, including New England's waters and their uses and benefits. CLF's members' interests are adversely affected by A.D. Makepeace's violations.
LOCATIONS OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS
The violations alleged in this Notice Letter have occurred and continue to occur at the following A.D. Makepeace locations (collectively, the "Sites"):
1. 24 Federal Road/ 0 Golden Pond Road, Carver ("Smith-Hammond Bogs");
2. 46 Federal Road, Carver ("Wankinko1 Bogs");
3. Wareham Road, Plymouth ("White Island Bogs"); and
4. 0 Wihonet (Off East Head Wihonet and Tihonet Road), Plymouth ("Canning Bogs").
PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALLEGED VIOLATIONS
A.D. Makepeace Company, ADM Agawam Development LLC, ADM Management Corporation, and Read Custom Soils LLC are "person[s]" within the meaning of Section 505(a) of the CWA.2
A.D. Makepeace Company and ADM Agawam Development LLC own the Sites where the violations are occurring and continue to occur and that are the subject of this Notice Letter and have owned the locations at all relevant times. A.D. Makepeace Company owns the SmithHammond, Wankinko, and Canning Bogs Sites, and has owned the Sites at all relevant times.
ADM Agawam Development Company owns the White Island Bogs Site and has owned the Site at all relevant times. ADM Management Corporation operates the Site.
Read Custom Soils LLC is a subsidiary of A.D. Makepeace Company and mines, excavates, extracts, and dredges the sand, gravel, and earth materials that comprise the dredged or fill materials that are discharged without a permit. Upon information and belief, Read Custom Soils LLC discharges dredged and fill material into waters of the United States at the Sites.
BACKGROUND
In order to excavate and extract sand and gravel, A.D. Makepeace conducted commercial stripmining at the Sites. This strip-mining involved clearing forests and land of trees and vegetation, leveling hills, removing topsoil, and removing layers of sand and gravel. A.D. Makepeace also dredged underlying aquifers for earth materials. A.D. Makepeace discharged tons of sand, gravel, and dredged material into navigable waters at the Sites, permanently filling acres of wetlands and filling or altering perennial streams. The partial or complete filling of wetlands and streams poses serious risks to the environment and to the safety of surrounding communities.
A. A.D. Makepeace Discharges Pollutants into Waters of the United States.
The Clean Water Act prohibits any person from discharging any pollutant from a point source to waters of the United States unless in compliance with another provision of the Act, such as authorization under Section 404. 3
A discharge of a pollutant is "any addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from any point source."4 A point source is "any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance...from which pollutants are or may be discharged."5 Materials such as "dredged soil," "biological material," "rock, sand," and "industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste," constitute pollutants under the Act.6 A.D. Makepeace discharges pollutants from point sources when it discharges Wetlands are "navigable waters" or "waters of the United States" under the Act when they have a "continuous surface connection to bodies that are 'waters of the United States' in their own right, so that there is no clear demarcation between 'waters' and 'wetlands.'"7 Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.8 Impoundments of water and tributaries that are "relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water" are considered waters of the United States in their own right.9 Each of the Sites are waters of the United States.10
B. A.D. Makepeace's Operations Require Them to Obtain a Permit Under Section 404 of the Act.
Under Section 404 of the Act, A.D. Makepeace may not discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States except in accordance with a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("USACE") or an exemption under USACE regulations.11
"Dredged material" is any "material that is excavated or dredged" from waters of the United States.12 A discharge of dredged material occurs when dredged material is added or redeposited into waters of the United States.13 "Fill material" is any material, excluding garbage, that, when placed into waters of the United States, "has the effect of replacing any portion of a [water of the United States] with dry land; or changing the bottom elevation of any portion of a [water of the United States]."14 A discharge of fill material is "the addition of fill material" into waters of the United States.15
A.D. Makepeace must obtain an individual permit from USACE, or obtain coverage under a Regional General Permit or Nationwide General Permit, in order to discharge fill or dredged materials into waters of the United States at its Sites. To obtain a permit under Section 404, A.D. Makepeace must demonstrate that (1) no practicable alternative exists that is less damaging to the aquatic environment, or (2) the nation's waters would not be significantly degraded.16 The Act requires A.D. Makepeace to take steps to avoid impacts to wetlands, streams, and aquatic resources, show that potential impacts have been minimized, and provide compensation for all remaining unavoidable impacts.17
ACTIVITIES ALLEGED TO BE VIOLATIONS
At all of the Sites, A.D. Makepeace unlawfully discharged dredged or fill material from a point source into waters of the United States without a Section 404 permit.
