In the face of continuing cutbacks from government austerity measures, many nonprofits and their grantmaker partners are exploring ways to increase their impact and most effectively invest their resources in communities.

As we take stock of the current state of America's children and the desperate need to change direction for the future, some ancient wisdom can give us a blueprint for setting sail and getting our children to safe harbor.

As the president and Congress struggle to find a way to lower the budget deficit and to raise the debt ceiling before we default on our debt for the first time in history, I hope they will stay away from further cuts in essential food, health, education, and other supports children need.

President Obama has called education the civil rights issue of our time. Now is the time for the next transforming freedom moment and movement -- to set our children free from illiteracy, low expectations, and jobless, hopeless futures.

The Rev. Dr. Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray spent a lifetime challenging not only racial segregation, but systems of discrimination in all of their forms.

Ramrod straight of posture, unwaveringly principled and caring, keenly intelligent and elegant in speech, Dr. Mays was one of the most important people to me during my college years at Spelman.

New York City parent Yvonne works as a home care attendant to help support her 3-year-old son Darnell. Earlier this year she received a letter saying he would be dropped from the program.

Despite the critical immediate solutions to the pervasive child hunger Dr. King saw, the underlying crisis -- pervasive child poverty -- persists in the Mississippi Delta.

"For poor children... poverty means more than money. For them, it can be a life sentence of exile from the larger society... Poor children and children who are not poor live in utterly different worlds."

The 2010 Lilith Tour's partnership with TouchPoint Trust Group is an opportunity for fans to participate in the movement to take control in driving social change.