Partnership-Lite: So what exactly are you doing and why exactly should I care?

1. Partnership-Lite: So what exactly are you doing and why exactly should I care? Part 2 of 3 IEC sessions on the executive-wide push for public private partnerships June 5, 2014

2. Observations from one year ago… • References to “law,” “lawyers,” and “legal best practices” had to be removed from the flyer, so despite a packed room, the audience was primarily “partnership practitioners” • Many of the agencies represented did not have general gift authorities • The burning question was “how do I get my lawyers to agree to my ideas?” June 26, 2013 2:30-4:30pm PPP Best Practices Seminar @ Eisenhower Executive Office Building

3. And ED’s push for partnerships continues… • “We’re thrilled to have as partners the Ad Council, the NEA, AFT, Teach For America, UNCF, the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, and others.” “I’ve asked my good friend Ron Thorpe and the National Board [on Professional Teaching Standards] to join me in convening an effort that will raise the visibility of teacher leadership throughout our nation. Ron and I are working together on an initiative called Teach to Lead…” • – Arne Duncan, Secretary of ED, March 14, 2014 @ the inaugural • Teaching & Learning conference T2L…from Rubber Stamps to Voice & Vision!

4. Office of Strategic Partnerships in the Office of the Secretary serves as a LIAISON*between the Department of Education and non-government partners (NGO’s) *Office of the General Counsel Divisions of Ethics and Business and Administrative Law provide guidance and counsel on legal issues that arise in connection with partnerships and joint projects.

5. And HUD’s push for partnerships continues… "I was talking with Secretary Donovan one day, and he came up with a phrase that says it best: ‘A ZIP code is an address, not a life determinant.’ But demographics will tell you that's exactly what it is today…He [Castro] can get both Republicans and Democrats behind a plan. Democrats care about providing shelter for the homeless, helping the poor move toward the middle class, helping people buy homes. Republicans say you can't do all that with government money. And he doesn't have to. He can leverage the money with private partnerships, with innovative thinking." – Ron Sims (former HUD Deputy Secretary, quote from Houston Chronicle article, May 18 2014, by David McCumber and Nolan Hicks

6. HUD’s Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation IPI continues to help leverage funds for community projects across the country. • SC2 Fellowship • REBUILD BY DESIGN • Ashoka Housing Competition • Green & Healthy Homes • Capital Absorption Training • VASH Since our launch, IPI efforts have resulted in more than $80 Million in crucial direct and aligned investments.

7. 1 2 3 IPI DESIGN, est. 2010 Non- governmental Institutions + Governmental Institutions EXPANDED PARTNERSHIP Non-governmental, governmental, and foundations working with HUD Foundations COLLABORATION ON SHARED MISSION AND GOALS Partners creating synergy on projects through ideas and/or funds Money Ideas + RETURN ON INNOVATION Collaborations increase the output and impact to leverage the change and scale towards shared goals and missions Change Projects + Scale

8. ANSWER A QUESTION WITH A QUESTION (OR SIX!): Ownership of the efforts:Is this mine, yours, or ours? Who proposed this partnership idea? Details, details, details: What’s the objective and scope? Who’s doing what? (This step take a lot of time but is important.) Agency funds: Have any of the potential partners applied for grants or bid for contracts in the past? Is there any indication they will do so in the future? Write it down: Are the parties willing to use our MOU template? What’s the objective? Lobbying: Are any of the partners currently lobbying Congress on issues related to our agency? Personnel: Have we recently hired or are we recruiting anyone (for a job/IPA detail/ volunteer) from the potential partners?

9. IRL scenarios: what’s an ethics official to say? Leveraging Federal Dollars Stakeholder Buy-In 4 2 5 1 3 5 Thought Leadership Aligned Funding Community Engagement

10. SCENARIO 1 Aligned Funding Client’s Question: http://partner.hud.gov/ We have a cutting edge grant program but only enough money to fund 5% of the applicants. We think there are a lot of great projects of interest to national and local philanthropies that don’t make our extremely high cut off for funding at the federal level (i.e. a score of 95+). A tech company has open source coding for an innovation sharing website and we’d like to use it. Our website would have all the applications that scored 75+ so that funders could use HUD’s work of sifting through applicants when making their own decisions for grants. • Vetting the tech company and addressing whether “open-source” code is a gift • Have applicants consented to posting entire application online? • Is posting applicant scores on a website designed for funders the same as soliciting funds for 3rd parties? Ethics Issues