A.D. Makepeace conducted commercial sand and gravel mining at its Sites and subsequently discharged fill materials into waters of the United States at each Site. The discharge of dredged and fill materials into the wetlands permanently and drastically altered the shape and topography of the wetlands and impacted hundreds of linear feet of perennial streams.
For example, samples taken in 2025 at the Canning Bogs Site show the presence of human transported material with an odor of biosolids. Aerial images from the Canning Bogs show what appears to be stumps and debris associated with land clearing discharged into the waters. Upon information and belief, the same materials associated with land clearing has been discharged at the White Islands Bogs, Wankinko Bogs, and Smith-Hammond Bogs Sites. The materials that A.D. Makepeace discharged are pollutants under the Act.18
A.D. Makepeace uses excavators, bulldozers, front-end loaders, and other machinery19 to move the dredged and fill materials from its mining and discharge them into the wetlands and perennial streams at the Sites via pushing, grading, and dumping. Aerial images show the use of this equipment at three of the four Sites. Upon information and belief, this equipment was used for dredging and filling at the fourth Site, the Wankinko Bogs, based on the size and scale of the impact.
A.D. Makepeace used the deposited materials to permanently alter the shape and topography of the wetlands and stop the flow of perennial streams, which constitute waters of the United States.
A. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the Smith-Hammond Bogs Site Violate Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The Smith-Hammond Bogs Site is on a portion of a 336.5-acre parcel identified by the Town of Carver Assessor as Map 131 Lot 1-3R. The violations are within a 42 square mile Agawam River/Frontal Buzzards Bay subwatershed and within a perennial stream that leads to tidal waters as determined by USGS maps and a river thread created via the USGS StreamStats application. The perennial stream flows to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay. These waters are all waters of the United States.
A.D. Makepeace altered and filled approximately 58.5 acres of wetlands at the Smith-Hammond Bogs Site, including the complete filling of approximately 6.3 acres which were turned into upland areas, and partial filling of additional areas. A.D. Makepeace's discharge of dredged and fill materials also altered approximately 575 linear feet of perennial stream at the Site.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the Smith-Hammond Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
B. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the Wankinko Bogs Site Violates Section 404 of the Act.
The Wankinko Bogs Site is within an approximately 538-acre parcel identified by the Town of Carver Assessor as Map 131, Lot 2-4. The wetlands at the Site included a perennial stream that connected to the Wankinco River. The Wankinco River flows through Tihonet Pond and into the Wareham River. These waters constitute waters of the United States.
A.D. Makepeace engaged in commercial sand and gravel mining at the Wankinko Bogs Site since 2011. In doing so, it has strip-mined or plans to strip-mine approximately 60 acres of wetlands. Between June 2012 and May 2015, A.D. Makepeace filled the perennial stream, permanently eliminating it. The discharged dredged or fill material remains in place. A.D. Makepeace also entirely filled portions of the wetlands in order to build trucking roads to facilitate its mining operations.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the Wankinko Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
C. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the White Islands Bogs Site Violates Section 404 of the Act.
The White Island Bogs Site is within a parcel of land identified by the Town of Plymouth Assessor as Map 115-000-000A-049 with a street address of 2 River Run Way. The wetlands were formerly connected to a perennial river and stream that flowed into Red Brook and to Buzzards Bay. The Site is within the Red-Brook Cape Cod Canal subwatershed.
A.D. Makepeace discharged dredged or fill material into about 560 linear feet of perennial river and stream, and 20.5 acres of associated wetlands between 2018 and May 2023. The dredged or fill material remains in place.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the White Island Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
D. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the Canning Bogs Site Violates Section 404 of the Act.
