2017 Annual Report

CONNECTING COMMUNITY MAKING A DIFFERENCE

A flywheel is used to supply intermittent pulses of energy. It does this by transferring energy to the other gears that are connected to it.

As a foundation, we understood how this concept would work. The foundation would be the flywheel that transfers energy to our social profit organizations, to the community, county government, local government, and community organizations. What was needed was energy to get it to start turning. Ten years ago we started pushing in an

intelligent and consistent direction and, after a lot of work, a whole lot of work, we got one giant, slow, creaky turn of the flywheel ... and

we didn’t stop. We asked you to lend your weight to the effort, and together we kept pushing and we eventually got two turns! And then together we had four and sixteen and thirty-two and sixty-four and one hundred and one thousand; pushing, cumulative, consistent momentum; and at one point it’s one hundred thousand and then a million turns of that flywheel. Ten years later big things are happening, success is all around us because we did a bunch of little things supremely well that compounded over time. That is what we learned. We now see tremendous consistency that has resulted in truly great enterprises across the spectrum, the accomplishments of our donors, our board, our staff, and our communities.

No matter how dramatic the end result, the good-to-great transformation never happened in one fell swoop. There was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, and no wrenching revolution. Good to great comes about by a cumulative process—step by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel—that adds up to sustained and spectacular results. It all starts with you giving that flywheel a push.

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IT ALL CONNECTS

The El Dorado Community Foundation is dedicated to strengthening our community both now and for future generations.

The theme of this annual report came to us from this image: El Dorado Community Foundation Executive Director Bill Roby speaking about the EDH Promise

Foundation in the Joan Barsotti Gymnasium at the Boys & Girls Club. It all connects. Like gears operating together flawlessly to create movement and actions – each gear turning, linking to another gear, working together to create action – it all connects. Initiating movement, delivering energy, and making connections is the core of our work here at the Foundation. Utilizing our knowledge, community relationships, and administrative resources, we connect people who care with causes that matter. This multidimensional approach to philanthropy works to fulfil our mission of strengthening our community both now and for future generations.

PLACE-BASED GIVING

Understanding that El Dorado County is a broad area with fluctuating geographic-specific needs and cultures, the Foundation frequently utilizes place-based giving to effectively serve our communities. With an extensive understanding of the complexities and strengths of varying El Dorado County communities, we can successfully connect local funders with local needs to develop targeted solutions by region. Operating as a steward for our geographic funds, the Foundation assists with asset development, community initiative engagement, and administrative oversight.

CONNECTING COMMUNITY

El Dorado Hills Endowment Inspiring Generosity. Strengthening Our Community.

Established in 2013, the El Dorado Hills Endowment works to increase awareness of the needs of El Dorado Hills and inspire generosity to strengthen the community. It is dedicated to building an endowment that provides annual funding to nonprofit organizations to enhance the El Dorado Hills community and offer residents a vehicle for charitable giving.

To date, the El Dorado Hills Endowment has awarded a total of $58,000 in grants supporting a variety of community needs including youth outreach and development opportunities, community arts and culture expansion, parks and recreation projects, and more.

Shelbi Bennett

John Black

Howard

January Allan Priest

Smaglik

Welcome Folsom Lake Symphony Endowment Fund!

It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome one of our newest funds serving the El Dorado Hills region, Folsom Lake Symphony Endowment Fund. Established in 2004, Folsom Lake Symphony successfully delivered in its mission of bringing beautiful symphonic music to the Folsom Lake region. In addition to executing outstanding performances to sellout audiences, the

symphony also works to cultivate a love of classical music for our community youth.

Offering low-cost performances for families who may not otherwise have an opportunity to attend a classical music production and performing at local schools, Folsom Lake Symphony has established itself as a strong community asset and we are honored to welcome them to the El Dorado Community Foundation.