11. SCENARIO 2 Client’s Question: Aligned Funding Continued Similar facts to scenario 1 : We have a cutting edge grant competition and we can only fund a fraction of the applications. Several interested entities – including a government agency, a think tank, and some philanthropies – start talking about how to connect unfunded applicants with funders who might be interested in supporting their projects. They decide they want to have a big conference or forum where funders can learn about some of the unfunded projects through in-person presentations by the applicants. It is not possible to accommodate all unfunded projects, and the think tank – our major partner – wants to pick and choose which unfunded projects will be included rather than simply invite applicants by their rank order according to our peer review scores. • Federal dollars as seed money (grants requiring matching to be eligible) • Are grant applications publically available info? • Who is picking and choosing among applicants for this opportunity? Ethics Issues

12. SCENARIO 3 Leveraging Federal Dollars Client’s Question: http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/vash/ HUD and the VA have received funding allocations for ending veteran homelessness. Unfortunately, Congress specifically excluded security deposits and furniture purchases from permissible expenditures when veterans use HUD-VASH voucher monies. A funder convening is being held at a Key West resort next month where the Secretary has been asked to speak. He can’t go, but can he send a letter to the funders gathered there that explains our need for aligned funding and delineates how they could spend effectively? • Should a letter receive stricter scrutiny than a speech? • Will the information conveyed give these funders an unfair advantage? • Is this the proper use of a Secretarial platform, especially if the letter calls for Congress to act? Ethics Issues

13. SCENARIO 4 Community Engagement Client’s Question: Similar facts to scenario 1 : We have a cutting edge grant competition and we can only fund a fraction of the applications. Several interested entities, including a government agency, a think tank, and some philanthropies, start talking about how to connect unfunded applicants with funders who might be interested in supporting these projects. Can we have a big conference or forum where funders can learn about some of the unfunded projects through in-person presentations by the applicants? Is it okay if not all unfunded projects can be accommodated at this event? The think tank – our major partner – wants to pick and choose which unfunded projects will be included rather than simply invite applicants by their rank order according to our peer review scores. • Are there objective standards for picking partners? • Are these ongoing partnerships or one time co-sponsored events? • Endorsement, fundraising, potential IP issues too Ethics Issues

14. OTHER TRUTHY CASE STUDIES HUMANITY UNITED, DOJ AND HHS MORTGAGE BANKERS ASSOCIATION ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION NEED PIC NEED PIC • Issues Raised: • (1) For-profit motives • (2) Vetting Issues • (3) Reducing HUD’s Involvement • Issues Raised: • Cooperating with other • federal agencies • (2) Avoiding endorsements • (3) Fundraising by partners • Issues Raised: • AMERICA Competes vs. Gift Authority • Soliciting Funds for Partners • Creative Personnel Practices

15. Tricky Issues.WHAT THE CLIENT HEARS: Gift Solicitation and Partner Fundraising “ …HUD has significant and flexible authority to work directly with private entities when doing so would further the Department’s mission… the Department must evaluatelegal concerns in areas that include ethics, appropriations law, and procurement… the Department must take care not to endorse the policies or activities of a private sector partner… IPA Detailees and SGE “Fellows” Endorsement ” - OGC Guidance on PPPs

16. ANSWER A QUESTION WITH A QUESTION (OR SIX!): • Ownership of the efforts:Is this mine, yours, or ours? Who proposed this partnership idea? Details, details, details: What’s the objective and scope? Who’s doing what? • Agency funds: Have any of the potential partners applied for grants or bid for contracts in the past? Is there any indication they will do so in the future? Write it down: Are the parties willing to use our MOU template? What’s the objective? Lobbying: Are any of the partners currently lobbying Congress on issues related to our agency? Personnel: Have we recently hired or are we recruiting anyone (for a job/IPA detail/ volunteer) from the potential partners?

17. Parting Quotes • “Better to err on the side of presumption than paranoia.” • “My deepest impulses are optimistic, an attitude that seems to me as spiritually necessary and proper as it is intellectually suspect.” • Ellen Willis • 1941-2006

18. CONTACT INFO http://huduser.org/ipi | http://partner.hud.gov | http://hud.gov/IOD Cheryl Embree | FTC Deputy Ethics Official cembree@ftc.gov Susan Winchell | ED Designated Agency Ethics Official Susan.winchell@ed.gov