The Canning Bogs Site is within a parcel of land identified by the Town of Plymouth Assessor as Map/Lot 126-000-007-003. The Site formerly contained a perennial stream that flowed through the Bogs and into the Wankinco River. The wetlands were also connected to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay. The wetlands, perennial stream, and rivers are all waters of the United States
A.D. Makepeace discharged dredged or fill material into perennial streams and wetlands at the Site. A.D. Makepeace altered streams by dredging and filling them. A.D. Makepeace dammed the Wankinco River by installing flume/weir devices. A.D. Makepeace also dredged, filled, and altered associated wetlands connected to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay between May 2015 and January 2021.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the Canning Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
DATES OF THE VIOLATIONS
Each day that A.D. Makepeace discharges dredged or fill material without a permit and each day that the material remains in place constitutes a separate and distinct violation of Sections 301(a) and 404(f)(2) of the CWA.20
A.D. Makepeace has not been in compliance at any of the Sites since at least June 2012. A.D. Makepeace illegally discharged fill or dredged material at: (1) Smith-Hammond Bogs between 2018 and 2026; (2) Wankinko Bogs between June 2012 and May 2015; (3) Canning Bogs between May 2015 and January 2021; and (4) White Island Bogs between 2018 and May 2023. The fill materials remain in place at all of the Sites. A.D. Makepeace's violations of Sections 301(a) and 404(f)(2) of the Act are ongoing and continuous, and barring an order to restore the Sites to their original condition, these violations will continue indefinitely.
The allegations in this Notice Letter are based on documents obtained by CLF through publicly available information. If CLF obtains evidence of additional violations of the Act at the Sites, including violations which take place after the date of this Notice Letter, CLF will incorporate those violations into its Complaint. CLF hereby provides notice to A.D. Makepeace of all violations of the Act.
RELIEF REQUESTED
A.D. Makepeace is liable for the above-described violations. Each separate violation of the Act subjects the violator to a penalty of up to $68,445.00 per day per violation for all violations occurring after November 2, 2015, where penalties are assessed on or after January 8, 2025 pursuant to Sections 309(d) and 505(a) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1319(d) and 40 C.F.R. Sec.Sec. 19.1- 19.4. CLF will seek the full penalties allowed by law.
In addition to civil penalties, CLF will seek appropriate declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent further violations of the Act pursuant to Sections 505(a) and (d), 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1365(a) and (d), and such other relief as permitted by law. CLF will seek an order from the Court requiring A.D. Makepeace to correct all identified violations and demonstrate full regulatory compliance.
Lastly, pursuant to Section 505(d) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1365(d), CLF will seek recovery of costs and fees associated with this matter.
CONCLUSION
During the 60-day notice period, CLF is willing to discuss effective remedies for the violations noted in this letter that may avoid the necessity of further litigation. If you wish to pursue such discussions, please have your attorney contact Heather Govern by July 8, 2026, so that negotiations may be completed before the end of the 60-day notice period. We do not intend to delay the filing of a complaint in federal court if discussions are continuing at the conclusion of 60 days.
Sincerely,
Phoebe K. DeMeerleer, Esq.,
Conservation Law Foundation
235 Promenade Street, Ste. 560
Providence, RI 02908
(401) 228-1908
pdemeerleer@clf.org
-
Heather A. Govern, Esq., MA Bar No. 688482
Conservation Law Foundation
62 Summer Street
Boston, MA 02110
(617) 850-1765
hgovern@clf.org
cc:
Lee Zeldin, Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
-
Mark A. Sanborn, Regional Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109
-
Bonnie Heiple, Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
-
Citizen Suit Coordinator
Environment and Natural Resources Division Law and Policy Section
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
* * *
Original text and footnotes here: https://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/A.D.-Makepeace-NOI.pdf
News Release here: https://www.clf.org/newsroom/ma-cranberry-grower-and-sand-miner-damaging-wetlands-and-waterways/
* * *
Here is the text of the letter:
June 18, 2026
James F. Kane
President & CEO, A.D. Makepeace Company
President & CEO, ADM Management Corporation
158 Tihonet Road
Wareham, MA 02571
-
Daniel Gorczyca
VP & Project Executive, ADM Agawam Development LLC
158 Tihonet Road
Wareham, MA 02571
-
Michael McVeigh
Registered Agent, A.D. Makepeace Company
Registered Agent, ADM Agawam Development LLC
Registered Agent, ADM Management Corporation
Registered Agent, Read ... Show Full Article BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 24 (TNSletter) -- Conservation Law Foundation issued the following letter to four companies: * * * Here is the text of the letter: June 18, 2026 James F. Kane President & CEO, A.D. Makepeace Company President & CEO, ADM Management Corporation 158 Tihonet Road Wareham, MA 02571 - Daniel Gorczyca VP & Project Executive, ADM Agawam Development LLC 158 Tihonet Road Wareham, MA 02571 - Michael McVeigh Registered Agent, A.D. Makepeace Company Registered Agent, ADM Agawam Development LLC Registered Agent, ADM Management Corporation Registered Agent, ReadCustom Soils LLC
158 Tihonet Road
Wareham, MA 02571
-
RE: Notice of Violations and Intent to File Suit Under the Clean Water Act
To Whom It May Concern:
The Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. ("CLF") hereby gives notice to A.D. Makepeace Company, ADM Agawam Development LLC, ADM Management Corporation, and Read Custom Soils LLC (collectively, "A.D. Makepeace") and its agents and directors of its intent to file suit pursuant to Section 505 of the Clean Water Act (the "Act"), 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1365(a), for violations of the Act specified below. This Notice of Intent to Sue ("Notice Letter") constitutes notice pursuant to 40 C.F.R., Part 135 to the addressed persons of CLF's intention to file suit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking appropriate equitable relief, civil penalties, and other relief no earlier than 60 days from the postmark date of this Notice Letter.