We have built a fund to help support our mission and to continue to bring quality symphonic music to our community. Our partnership with the Foundation allows us to utilize our shared dedication to strengthening our community both now and for future generations.

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Anson Wong, Vice President, Business and Orchestra Management, Folsom Lake Symphony

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CONNECTING COMMUNITY

South Lake Tahoe Endowment

Directly Impacting Your Community Every Day

The South Lake Tahoe Endowment is a group of engaged citizens passionate about building a stronger, better community and financially supporting local efforts aligned with this passion. Funded primarily by the Joan Rochelle Endowment Fund and South Lake Tahoe area donors, the South Lake Tahoe Endowment has awarded a total of over $600,000 to local schools, youth, and nonprofit programs. Having established an office space in South Lake Tahoe, the endowment fund is actively engaged in issues of concern to the community: workforce housing, traffic, education, and quality of life concerns for visitors and residents alike.

Mark Acri

Wendy David

Houser

Kovarik-

Bob Novasel

South

Tahoe Women’s Community Fund

In its second year of granting, the Tahoe Women’s Community Fund awarded a total of $29,000 to six nonprofit agencies working to address pressing issues in the communities of Lake Tahoe. Inspired by the effectiveness of the Tahoe Women’s Community Fund thus far, Tahoe resident Lisa Maloff gifted the fund $100,000 to utilize in future granting or growth of their endowment fund. Lisa’s generous gift echoes the philanthropic spirit of all Tahoe Women’s Community Fund members and will make a difference in the lives of many in South Lake Tahoe.

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COLLABORATING FOR GOOD

Endow El Dorado

Endow El Dorado is an endowment fund that invites individuals, families, organizations, and businesses to contribute - at any dollar amount - to the work of improving our communities. By design, the funds are awarded to nonprofit agencies addressing unmet community needs.

EDHCSD Bus Renovation

This bus will provide an invaluable bridge for home-bound seniors with the Senior Center, promote full participation in the myriad of services, and help eliminate an isolated existence without peer interaction.”

The El Dorado Community Foundation is proud to be a “piece of the puzzle” that helped fund passenger bus renovations for mobility impaired seniors through a grant to the EDH Community Services District Foundation. The El Dorado Hills Senior Center offers a wide variety of senior programs, services, and recreational activities; however, these programs were only reaching seniors able to secure transportation to the Senior Center. Noting a need for transportation for mobility impaired seniors, the EDH Community Services District Foundation spearheaded a campaign to renovate a 20-passenger bus to provide accessible transportation for all seniors. It took 18 months, $15,000, and a “puzzle” of community members to make it happen, but happen it did! Local seniors are now transported in style and safety, complete with a portable wheelchair and wheelchair lift.

– Sue Hawkes, Grants Committee Chair, EDH Community Services District Foundation

Circuit Breakers 3189

Through our 2017 Endow El Dorado Grants, the Foundation had the privilege of sponsoring an innovative group of young students, El Dorado Union High School District’s Circuit Breakers 3189 Team. This extra-curricular robotics club delivers hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education, critical thinking and leadership skills, and life-long friendships. Working with adult mentors, students design and execute the building of a functional robot and compete at national robotics competitions. A collaboration of local sponsorship funding allowed Circuit Breakers 3189 to attend two regional competitions in March 2017 where their team performed very well.

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TEN YEARS OF COLLECTIVE GIVING!

Start by doing what is necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you’re doing the impossible. - St. Francis of Assisi

Just like that, Women’s Fund El Dorado is 10 years old. TEN YEARS! Nurturing the growth of this fund and watching it flourish over the past decade has truly been an inspiring journey. In 2007, Stephanie Kresse, Madeleine Tammi and Katy Peek came together over an idea. Recognizing the possibilities and impacts a collective giving organization could bring to our community, they recruited a founding cabinet of eleven women. Working diligently with the assistance of the El Dorado Community Foundation, these women brought WFED to fruition. El Dorado County women embraced the “collecting giving” idea with enthusiasm and began to change the face of philanthropy in El Dorado County.

