Nancy Rauch Douzinas refers to Long Island as the "first suburban region," created some 50-plus years ago and growing "fast and furiously" with overlapping governmental jurisdictions. "I think it's the fragmentation of suburbia that has put tremendous constraints and costs on people," says Douzinas, president of the Rauch Foundation.

Recognizing that Long Island reached the "tipping point," in 2002 the Foundation commissioned a Long Island profile and a series of three polls to determine how the region is faring in comparison to New York City and its northern and New Jersey suburbs. In addition, after 15 months of collaboration with leaders from the business, labor, education, civic and nonprofit communities, in February, the Foundation unveiled a 60-page report, the Long Island Index 2004, containing an in-depth compilation of existing data from various public and private sources and 12 goals focusing on economy, housing, mobility, health, education, environment, governance and civic participation. Most importantly, "indicators," or specific areas of potential measurements of progress, accompany each goal, and each indicator is followed by reasoning for its importance and an overview of Long Island's current stand in that regard.

"We're talking about redefining suburbs," states Douzinas in a recent interview with Networking Magazine. "The aim of the Index is to bring people together Ð all looking at the same information. This is meant to be a catalyst, and to the degree that it engenders discussion, debate and action, that is what we want." The lynchpin in the project is how the information will be used, and Douzinas says she hopes to see the creation of a central archive to house the information.

"From the Foundation's perspective, this was a big investment of time and money, but we thought there was a tremendous need on Long Island and thought we had the skills and resources and could think long term."

Nancy Douzinas is a second-generation Rauch Foundation member, the daughter of Louis Rauch, who with his brother Philip Rauch, Jr. established the Foundation in 1961. Her grandfather, Philip Sr., was one of the world's first automotive engineers, working in Germany with Karl Benz who designed and built the first practical automobile, powered by an internal combustion engine. In 1913, Philip founded Ideal Corporation, manufacturing auto parts in Brooklyn and becoming the largest international manufacturer of clamps and small parts.

The Foundation funded a wide range of projects, and as assets grew in the mid-1980s, a capital program was added, funding Lehigh University's Philip Rauch Center for Business Communications and a building project for the Huntington YMCA. By the late '80s, the Foundation made a strategic decision to reshape its operation, bring on a staff and focus its mission. In 1990, her uncle Philip tapped Douzinas, who had been serving the Foundation as a family member, to become president, and the Foundation began to build a board of trustees and enter an exploratory phase of its activities.

Douzinas is a graduate of Smith College and earned a master's degree and doctorate in Community Psychology from New York University. She maintained a private practice as a family therapist and worked as a psychologist in clinical and research positions in New York City and Long Island clinics and hospitals, including service at the Long Island Consultation Center, assisting individuals suffering from eating disorders and family and child abuse clients at North Shore Hospital, and six years at The Ackerman Institute for the Family.

"Although I found my career exciting, there was room to be creative and be a leader," says Douzinas, who came aboard full time at the Foundation by 1998. "While I missed professional life, I found an opportunity to transfer the very skills that I had working with families and people to the Foundation [in order to] use my talents more fully and make a bigger difference."

In 1998, Douzinas also accompanied several Long Islanders interested in "smart growth" on a trip to Milwaukee. Delving into local regional challenges, she became a founding member of Sustainable Long Island and served as its first chairperson, while the Rauch Foundation provided funding for the startup nonprofit organization. Douzinas notes that while Sustainable's approach to change is more targeted and community-specific, the Foundation's Long Island Index follows an information-based approach to regional growth.

Currently, the Rauch Foundation's mission focuses on environment, young children, and leadership. Almost from its beginning, the Foundation supported early childhood intervention through its Parent-Child Home Program. The program continues to provide crucial early learning assistance to two- and three-year-olds, lessening the need for corrective measures when the children enter school. Through the program, a trained professional brings educational toys to the home twice a week during the academic year to help the child prepare for better performance in school. In addition, the relationship between child and parent (grandparent or caregiver) is strengthened, and the adult becomes more engaged in the child's education.

It is in the area of caring for family and children that Douzinas makes a major contribution to the Foundation and Long Island. Recently, she shared her views on Long Island families:

"Long Island has a high percentage of married, intact families that automatically gives more stability," says Douzinas. "Families live here or move here looking for the best for their children, and the polls show that they believe their children are getting an advantage by their living here, particularly schools and a safe environment. On Long Island, you have values that are very solid and impressive in terms of caring for children and schools."

On the other hand, Douzinas adds that the problems families face lay in the fragmentation of our region. "If we are separating by race, by income, by age," Douzinas notes, "we all lose. The byproduct of the fragmentation is the drawback to families.

"Long Island is a different place; we are not as wealthy. Average pay doesn't cover cost of living and indicators show we are under a strain here and that cannot affect families in a good way."

Among the extensive list of grants in its mission to families and children, the Foundation supports the Middle Country Public Library's Family Place Library program and its replication throughout the region; and the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York program, which is a membership organization of law enforcement professionals and crime victims that supports advocacy activities to build public will and policy-maker support for quality early care and education, child abuse prevention and after school programming.

The Foundation has sponsored awards for leadership, enabling more than 25 middle managers and executives from nonprofit organizations to attend Columbia University's Institute for Not-for-profit Management. Douzinas says that, as a result of the Index project, the Foundation may consider creating awards, available to Long Island universities, for applicable research.

Seeking to support "civic entrepreneurs," the Foundation was attracted to Greenport Mayor David Kapell's innovative revitalization program that was planned around the community's children. He established the first round-the-clock skateboard park and a public park on the waterfront that includes a carousal donated by Grumman. To further his initiatives, the Foundation provided a grant, enabling him to pursue a Harvard fellowship in the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Douzinas lives in Huntington with her husband Kostas. They have two grown children: Eva Veson, who with her husband is exploring options in a software development company in the Boston area. Eva serves as an associate member of the Foundation's board of trustees, and she recently gave birth to a daughter, Natalie. The Douzinas's second child, Ruth, is an environmental engineer living in Vermont.

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