The subject of this action is A.D. Makepeace's failure to comply with the Section 404 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1344, at four cranberry bog sites in Carver and Plymouth, Massachusetts. At all four sites, A.D. Makepeace has discharged dredged or fill material into navigable waters without authorization from any permit as required by Section 404, resulting in the unauthorized alteration of those waters, including jurisdictional wetlands and perennial streams.
PERSONS GIVING NOTICE
CLF is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the protection and conservation of New England's environment, including New England's waters and their uses and benefits. CLF's members' interests are adversely affected by A.D. Makepeace's violations.
LOCATIONS OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS
The violations alleged in this Notice Letter have occurred and continue to occur at the following A.D. Makepeace locations (collectively, the "Sites"):
1. 24 Federal Road/ 0 Golden Pond Road, Carver ("Smith-Hammond Bogs");
2. 46 Federal Road, Carver ("Wankinko1 Bogs");
3. Wareham Road, Plymouth ("White Island Bogs"); and
4. 0 Wihonet (Off East Head Wihonet and Tihonet Road), Plymouth ("Canning Bogs").
PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALLEGED VIOLATIONS
A.D. Makepeace Company, ADM Agawam Development LLC, ADM Management Corporation, and Read Custom Soils LLC are "person[s]" within the meaning of Section 505(a) of the CWA.2
A.D. Makepeace Company and ADM Agawam Development LLC own the Sites where the violations are occurring and continue to occur and that are the subject of this Notice Letter and have owned the locations at all relevant times. A.D. Makepeace Company owns the SmithHammond, Wankinko, and Canning Bogs Sites, and has owned the Sites at all relevant times.
ADM Agawam Development Company owns the White Island Bogs Site and has owned the Site at all relevant times. ADM Management Corporation operates the Site.
Read Custom Soils LLC is a subsidiary of A.D. Makepeace Company and mines, excavates, extracts, and dredges the sand, gravel, and earth materials that comprise the dredged or fill materials that are discharged without a permit. Upon information and belief, Read Custom Soils LLC discharges dredged and fill material into waters of the United States at the Sites.
BACKGROUND
In order to excavate and extract sand and gravel, A.D. Makepeace conducted commercial stripmining at the Sites. This strip-mining involved clearing forests and land of trees and vegetation, leveling hills, removing topsoil, and removing layers of sand and gravel. A.D. Makepeace also dredged underlying aquifers for earth materials. A.D. Makepeace discharged tons of sand, gravel, and dredged material into navigable waters at the Sites, permanently filling acres of wetlands and filling or altering perennial streams. The partial or complete filling of wetlands and streams poses serious risks to the environment and to the safety of surrounding communities.
A. A.D. Makepeace Discharges Pollutants into Waters of the United States.
The Clean Water Act prohibits any person from discharging any pollutant from a point source to waters of the United States unless in compliance with another provision of the Act, such as authorization under Section 404. 3
A discharge of a pollutant is "any addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from any point source."4 A point source is "any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance...from which pollutants are or may be discharged."5 Materials such as "dredged soil," "biological material," "rock, sand," and "industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste," constitute pollutants under the Act.6 A.D. Makepeace discharges pollutants from point sources when it discharges Wetlands are "navigable waters" or "waters of the United States" under the Act when they have a "continuous surface connection to bodies that are 'waters of the United States' in their own right, so that there is no clear demarcation between 'waters' and 'wetlands.'"7 Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.8 Impoundments of water and tributaries that are "relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water" are considered waters of the United States in their own right.9 Each of the Sites are waters of the United States.10