Now, a decade later, Women’s Fund El Dorado has grown to be the second-largest grantmaking fund in El Dorado County, collectively granting a total of nearly half a million dollars. Touting “$482,447

because of you!” WFED recognizes the contributions of each and every one of its now over 400 members in making significant, positive impacts in our community.

Leveraging their charitable dollars, WFED members have made a difference in the lives of over 25,000 individuals in our community, funding programs for basic human needs, mental health, domestic violence, community development, human trafficking, environment, and youth development.

Looking to the next 10 years, we have no doubt that Women’s Fund El Dorado will continue to make strides in community philanthropy. Cheers to a “Decade of Giving,” Women’s Fund El Dorado! Keep up the great work!

Women’s Fund El Dorado Accomplishments:

A Decade Of Giving$482,448

& Teens (36.56%)

(2.13%)

(0.71%)

& Wellness (5.60%)

Health (16.35%)

(27.84%)

Services (4.71%)

(2.34%)

& Culture (3.76%)

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SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS

At a time when the cost of college continues to rise and the need for higher education has never been greater, many of our donors recognize the need to assist high school graduates with the pursuit of their college degrees. We are grateful to award nearly 30 scholarships in support of El Dorado County youth.

“I have come to understand that the world is not a perfect place in which you will be given everything to succeed. You have to work and earn everything. I am who I am today because of my family. I want to fulfill what I value greatest, the American Dream, and the idea that through hard work and perseverance I can accomplish my goals in life of being successful and happy.”

-Ricardo Rojas-Salcedo

Ricardo Rojas-Salcedo UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE SOCORRO VEGA MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

The Socorro Vega Memorial Scholarship is awarded to one graduating Hispanic student from El Dorado High School, Ponderosa High School, or Union Mine High School.  It was created by the generosity of Socorro’s family and friends to encourage a student who has the desire to finish higher education.

Ricardo Rojas-Salcedo is the son of Mexican immigrants with a deep connection to his family and their pursuit of the American Dream. Cognizant of the sacrifices and risks his parents took to provide a better life for him and his sister, Ricardo is determined to live a life that honors the opportunities offered to him. Inheriting his parent’s tenacity and work ethic, Ricardo successfully completed the most rigorous academic course of study available to him and graduated valedictorian of his class. Ricardo is the first in his family to attend college.

CONNECTING COMMUNITY NEEDS TO RESOURCES

El Dorado County Veterans’ Affairs Commission Grant

The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

- General MacArthur

Through a collaboration with the County of El Dorado Veterans’ Affairs Commission, the El Dorado Community Foundation was grateful to offer grant funding to Windows To My Soul, an equine assisted psychotherapy organization committed to supporting our El Dorado County veterans. Utilizing horses as additional therapeutic partners, Windows To My Soul provides proven, alternative mental health services to nearly 25 veterans a year.

In the words of one of its clients, a combat veteran, “As a woman combat veteran, I have been given the tools at the VA such as group and talk therapy. I practiced A LOT. Depression, panic attacks, and health issues progressed. PTSD was winning.  It was stealing my power. But here, at Windows To My Soul, I’m getting it back! Confidence, Trust, even Hope! In three months of this program and this approach, this team is effecting more change in me than I have felt in years.”

It is truly a privilege to work with El Dorado County veterans to support this community population in need. We are thankful to all the men and women who serve our country.

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CONNECTING DONORS TO COMMUNITY CAUSES

Joan Barsotti Fund

Established in 2010, the Joan Barsotti Fund offers support to our community youth through many avenues. One of the many ways the Joan Barsotti Fund honors Joan’s legacy of love for children and community is through the annual Okei-san Field Trip experience at the Wakamatsu Farm near Coloma, the original site of the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony established in 1868 as the first Japanese colony in America.

