Community Foundation Update (08/18/18) August 18, 2018 California The San Francisco Foundation has announced the winners of its 2018 Community Leadership Awards, which recognize the most creative, innovative, community-driven organizations and leaders in the Bay Area working to address its most pressing challenges. This year's recipients include Marc Bamuthi Joseph (Arts), founding program director of Youth Speaks and chief of program and pedagogy at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; Nuestra Casa (Impact), for his work to promote civic participation and the economic self-sustainability of the region's Latino immigrant population; Family Independence Initiative (Innovation), which works to accelerate the economic mobility of low-income families by enabling them to harness the power of their own data through the organization's proprietary cloud-based technology platform, UpTogether; and Del Seymour (Leadership), founder of Tenderloin Walking Tours and Code Tenderloin, a nonprofit that provides job readiness training and basic coding skills to the homeless, formerly incarcerated, and disenfranchised populations with the goal of putting them to work in the region's tech industry. The Orange County Community Foundation in Newport Beach has announced that Accelerate Change Together Anaheim has awarded more than $750,000 in grants to twelve organizations working to improve the lives of local youth facing poverty, academic challenges, and limited opportunities. Administered by OCCF after it was established by the Disneyland Resort, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Anaheim Ducks, ACT Anaheim also announced plans to create a collaborative strategy fund, with $50,000 allocated to support innovative approaches to collective evaluation, grant proposals, and new funder engagement. Hawai'i The Hawai'i Community Foundation in Honolulu has awarded more than $6 million in scholarships to date in 2018, Maui Now reports. HCF distributes more than two hundred and fifty types of scholarships on behalf of individual givers, local businesses, and corporate donors that students in the state can access through a single online application form. The foundation also provides the First Generation Community Scholarship to students who are the first in their families to attend college.
Illinois The Chicago Community Trust has announced Jessica Strausbaugh as its incoming chief financial officer. Strausbaugh will succeed Carol Crenshaw, who is retiring on September 30 after thirty-five years with the foundation. Strausbaugh joins the trust from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, where she served as treasurer. Indiana The Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County has announced that it will award $1.5 million in grants during the fiscal year that began July 1, a 6.5 percent year-over-year increase. This year's grant initiatives, which are funded through unrestricted funds, collaborative funding from regional partners, and field-of-interest funds established by donors to support specific areas of focus, include competitive grant opportunities for nonprofits in the areas of community impact, health, and innovation. Massachusetts The Cambridge Community Foundation has announced a request for proposals from Greater Boston/Cambridge nonprofit organizations working to provide legal representation for lowincome immigrants from Cambridge and surrounding underserved communities who are currently facing or threatened with deportation proceedings. CCF will be distributing at least $150,000 already pledged by donors as part of a grassroots campaign launched last spring to carry out the mission of the Cambridge Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants, which was seeded with a $50,000 grant from the foundation. CCF also received a $50,000 matching gift from the Louis Foundation, support from the Johnson Family Fund and the Why Wait Fund, and gifts ranging from $5 to more than $1,000 from two hundred and fifty residents. Proposals must be submitted by September 13. Michigan The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has named Michael J. Mirto as its new vice president of Philanthropic Services. Mirto currently serves as associate vice president of individual giving at Wayne State University. Oklahoma The Oklahoma City Community Foundation has announced grants totaling $600,000 to two local organizations with programs working to end generational poverty in central Oklahoma. Awarded through the Ken and Gae Rees Family Fund, a three-year, $500,000 grant was made to Parent Promise for an in-home family support program that workd with overburdened families who are at risk for child abuse and neglect. In addition, the fund awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant to Bridges of Norman in support of a diversion and intervention program for students who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Pennsylvania The Erie Community Foundation has announced the launch of the Strategic Collaboration Program, which is designed to enhance the ability of nonprofits to serve their missions while creating significant efficiencies in their operations. Working with the Nonprofit Partnership, the foundation will award up to $50,000 to fund costs associated with the creation shared services, mergers, collaborations, and other kinds of partnership arrangements. South Carolina The Community Foundation of the Lowcountry in Hilton Head has announced the unveiling of a public sculpture to honor the area's cycling community. The sculpture will be dedicated to the memory of Jeff Garske, founding member of a USA Cycling-sanctioned competitive team, Hilton Head Cycling, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver on the Cross Island Parkway on August 18, 2016. Through a memorial fund established by Hilton Head Cycling, money was raised to commission the sculpture, a larger-than-life sized silver aluminum road bike parked on a concrete base, from local artist Kevin Lawless. "The San Francisco Foundation Announces Winners of the 2018 Community Leadership Awards." San Francisco Foundation Press Release 08/15/2018. "ACT Anaheim Awards $750,000 to 12 Local Nonprofits and Announces New Path Forward." Orange County Community Foundation Press Release 08/13/2018. "$6 Million in Scholarships Awarded Through Hawai’i Community Foundation." Maui Now 08/13/2018. "Jessica Strausbaugh Named Chief Financial Officer of the Chicago Community Trust." Chicago Community Trust Press Release 08/15/2018. "Community Foundation Grant Initiatives to Total $1.5 Million This Year." Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County Press Release 08/13/2018. "Grants Available to Legal Defense Organizations Serving Immigrant Residents and Workers in Cambridge." Cambridge Community Foundation Press Release 08/14/2018. "Michael J. Mirto Named Vice President Philanthropic Services for the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan." Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan Press Release 08/09/2018. "Local Family Awards $600,000 in Grants to Help End Generational Poverty in Central Oklahoma." Oklahoma City Community Foundation Press Release 08/14/2018. "Foundation Announces New Grant Pilot Program." Erie Community Foundation Press Release 08/09/2018. "New Public Sculpture Honors Hilton Head's Cycling Community: 'Cycle' Sculpture to Be Dedicated on Anniversary of Cyclist's Death." Community Foundation of the Low Country Press Release 08/14/2018.