B. A.D. Makepeace's Operations Require Them to Obtain a Permit Under Section 404 of the Act.
Under Section 404 of the Act, A.D. Makepeace may not discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States except in accordance with a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("USACE") or an exemption under USACE regulations.11
"Dredged material" is any "material that is excavated or dredged" from waters of the United States.12 A discharge of dredged material occurs when dredged material is added or redeposited into waters of the United States.13 "Fill material" is any material, excluding garbage, that, when placed into waters of the United States, "has the effect of replacing any portion of a [water of the United States] with dry land; or changing the bottom elevation of any portion of a [water of the United States]."14 A discharge of fill material is "the addition of fill material" into waters of the United States.15
A.D. Makepeace must obtain an individual permit from USACE, or obtain coverage under a Regional General Permit or Nationwide General Permit, in order to discharge fill or dredged materials into waters of the United States at its Sites. To obtain a permit under Section 404, A.D. Makepeace must demonstrate that (1) no practicable alternative exists that is less damaging to the aquatic environment, or (2) the nation's waters would not be significantly degraded.16 The Act requires A.D. Makepeace to take steps to avoid impacts to wetlands, streams, and aquatic resources, show that potential impacts have been minimized, and provide compensation for all remaining unavoidable impacts.17
ACTIVITIES ALLEGED TO BE VIOLATIONS
At all of the Sites, A.D. Makepeace unlawfully discharged dredged or fill material from a point source into waters of the United States without a Section 404 permit.
A.D. Makepeace conducted commercial sand and gravel mining at its Sites and subsequently discharged fill materials into waters of the United States at each Site. The discharge of dredged and fill materials into the wetlands permanently and drastically altered the shape and topography of the wetlands and impacted hundreds of linear feet of perennial streams.
For example, samples taken in 2025 at the Canning Bogs Site show the presence of human transported material with an odor of biosolids. Aerial images from the Canning Bogs show what appears to be stumps and debris associated with land clearing discharged into the waters. Upon information and belief, the same materials associated with land clearing has been discharged at the White Islands Bogs, Wankinko Bogs, and Smith-Hammond Bogs Sites. The materials that A.D. Makepeace discharged are pollutants under the Act.18
A.D. Makepeace uses excavators, bulldozers, front-end loaders, and other machinery19 to move the dredged and fill materials from its mining and discharge them into the wetlands and perennial streams at the Sites via pushing, grading, and dumping. Aerial images show the use of this equipment at three of the four Sites. Upon information and belief, this equipment was used for dredging and filling at the fourth Site, the Wankinko Bogs, based on the size and scale of the impact.
A.D. Makepeace used the deposited materials to permanently alter the shape and topography of the wetlands and stop the flow of perennial streams, which constitute waters of the United States.
A. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the Smith-Hammond Bogs Site Violate Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The Smith-Hammond Bogs Site is on a portion of a 336.5-acre parcel identified by the Town of Carver Assessor as Map 131 Lot 1-3R. The violations are within a 42 square mile Agawam River/Frontal Buzzards Bay subwatershed and within a perennial stream that leads to tidal waters as determined by USGS maps and a river thread created via the USGS StreamStats application. The perennial stream flows to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay. These waters are all waters of the United States.
A.D. Makepeace altered and filled approximately 58.5 acres of wetlands at the Smith-Hammond Bogs Site, including the complete filling of approximately 6.3 acres which were turned into upland areas, and partial filling of additional areas. A.D. Makepeace's discharge of dredged and fill materials also altered approximately 575 linear feet of perennial stream at the Site.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the Smith-Hammond Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
B. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the Wankinko Bogs Site Violates Section 404 of the Act.
The Wankinko Bogs Site is within an approximately 538-acre parcel identified by the Town of Carver Assessor as Map 131, Lot 2-4. The wetlands at the Site included a perennial stream that connected to the Wankinco River. The Wankinco River flows through Tihonet Pond and into the Wareham River. These waters constitute waters of the United States.
A.D. Makepeace engaged in commercial sand and gravel mining at the Wankinko Bogs Site since 2011. In doing so, it has strip-mined or plans to strip-mine approximately 60 acres of wetlands. Between June 2012 and May 2015, A.D. Makepeace filled the perennial stream, permanently eliminating it. The discharged dredged or fill material remains in place. A.D. Makepeace also entirely filled portions of the wetlands in order to build trucking roads to facilitate its mining operations.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the Wankinko Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
C. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the White Islands Bogs Site Violates Section 404 of the Act.