This learning experience, based on Joan’s research and book she wrote about the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony, Okei-san: The Girl from Wakamatsu, provides

Donor Advised Funds

Our Donor Advised Funds allow donors to identify their passions for giving and recommend annual grants from the fund over time.

El Dorado County 4th graders with hands-on history and agriculture lessons.

This year’s 5th annual Okei-san Field Trip was a collaboration of 58 volunteers, nine entertainers, and 32 teacher and parent chaperones working together to create a memorable day for 232 local students. To date the Joan Barsotti Fund has made it possible to share this learning experience with 1,075 students and 18 El Dorado County schools.

Thank you so much for making this wonderful experience possible, it was fantastic! The attention to detail and professional manner in which the event was organized was so very impressive. I just can’t say enough about how impressed I am!

- Danny Lullia Gold Trail School

All members of the family, including spouses, are involved in decisionmaking about, and voting on, our Family Fund grants. It is such a pleasure for all of us to be part of this wonderful organization.

– Madeleine Tammi

Jack and Madeleine Tammi Family Fund

The 2016 and 2017 Endow El Dorado granting cycles at the Foundation resulted in the opportunity to make a major impact in the community, thanks to outreach efforts made to advisers of some of our Donor Advised Funds. One of the many worthy requests included a proposal to provide funding for El Dorado High School Cougar Band loaner instruments. Knowing the musical passion and family history of the Tammi family, we reached out to Madeleine Tammi.

A family passionate about community philanthropy and music, and with two children as El Dorado High School Band alumni, the Tammi family was elated to answer this call for help. Their Family Fund provided nearly $16,000 for EDHS Cougar Band wind and percussion instruments.

A letter from Taylor Sabado, band and choir director at El Dorado High School, says it all: “Having quality instruments they can borrow will not only give them their best chance for success in school but can also open doors for them in life that may have been impossible before.”

The Jack and Madeleine Tammi Family Fund was established in 2000. After Jack’s passing in 2007, many of the family’s friends honored Jack’s life with a gift to their Family Fund. In true Tammi family spirit, this fund provides benevolent support to the El Dorado County community.

El

CONNECTING OUR FUTURE

The Carl and Katherine Locher Trust Funds

Kathy and Carl’s combined passions for education and for agriculture will be passed on through their legacy gift of the Carl and Katherine Locher Agriculture Fund and the Carl and Katherine Locher Scholarship Fund at the El Dorado Community Foundation. These endowed funds will make it possible for the Foundation to offer yearly grant opportunities to FFA, 4-H, and other agriculture-related educational organizations, as well as a yearly gift to El Dorado Ag in the Classroom and four-year renewable scholarships to Imperial Valley and El Dorado County students pursuing careers in agricultural fields.

Meeting face to face with donors, listening to their background, obtaining contact names and having this personal time to clarify their wishes is so important. It ensures the donor’s intent is honored and documented.

- Bill Roby, Executive Director

Leaving a gift to the El Dorado Community Foundation is simple; leaving your legacy means meeting with us and sharing your story. We look forward to that opportunity.

Legacy Society Members

The Power of Collaboration

Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people.

-Elizabeth Green

Like all community foundations, we are overseen by a volunteer board of leading citizens and run by professionals with expertise in knowing our community’s needs. In a working collaboration between staff and board members, we are able to identify and address emerging community issues, stimulate resources, and help our region prepare for the future.

William

Lynnee

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Lois Patrick, President

Carter, Vice President

Staszak, Treasurer

Barsotti, Secretary

Bennett

David

Jana Ellerman Georgianne Knight Ed Manansala

Orr Katy Peek Paul Zappettini

Board

The

of CollaborAtion

THANK YOU!

Production costs of this publication were generously provided by the Peek Family Fund at the El Dorado Community Foundation.

COPY BY: Amy Pooley and Pam Hagen

DESIGN BY:

The accomplishments of the El Dorado Community Foundation are only made possible through your support.