NASW NEWS

Robert Arnold and Elizabeth J. Clark flank Diana and Clarence Chan and their son Harrison Leong. Courtesy of NASW California Chapter

Foundation Receives $300,000

The Chans surprise the Foundation with additional funds.

By Lyn Stoesen, News Staff

Retired California school social worker Diana Ming Chan and her husband Clarence Chan have made an additional donation of $300,000 to the NASW Foundation's Learning Springboard Endowment.

In 2000, the Chans donated an initial $500,000 toward a pledged total of $1 million to establish the endowment, which funds a project to support and promote social workers in San Francisco public schools.

They added the new donation during a reception held Oct. 7 by the association's California Chapter during a visit by NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark and Development Director Robert Arnold. Clark also serves as the Foundation board's president, and Arnold staffs it.

"By putting the money into NASW, we affirm our organization and affirm my profession," Diana Ming Chan said. Also, she noted, the NASW Foundation "is a 501(c)3, which means we would not be taxed as heavily" on capital gains from the real estate the Chans invested in, which enabled them to make the donation. "It is a win-win for everybody."

The program establishes a graduate student internship program with an MSW coordinator. The Learning Springboard Endowment provides half of the coordinator's salary, with the other half matched by the school district. This structure, Arnold noted, implements a "leveraging effect," with the coordinator overseeing a group of interns who can offer the social work services needed in the schools.

In addition to the Chans' donation to the endowment, the Chans' son, Harrison Leong, has contributed money to fund a study to measure the impact of school social workers. This kind of research is hard to come by, Arnold said. "His goal is to gather empirical data, which fits in with what we want to do."

"Research that can examine measurable outcomes is crucial," Arnold said. He also noted that Leong is not a social worker himself. "To have someone who is not a social work professional recognize the importance of the services social workers provide is significant."

Arnold said the kind of gift the Chans made is notable for many reasons, but in particular because "these are private people giving money to support a public school district. Public schools raise money selling candy and gift-wrap! This is an example to school social workers and others all over the country of how private energy and support and funding can help public schools."

"We hope this model will inspire social workers in other cities and states to explore setting up similar programs," Arnold said.