The White Island Bogs Site is within a parcel of land identified by the Town of Plymouth Assessor as Map 115-000-000A-049 with a street address of 2 River Run Way. The wetlands were formerly connected to a perennial river and stream that flowed into Red Brook and to Buzzards Bay. The Site is within the Red-Brook Cape Cod Canal subwatershed.
A.D. Makepeace discharged dredged or fill material into about 560 linear feet of perennial river and stream, and 20.5 acres of associated wetlands between 2018 and May 2023. The dredged or fill material remains in place.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the White Island Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
D. A.D. Makepeace's Operations at the Canning Bogs Site Violates Section 404 of the Act.
The Canning Bogs Site is within a parcel of land identified by the Town of Plymouth Assessor as Map/Lot 126-000-007-003. The Site formerly contained a perennial stream that flowed through the Bogs and into the Wankinco River. The wetlands were also connected to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay. The wetlands, perennial stream, and rivers are all waters of the United States
A.D. Makepeace discharged dredged or fill material into perennial streams and wetlands at the Site. A.D. Makepeace altered streams by dredging and filling them. A.D. Makepeace dammed the Wankinco River by installing flume/weir devices. A.D. Makepeace also dredged, filled, and altered associated wetlands connected to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay between May 2015 and January 2021.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the Canning Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
DATES OF THE VIOLATIONS
Each day that A.D. Makepeace discharges dredged or fill material without a permit and each day that the material remains in place constitutes a separate and distinct violation of Sections 301(a) and 404(f)(2) of the CWA.20
A.D. Makepeace has not been in compliance at any of the Sites since at least June 2012. A.D. Makepeace illegally discharged fill or dredged material at: (1) Smith-Hammond Bogs between 2018 and 2026; (2) Wankinko Bogs between June 2012 and May 2015; (3) Canning Bogs between May 2015 and January 2021; and (4) White Island Bogs between 2018 and May 2023. The fill materials remain in place at all of the Sites. A.D. Makepeace's violations of Sections 301(a) and 404(f)(2) of the Act are ongoing and continuous, and barring an order to restore the Sites to their original condition, these violations will continue indefinitely.
The allegations in this Notice Letter are based on documents obtained by CLF through publicly available information. If CLF obtains evidence of additional violations of the Act at the Sites, including violations which take place after the date of this Notice Letter, CLF will incorporate those violations into its Complaint. CLF hereby provides notice to A.D. Makepeace of all violations of the Act.
RELIEF REQUESTED
A.D. Makepeace is liable for the above-described violations. Each separate violation of the Act subjects the violator to a penalty of up to $68,445.00 per day per violation for all violations occurring after November 2, 2015, where penalties are assessed on or after January 8, 2025 pursuant to Sections 309(d) and 505(a) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1319(d) and 40 C.F.R. Sec.Sec. 19.1- 19.4. CLF will seek the full penalties allowed by law.
In addition to civil penalties, CLF will seek appropriate declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent further violations of the Act pursuant to Sections 505(a) and (d), 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1365(a) and (d), and such other relief as permitted by law. CLF will seek an order from the Court requiring A.D. Makepeace to correct all identified violations and demonstrate full regulatory compliance.
Lastly, pursuant to Section 505(d) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1365(d), CLF will seek recovery of costs and fees associated with this matter.
CONCLUSION
During the 60-day notice period, CLF is willing to discuss effective remedies for the violations noted in this letter that may avoid the necessity of further litigation. If you wish to pursue such discussions, please have your attorney contact Heather Govern by July 8, 2026, so that negotiations may be completed before the end of the 60-day notice period. We do not intend to delay the filing of a complaint in federal court if discussions are continuing at the conclusion of 60 days.
Sincerely,
Phoebe K. DeMeerleer, Esq.,
Conservation Law Foundation
235 Promenade Street, Ste. 560
Providence, RI 02908
(401) 228-1908
pdemeerleer@clf.org
-
Heather A. Govern, Esq., MA Bar No. 688482
Conservation Law Foundation
62 Summer Street
Boston, MA 02110
(617) 850-1765
hgovern@clf.org
cc:
Lee Zeldin, Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
-
Mark A. Sanborn, Regional Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109
-
Bonnie Heiple, Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
-
Citizen Suit Coordinator
Environment and Natural Resources Division Law and Policy Section
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
* * *
Original text and footnotes here: https://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/A.D.-Makepeace-NOI.pdf
News Release here: https://www.clf.org/newsroom/ma-cranberry-grower-and-sand-miner-damaging-wetlands-and-waterways/