Social Change: Sagrado’s Philanthropy Lab
Course Taught by Anitza Cox-Marrero
Department: Business Administration

Anitza Maria Cox-Marrero  has been a consultant in social policy issues for more than 20 years and is a leading scholar on topics related to the nonprofit sector in Puerto Rico. She is a Partner at Estudios Técnicos , Inc., Puerto Rico’s leading economic, social and planning consulting firm, and currently acts as Director of the Social Policy and Research Division. At the firm, she has coordinated the study on non-profit organizations in Puerto Rico since 2002, a longitudinal study about the economic and social impact of the Third Sector, which has contributed to the enactment of important pieces of legislation to promote philanthropy in the Island. One of her main responsibilities at Estudios Técnicos , Inc. is the coordination of projects which involve the evaluation and design of public policies and plans, in the areas of: health (HIV prevention, care and treatment), social services, community development, housing for special populations and juvenile delinquency. She also provides technical assistance to several governmental agencies and NPOs in areas of program design and compliance .  She has been in the academy for more than 15 years. Besides offering Sagrado’s Philanthropy Lab Course, at the University of Sacred Heart, she is a professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico, where she teaches courses in research, program evaluation and external resources. In addition, she was part of the faculty of the Graduate Program in Nonprofit Management at the University of the Sacred Heart, the Communications Program at the Inter-American University and the Community Development Program at Rutgers University, special project in Puerto Rico. 

Unique Course Components

• 2 Reflections in class on students’ perspective on philanthropy
• Groups do exploratory research on issues of concern to them and then present to class, resulting in dividing into student Board of Directors for up to 4 cause areas, each board having a chair and officers
• White board technique – During class discussions on theory, students identify issues to consider when developing funding criteria. These ideas are organized and serve as the basis for the criteria development exercise and funding application
• Class Board of Directors establishes funds with different approaches based on the selected priority areas, example: “Fund for Decent Housing in Puerto Rico”
• Boards develop grant criteria, the grant application, the proposal evaluation instrument, and the communication strategy for notifying funding availability
• Public RFP issued by invitation to orgs selected by the Boards
• Final memorandum and final presentations where students reflect on the journey through the course, results, and lessons learned
• Class is funded by two local foundations, who provide resources for researching potential grantees in Puerto Rico

Guest Speakers

• Angel Ramos Foundation, a family foundation, one of the oldest and largest in Puerto Rico
• Titín Foundation, who also sponsors our class
• Fundación de Mujeres an emerging foundation, established about three years ago
• United Way of Puerto Rico, focused on individual and corporate donations
• Our School, to discuss transparency and accountability processes