Bob Embry leaves his imprint

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The Abell Foundation has a broad portfolio, encompassing a wide array of program areas — health and human services, community development, education and workforce development, criminal justice and addiction, environment and the arts — that has had as its unifying theme improving life outcomes in Baltimore City so that all can thrive. Heading its efforts in grantmaking, research and investments for nearly four decades has been its president, Robert C. Embry jr.

Bob Embry recently announced that he would be stepping down as head of the Abell Foundation. We have known each other over the years and he agreed to be interviewed by me over Zoom.

Some background on the foundation may be instructive. The Abell Foundation has its origins in the fortune created by the A.S. Abell Company, which owned and published the Baltimore Sun, the Evening Sun and other regional publications.

As the foundation’s annual report points out, “While the foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in Maryland, particularly Baltimore City, there are criticisms that the foundation’s past actions and ties to the Baltimore Sun’s history may be considered “unsavory” by some. The Baltimore Sun, during its ownership by the A.S. Abell Company, was accused of using its platform to fuel racism and harm Black communities.”

In its current incarnation, the foundation seeks to create opportunities and advocate for changes ‘to support communities most affected by structural racism and disinvestment.”

Embry and I discussed one of these initiatives, the ReBUILD Metro effort, whose mission is to transform abandoned properties into both rental and homeowner opportunities. He reflected on his own prior experience in tackling the vacant housing stock, citing his years as the city’s housing commissioner (1968– 1977). Back then he used available HUD programs to address the housing needs of lower-income residents and urban homesteading for households with more resources.

Approaching this challenge of rehabbing vacant housing on a block-by-block basis and collaborating with key partners, most notably BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development), is an effort to create desirable new city neighborhoods. The ReBUILD effort today is having its impact in neighborhoods in central Baltimore near Penn Station, including Greenmount West, Oliver, and Johnston Square.

We also discussed how Baltimore’s economy, over many decades, had made a successful transition from a blue-collar center, manufacturing steel, autos, ships and much more. to one we now refer to as consisting of “Eds. Meds, and Feds.” Now, with a new adversarial approach to these sectors at the federal level, all of that is at risk. Acknowledging that this represents a threat to Baltimore and so many other centers of educational and medical research around the country, the problem is well beyond the scope of local philanthropy.

I asked Embry what was the short list of “to-do” items that he might have for his successor.

At this point, he was self-deprecating, noting that the future direction of the foundation would be dependent on the priorities of its board. Of course, that would be the correct thing to say, but it’s hard to believe that after helming its operations for so long, that the leadership would not want a sense of direction from its departing captain.               ‘

There was one notable component of Abell’s grantmaking that he wanted to highlight. In  deploying its resources, with an annual minimum of 5 percent of its assets as required by federal law, it allocates 25 percent to make strategic investments in start-ups and other local companies to improve job-creation and potential follow-on economic benefits.

As the interview was coming to a close, Embry began describing to me an opportunity that had come to his attention. A division of a major national corporation has a new high-tech product that has the potential of being manufactured in Baltimore in a facility that Abell has available for that very purpose. And, there is a potential local market for the product in the public sector. We agreed that, while this intriguing prospect was perhaps a little too early for prime time, it was one well worth watching.

Still, even as he prepares to step aside (he’ll stay on until his successor is selected), it sounded very clear that investing in local economic opportunities is one aspect of Abell’s grantmaking that Embry would want to continue.

Joe Nathanson is the retired principal of Urban Information Associates, a Baltimore-based economic and community development consulting firm. Since 2001, he has written a monthly column for The Daily Record and can be contacted at [email protected]