summer 2017
partners in progress kalamazoo community foundation
partnering with you to create a community where every person can reach full potential
Artrella Cohn, Laura Bell, Jim Escamilla, Lissette Mira-Amaya, Dr. Linwood Cousins, Amy Upjohn, Hon. Carolyn Williams and Mary Harper. Not pictured: Byron Foster.
community investment committee welcomes new members Laura Bell, Artrella Cohn and Dr. Linwood Cousins have joined the Community Investment Committee of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. Other CIC members include community members Byron Foster and Lissette Mira-Amaya. Jim Escamilla, Mary Harper and Hon. Carolyn Williams, who are members of the Community Foundation’s board of trustees, also serve on the committee — Williams as it’s chair. The committee — part of KZCF’s due diligence process by providing community voice in addition to that of
the board of trustees — meets four times a year, reviewing and approving grant requests twice a year. “Our committee is thrilled to have Artrella, Laura and Linwood on board,” says Williams. “Their perspective on our community will help our committee. Enlarging the membership of the Community Investment Committee assures that we have a variety of viewpoints and experiences helping us to make the best possible recommendations for the most effective use of the community’s dollars.”
Artrella Cohn is Senior Director of Community Engagement and Student Investment for Communities In Schools Kalamazoo. With a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan, she has experience in youth development and dropout prevention. She previously served at Community Advocates for Parents and Students. Laura Bell is CEO of Bell’s Brewery, Inc., and has been a company owner since 2008. With bachelor’s degrees in Continued on page 4 SEE COMMITTEE
demonstrating impact As partners in grantmaking we all understand the need to accurately measure the impact of grants. An effective way for organizations to measure impact is by focusing on outputs and outcomes. So we recently revised our grant application to encourage grantseekers to do this. The difference Outputs are activities carried out by agencies, such as services delivered, methods used, numbers served or resources distributed.
reported at the end of a grant cycle.
an example
Barry-Loken and her team acknowledge
GOAL Address the community's current educational needs measured by reducing disparities in academic performance in reading, writing, math and other disciplines.
the difficulty in measurement. “By nature, some work really is more
OUTPUT 100 students will receive 1 on 1 tutoring in math and reading.
outcome data, which is the most critical,
OUTCOME 60 percent of students receiving one-to-one tutoring will increase their reading ability by at least one grade level by the end of the school year as measured by Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Reading Assessments.
such as changes in behavior, attitudes, competencies, skills or life circumstances of the recipient of the services; the impact or accomplishments of the program. “Using a combination of outputs and
always is typically easier to provide; has been more difficult to collect.” While the hope is that these revisions to the grant application will help agencies effectively share their program goals, our team remains open to continued feedback and can also help agencies identify outputs and outcomes.
Outcomes are the changes that will take place as a result of an agency’s work,
output oriented,” she says. “Output data
Community Foundation’s Community Investment team. “At the end of the day, we all want to see evidence of community change and this will help us do that.” What’s new
Over time, KZCF’s nonprofit partners will see that investment levels will be greater for agencies demonstrating high impact through quality outcomes. “We’re investing in impact,” says Barry-Loken. “We hope this will
outcomes will help us measure both
The Community Foundation’s grant
highlight increases in equity and
short and long-term impact,” says
application now asks for outputs to be
improvements in educational
Sandy Barry-Loken, who leads the
accompanied by outcomes that are
outcomes in Kalamazoo County."
truth, racial healing & transformation initiative comes to kalamazoo Kalamazoo is among four Michigan
“The concept of TRHT is crafted after
communities that will soon be home
truth and reconciliation processes that
to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's
have happened around the world. We're
nationwide Truth, Racial Healing
excited to be part of bringing a similar
& Transformation initiative.
process to Michigan and our
TRHT is a community-based approach to
local community."
addressing the historic and contemporary
Continues Lewis, “In the Kalamazoo area
effects of racism, and planning for
we hope to create a platform that brings
and bringing about transformational,
current and new partners and community
sustainable change.
members together to build relationships,
Like our community foundation counterparts in Battle Creek, Flint and Lansing, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation will collaborate with
honor and elevate the powerful work already happening, and collectively develop new strategies to transform our community.”
local nonprofits to implement the
Council of Michigan Foundations will
TRHT framework.
receive $4.2 million over five years from
TRHT was initiated in January 2016 by WKKF and is designed to advance and complement its decades-long commitment to advancing racial equity and racial healing throughout the U.S. “This transformative opportunity comes at a critical time when people in our community need to come together,” says KZCF President/CEO Carrie Pickett-Erway. “TRHT will help our community uncover truth, bridge divides and jettison the belief in a hierarchy of human value.”
WKKF for TRHT work in Michigan, with KZCF receiving $865,000 over that period to host the work here. A portion of the WKKF funds include a challenge grant to develop an endowment fund at the Community Foundation to sustain this work in the future. Says Rob Collier, CMF's president and CEO, “Michigan prospers when our communities are vibrant, with great opportunities for all — this is our vision statement as an organization, and an ideal we steadfastly believe in. TRHT is
Says Lanna Lewis, who is leading the
a catalytic process to move communities
Community Foundation's TRHT work,
towards realizing this vision.”
KALAMAZOO-AREA TRHT PARTNERS These are the Kalamazoo-area partners currently participating in TRHT. If your organization is interested in actively participating in this work, please reach out to Lanna Lewis at 269.381.4416 or slewis@kalfound.org. • Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College • Black Arts & Cultural Center • City of Kalamazoo • ERACCE • Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan • Gryphon Place • Hispanic American Council • ISAAC • Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety • Kalamazoo Youth Development Network • Michigan United • NAACP • Project X • SHARE • United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region • Welcoming Michigan (Michigan Immigrant Rights Center) • Western Michigan University • YWCA Kalamazoo
COMMITTEE Continued from page 1 anthropology and urban and regional planning from Michigan State University, she also serves on the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan board of trustees.
Linwood Cousins, Ph.D., is Director of Africana Studies at Western Michigan University. He previously taught at WMU, University of North Carolina, Longwood University, Va.,
and Kalamazoo College. His research centers on culture, education and inequality in the contexts of community and family life.
plan ahead Upcoming Letter of Inquiry and Grant Application Due Dates Letters of Inquiry may be submitted any time, but requests for more than $10,000 have these due dates.
fall 2017
spring 2018
fall 2018
Letter of Inquiry Due Date August 1 by 5 p.m.
Letter of Inquiry Due Date January 15 by 5 p.m.
Letter of Inquiry Due Date July 16 by 5 p.m.
Full Application Due Date September 28 by 5 p.m.
Full Application Due Date March 15 by 5 p.m.
Full Application Due Date September 17 by 5 p.m.
Funding decisions will be made the week of December 11, 2017.
Funding decisions will be made the week of June 11, 2018.
Funding decisions will be made the week of December 10, 2018.
402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888 269.381.4416 www.kalfound.org